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Posted By Discussion Topic: 1940 color? -- page: 1 2     Stroker 04-07-2011 @ 3:39 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 I'm kind of leaning towards TomO's analysis. I believe it very much depended upon the dealers relationship with the local assembly plant. When my dad purchased his 33,34,35,36,37,38 cars, and 40 trucks, he used the services of one of Southern California's largest dealers. Given some of the non-standard stuff he was able to procure, I believe was a result of two things. 1-his relationship with the dealer, and 2-the dealers relationship with our local Long Beach assembly plant. Assembly plants in the 30's tended to defer to their larger dealers, and dealers in turn, tended to defer to good customers. Most vehicles were supplied to smaller dealers, who had little influence upon whatever assembly plant supplied their vehicles. While I am in absolute agreement with 38V8 regarding the need for documentation, nothing surprises me when it comes to fleet and repetitive purchases from a large volume dealer. TomO 04-07-2011 @ 11:00 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7257 Joined: Oct 2009 IMHO it would not have been a big problem to paint a Ford a Mercury color. Both cars were painted in the same 'shop' so adding a Ford in on a day that Mercury color was painted should have been easy. It would not have been a good business practice because the higher priced Mercury would loose some of its special features. Factory painters in the 40's used paint pressure pots, so they would not have to fill guns in the middle of a car. They painted all cars on a given day the same color, again so they would not have to waste time cleaning the equipment. Painting one car a special color would have disrupted the assembly line and the paint booth process, therefore a quantity of cars was required for special colors. There was much more flexibility in the manufacturing process in 1940 than there is today. People make changes easier then robots. Tom 40guy 04-07-2011 @ 6:23 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 270 Joined: Oct 2009 Thanks guys for all the comments. My questions were answered to my satisfaction and with courtesy. ford38v8 04-06-2011 @ 7:39 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 2769 Joined: Oct 2009 40guy, I agree with Mike. And while it is true that a fleet operator could get a special color on his fleet, that was really meant for commercial vehicles anyway. About the Ditzler booklet, I would have expected that some guys would paint with Demonstrator Yellow! Never saw it happen, though. Some folks will remember that I expressed my opinion that anything available at a Dealership when a car was purchased could reasonably have been ordered for that car to make the sale, even if not correct for that year. I should temper that personal opinion with the statement that anyone hoping to pass an incorrect item through a Concourse with this reasoning should expect a point deduction unless he possesses documentation that his car did indeed have the item in question when it left the dealership. By the same token, if one car is deemed to be acceptable with a certain unauthorized accessory, that certainly doesn't open the floodgates to any others wishing to pass on the same ticket. Bottom line is, what is correct is always correct for everyone, and any questionable items need to have documentation shown, preferably to the Chief or Meet Judge before the Concourse to prevent delay and confusion during the event. Alan PS- whatwasithinking... Your ACME color chip page is a good example of how these misunderstandings can happen. Documentation means from Ford, not from another company in a published color chip book. Another example is the 1936 color Desert Sand M1755. Many color chip books don't acknowledge that this color was also correct for 1937 and 1936, because it was only authorized for the Richmond Ca and Long Beach Ca plants. This message was edited by ford38v8 on 4-6-11 @ 7:50 PM watwasithinking 04-06-2011 @ 7:36 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 33 Joined: Dec 2009 Looking in my Acme Color Chip manuals, M-1798 Como Blue (metallic) is listed and color chipped for 1940 on the Ford/Mercury Pages. Both Ford and Mercury colors are combined and there are no remarks stating that Como Blue was used only on Mercury. There are remarks showing three of the colors listed as "Mercury". There are 17 other colors shown (Black is not chipped). My records show Como Blue as a one year only production color....1940. kubes40 04-06-2011 @ 7:12 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 3410 Joined: Oct 2009 I certainly didn't think you were looking to argue Red (Mercury) leather was in fact an option in '40 Fords. However, even this was, shall we say 'frowned upon' and in a service letter was quite literally spelled out to do so ONLY as a last resort in order to prevent a sales loss. Cutting and stitching red leather vs. tan is easy and pretty much a two person operation once the red is delivered to the cutter and subsequently to the sewer. No line change required. Rather a 'blip' that would've been handled fairly easily and efficiently. Even fleet (commercial vehicle)sales had to be of a minimum ten identical units (as I recall it was ten)in order to be allowed special paint colors. To paint but one '40 Ford a Mercury color was to reiterate my earlier post simply not feasible for numerous reasons. All of them (reasons)with the same bottom line: inefficient / not profitable. Respectfully, Mike Kubarth 40guy 04-06-2011 @ 6:34 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 270 Joined: Oct 2009 I want to say at the outset of this post that I am in no way trying to argue with ANYONE, just ask a question. I understand that "persistent customers" could order red Mercury leather interior in closed 40 Fords. This makes it reasonable that another "persistent" customer should be able to order a Mercury exterior color. Personally, I don't believe any 1940 Fords were como blue. My question is; why the interior and not the exterior? kubes40 04-06-2011 @ 2:24 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 3410 Joined: Oct 2009 There are in fact a few Como Blue 40 Fords floating around. No matter... NOT authentic. After that infamous Ditzler catalog came out in the 1970's a lot of guys painted their 40 Fords red. That was a color chip in that book. Too bad those same guys didn't do a bit more homework and they would have found that blatant error as well as numerous others within same catalog. Something to place in perspective: To paint one or even 10 cars a color other than what was the stock 'offered' colors would be a logistical nightmare for a company the size of Ford and certainly not worth the time, trouble and efforts required to (perhaps) make a few errant sales. This message was edited by kubes40 on 4-6-11 @ 5:54 PM 40guy 04-06-2011 @ 12:34 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 270 Joined: Oct 2009 alanwoodieman: In 1994 I saw a como blue '40 conv. at a AACA National Meet. Makes me wonder now if it could have been the same car you saw in 1977. An older gentelman was the owner but I never talked to him. I did video the car briefly though and still have the tape. TomO 04-06-2011 @ 8:18 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7257 Joined: Oct 2009 I agree with Mike that it is very unlikely that any Fords were painted Como blue. It is even more unlikely that an early car, like the one for sale, would have anything but Ford color paint. People say the Ford would do almost anything to sell cars. That may be true during tough times, but 1940 was a banner year for Ford. Any special order painting would have occurred later in the model year. Tom

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