Paint Codes

Magic-Mirror Acrylic Lacquer Finish

All 1960 Chevrolets were painted with what General Motors called “Magic-Mirror Acrylic Lacquer”. Acrylic Lacquer was a fairly new technology, having been developed in the 1950’s to replace Nitrocellulose Lacquer. Acrylic Lacquer was made with synthetic polymer… essentially, plastic, and was less toxic to manufacture. General Motors began using Acrylic Lacquer in 1958.

1960 Chevrolet Paint Colors
1960 Chevrolet Paint Colors

Note: You can see every combination of the available colors in the InteractivePaint Code Viewer below. Simply hover your mouse over the color codes. Clicking any of these color codes will bring up a list of all the cars in the 60impala.com database that match the chosen color.

Color Combinations

936A -Ermine White & Tuxedo Black
936A -Ermine White & Tuxedo Black
 
970 & 920A - Suntan Copper & Fawn Beige
920A – Suntan Copper & Fawn Beige
970 – With Fawn Beige Top
Custom - Ermine White & Roman Red
Popular Non-Factory Custom
Ermine White & Roman Red
925A - Crocus Cream
925A – Crocus Cream
 
938A - Fawn Beige
938A – Fawn Beige
Unknown Code - Fawn Beige & Suntan Copper
Unk – Fawn Beige & Suntan Copper
905A - Jade Green
905A – Jade Green
955 - Jade Green & Cascade Green
955 – Jade Green & Cascade Green
903A & 953 - Cascade Green & Ermine White
903A – Cascade Green & Ermine White
953 – With Ermine White Top
915A & 963- Tasco Turquoise & Ermine White
915A – Tasco Turquoise & Ermine White
963 – With Ermine White Top
912A - Royal Blue
912A – Royal Blue
962 - Royal Blue & Horizon Blue
962 – Royal Blue & Horizon Blue
910A & 960 - Horizon Blue & Ermine White
910A – Horizon Blue & Ermine White
960 – With Ermine White Top
940A  & 984- Sateen Silver & Ermine White
940A – Sateen Silver & Ermine White
984 – With Ermine White Top
941A - Shadow Gray & Ermine White
941A – Shadow Gray & Ermine White
988- Shadow Gray & Sateen Silver
988 – Shadow Gray and Sateen Silver
923A & 973 - Roman Red
923A – Roman Red & Ermine White
973 – With Ermine White Top
900A & 950 - Tuxedo Black
900A- Tuxedo Black & Ermine White
950 – With Ermine White Top

Paint Code

Paint Code

The paint code is indicated on the cowl tag after the word “PAINT” (see the image above) and is typically followed by a letter. If you don’t know where to find your cowl tag, click HERE. If your paint code is followed by a single letter “A“, this designates that the vehicle did not leave the factory with two-tone paint. Two-tone paint codes had numbers higher than 941. Available combinations and their respective numeric codes are shown in the Interactive Paint Code Viewer above. The letter code for two-tone paint jobs gets a little more complicated. According to the Late Great Chevy Associations judging guide, these numbers (for two-tone only) were followed by up to three different letter codes. The first letter would indicate the primary color of the car and was sometimes doubled… for example, “V” or “VV” to indicate Roman Red. The second or last letter indicates the two-tone color. For example, “C” would indicate Ermine White two-tone. All together, a three letter color code could appear as “973-VVC“. However, inspection of most 1960 Chevrolets that were equipped with two-tone paint reveals only one letter code to indicate the two-tone color. Either way, the letter codes seem to be redundant, as the numeric code already indicates the two-tone color combination. These are typical 1960 Chevrolet color codes:

900-A = Ermine White
950-C = Tuxedo Black with Ermine White two-tone
970-R = Suntan Copper with Fawn Beige two-tone

Two-Tone Letter Codes

Letter Code
Color Name
A
Tuxedo Black
B
Shadow Gray
C
Ermine White
D
Sateen Silver
F
Royal Blue
H
Horizon Blue
J
Jade Green
K
Cascade Green
M
Crocus Cream
R
Fawn Beige
S
Suntan Copper
T
Tasco Turquoise
V
Roman Red