59 Corvette Orig. Color

[Bill Ulmer]

I recently purchased a 59 vette which was restored with a color change. How can I find the original color and options that came with my 59 vette? Any place to find who previous owned this car? Any information would be greatly appricated.
Bill U

[Jack H.]

Re: 59 Corvette Orig. Color

About all you can do is sleuth the information by inference. Look behind the divider panel in the trunk, often the original color is there as well as factory crayon denoting the color, IF this wasn't eliminated when the car was resprayed. Other places to look are those that are typically 'masked' during a color change....like under the carpet, beneath door sill plates, and down the stantions/springs of the rear deck lid.

On the car's prior ownership chain, there's no quick 'n dirty fix here. It's a painstaking, tireless job of contacting various state motor vehicle departments, seeking prior owner info on your car by VIN and working around the 'dead ends'. Dead ends include States who have privacy laws and won't release info, States who have archival limits on record retention and spool it into oblivion plus the moved away, died, Etc. no-contact blind alleys for those prior owners you do manage to unearth.

[James B.]

Re: 59 Corvette Orig. Color

Hi Jack,

I am the creator and webmaster of the 1959 Corvette Registry, which you can see at http://59vette.cjb.net

Feel free to look through the site's contents to see if your VIN matches any of those already listed- If not, let me know what the last 4 digits are of your VIN, and I'll see what else I can do to help.

Regards,

Jim Brady
'59 #5366
1959 Corvette Registry, Webmaster

http://59vette.cjb.net

[James B.]

Re: 59 Corvette Orig. Color

Sorry, I meant to type "Bill" not "Jack"

Jim

[Ray C.]

Re: 59 Corvette Orig. Color

Hi!

For paint color, check the rear bulkhead from the trunk side. This would be on the passenger side approximately behind the seat. The color should be written in crayon. If it has been repainted in this area you may have to scrape the paint off. When tearing down my 61 for restoration I found original Sateen Silver paint under the stainless exterior trim, in the convertible top storage area, under the protective cloth for the convertible top window and other areas. I do not believe that there is a way to verify options.

Ray

[Ed Jennings]

Re: 59 Corvette Orig. Color

If the crayon marks denoting the original color are not present, look under the door panels, and as a last resort, under the windshield. More than likely, there will be some area that was missed when the color was changed. Keep in mind that a complete, frame off, body completely stripped to the last nut and bolt, restoration may obliterate any of the car's original paint, but that is probably the exception. Also, the car may have changed colors more than once. Also look under the dash as you may get a glimpse of the original interior color.

[Jim Kay]

Re: 59 Corvette Orig. Color

The exterior color was also written with white "crayon" on the front suspension crossmember. Probably long gone, but a gentle cleaning might show something.
Jim #4281

[John M.]

Re: 59 Corvette Orig. Color

Bill,
while I understand the desire to find the original color of your car let me offer the following. One of the great advantages of owning a C1, is the fact that there is no trim tag to lock you into a color. As long as you paint it one of the factory colors that were available, there will be no deduct at judging.
What if it turns out that your car was a color that you did not like, would you paint it that color anyway? I have known some guys that have done exactly that and then sold the car after judging since they didn't like the color.
A when I finish a restoration on a C1, it will be impossible to determine what color the original paint or interior was, and I think that most high-end restorations are the same. If a proper job of stripping the body was done, there will be absolutely no remaining original paint or primer.
My point here, is to enjoy the car to it's fullest and don't sweat the original paint color since it adds nothing to the car in judging points or monetary value.
Finding out what options a car came with is equally as daunting since there is no documentation available to help you along the way. The only path left is to search out prior owners, and even this can be difficult given the privacy laws that most state's DMV's operate under.

Regards, John McGraw

[Bill Ulmer]

Re: 59 Corvette Orig. Color

Thanks John. You are absolutely correct, I like the current color and would not change it. It is one of those things, "a need to know"; maybe something are best not to be known. It nice to know that if one of the factory colors that were available is used, there will be no deduct at judging.