DerWhite's 356 Porsche Color Charts!

 Coming soon...........Scans of 356 Porsche Interior fabric samples!

356 Porsche doorwell # plate.

www.356registry.org

The purpose of this website is to set down in one place as much information as can be found concerning paint colors for 356 Porsches for the years 1950-1965. Paint matching today is one of the most vexing problems associated with restoring a 356 Porsche. Below you will find images of the factory color charts, a listing of paint colors with color numbers and door plate numbers, and much more. The following 356 Porsche factory color charts in order of presentation are for the: 356-A, 356-B T-5, 356-B T-6, and 356-C. UNFORTUNATELY, color charts do not reproduce very well in a scanner, so........don't depend on these images for accurate colors. Another factor, these color charts are as much as 43 years old! There is some useful information on these color charts, including 356 Porsche color numbers, and information about paint and interior combinations.

Contents:

1. Actual Factory color charts for 356-A, 356-B T-5, 356-B T-6, & 356-C.

2. "Special" Paint Colors.

3. Listing of factory colors including paint numbers and door plate numbers from 1950-1965.

4. Exterior Paint Colors/Interior Color Combinations.

5. Some "Paint Popularity" statistics:  what paint colors were utilized the most?

6. A discussion of "Paint Formulas" in today's restoration scene.

7. 356C "Carpet Samples".

8. And............"Eyes on a Cab".

Porsche Factory Color Charts

356 Pre-A Colors & Accessory Combinations- 1954
(Source:  Porsche Factory Color Chart 1954, Model 356 - actual color samples not available with this chart.)

1954 356 Pre-A Convertibles

1954 356 Pre-A Coupes

356-A Color Charts

Below is a factory color chart  dated 1956 for the 356-A. It is a simple one-sided card with the colors shown in the shape of the car. No other information is available on this card. The colors available are:

The first two numbers of the four number color code are the model year the color was available.

A listing of paint colors by Porsche in early 1957 listed the above seven standard colors, and four new colors referred to as SONDERFARBEN, "Special-Paints". The above 1956 paint numbers were re-numbered 5701, 5702, 5703, etc. The following special paints were available for all models at a slightly higher price.

#5710 Stone Grey            #5711 Orange            #5712 Auratium Green            #5713 Glacier White

A later 1957 factory color chart, shown below, had a few changes compared to the 1956 color chart. Polyantha Red #5602 became Ruby red #5702, Graphite Metalic #5603 became Meissen Blue #5703, Sahara Beige #5604 became Ivory #5704,  Lago Green Metalic #5605 became Fjord Green #5705, and Aquamarin Blue Metalic #5607 became Acquamarin Blue #5707. It's uncertain whether the later Acquamarin Blue was metalic or not.

A side note to the color listing mentioned above, it indicates that the convertible tops for cars painted Black and Auratium Green were beige. All the rest of the colors came with black convertible tops!

1958:

Auto Europe, Inc. of Beverly Hills, California, New York, Chicago and Paris was apparently an importer and dealer of 356 Porsches. In their price list for 1958, they described the "standard color combinations" for the various 356 models for 1958.

356-B T-5 Color Chart

1960 and the new 356-B brought several new paint colors, including signal red #6011, Aetna Blue #6003, Slate Gray #6001, Heron Gray #6007, Condor Yellow #6010, and Royal Blue #6012.

See exterior paint, interior color combinations below!

356-B T-5 Exterior Paint Color - Interior Color Combinations for Coupe, Cabriolet & Roadster

6001 Slate Grey	6002 Ruby Red	6003 Aetna Blue	6004 Ivory	6005 Fjord Green	6006 Silver Met.	6007 Heron Grey	6010 Condor Yellow	6011 Signal Red	6012 Royal Blue	6013 Black
Red	Light Brown	Red	Red	Light Brown	Red	Red	Black	Black	Black	Red
Light Grey	Light Grey	Light Grey	Black	Light Grey	Blue	Blue	Dark Grey	Light Grey	Light Grey	Light Brown

356 B T-6 Color Chart

The 356 B T-6 changes brought four new colors including:  Oslo Blue #6203, Champagne Yellow #6205, Bali Blue #6212, and Smyrna Green #6210.

356-B T-6 Exterior Paint Color - Interior Color Combinations for Coupe, Cabriolet & Roadster
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

In the small print it says:  "Cabriolet (also with removable top) Interior:  Seats in leather only"!

356-C Color Chart

New 356-C colors include Sky Blue #6403, Irish Green #6406, Dolphin Grey #6410, and Togo Brown #6411, which are also designated as Special Colors.

Reproductions of the 356-C Color Chart and some of the earlier
color charts are beginning to show up on Ebay and elsewhere!

356-C Exterior Paint Colors - Interior Colors - Carpet Colors - Top Colors - for Coupe & Cabriolet

 Source:  356-C Factory Interior/Exterior Color & Fabric Sample Book (W11, 1964)

Comment:  The above are the standard factory color combinations as shown in the color charts and the interior fabric and carpet sample books. It is well known that factory customers could order special interior/exterior color combinations. So what is "correct" is either the above listed combinations, or whatever it says on a particular car's factory kardex.

356-C Carpet Samples:

Unfortunately, I cannot make a better scan of these carpet samples as they are still inside the sample book. The two samples on the left are Cabriolet top samples, black and grey/beige. The carpet samples, from left to right, are:  Blue, Black, Red, Grey, Green, & Beige. The colors as shown, are pretty accurate for a scan. I scanned the page for maximum resolution, but the carpet samples are thick and made the writing under each sample less clear, but the colors are pretty accurate, looking at the scan and then at the originals.

Porsche 356 Paint Colors:  1950-1965

Note*  Additional colors added 12/28/04, Porsche Price-List-Export P1, January 1, 1957.
Note**Listing by Brumos Porsche, 1963, shows this color as Aquamarine Green.

Some Paint Popularity Statistics........!

Below are some statistics on exterior paint colors as published at various times in the factory magazine, Christophorus. It is interesting to note that Silver declined in popularity during the period, while Ivory increased slightly, and Green increased substantially. Another article in Christophorus indicated that according to tests conducted by Porsche, Red and Yellow were the safest colors.

Paint Formulas for 356 Porsches!

OK, here's one of the toughest subjects associated with 356 Porsche restoration......mixing paint to match the factory's original colors. It goes without saying that there have been substantial changes to paint bases and the tints that are used to color them. And therein lies the problem. Paint bases and tints used today cannot produce the original colors using the old formulas. So...........the old paint formulas aren't much good today because when used with current paint bases and tints, they will produce the wrong colors! Here are some examples of original Porsche color formulas:

Now, these are actual color formulas for the factory color Ruby Red (6002 & 6202). If you can make any sense out of them, have at it!  They are all Greek to me!

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Research and website creation by:

Charlie White
Scottsdale, Arizona USA
Email:  derwhite@aol.com

"Eyes on a Cab" by Charlie White         

Copyright@2004, 2005, 2007 DerWhite Productions, Phoenix, Arizona USA
Website created 12/28/04 & updated 8/20/07