GM special paint info from numerous website discussions with Jim Mattison (formerly with the F&SO office at GM) and owner of Pontiac Historical Services.

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It appears that your car was special ordered through the Chevrolet Fleet & Special Order Department (many of you folks call it the COPO Group).

During the years that I was a part of this group, we processed many orders for vehicles with special paint. Although these vehicles were ordered with "special paint", they are not considered to be COPO cars. I'm surprised that more of these "special paint" cars haven't shown-up, as many of these orders were for performance cars.

The paint information (926-99568) that you have on both the build sheet and on the trim tag "is" in fact a DuPont paint number. I don't understand why your local DuPont folks can't identify it for you. The "926" denotes that the color is a non-metallic and the "99568" is the mixing formula. While this color may in fact be for Daytona Yellow, it could also be for some other yellow, including a truck color, or a yellow from another car manufacturer. The paint information that was stamped on your trim tag was supposed to be able to assist you or your body shop to identify the "special paint" color, if repair or re-painting was needed at a later date.

If your local paint supplier cannot identify the paint code, I'd give them a piece of this original paint, from an area that has not been exposed to the elements. Hopefully they can scan the color and provide you with a proper match.

Jim Mattison

The prefix "767" denotes that the color is DuPont metallic wheel enamel. Non-metallic wheel enamel would be "766".

I am reasonably sure that I didn't process this order, and yes, the entire wheel on this Chevelle SS would have been painted gold. Some of the guys in my group didn't take the time to think about the possibility of a car having some type of sport wheels. You have to remember that the majority of our business was that of police cars, taxis and municipal vehicles, which came with the standard steel wheels. Occasionally, the plant would call and question the painting instructions, but not all that often!

The next five (5) digits are for the mixing formula of the paint. While I'm not 100% sure, I believe that "98457" is the mixing formula for Anniversary Gold, which has been used on a variety of Chevy’s over the years, to commemorate various anniversaries.

On your other Chevelle, the mixing formula "99616" is for what we used to call "Road Commission Orange". This was a very popular special order color on trucks, but some cars were ordered with it too! Mostly on "hot rods"!!!

The "1001HA" is the pricing code for the special paint. The charges for a solid color special paint would vary from no charge (1001AA) to $125.00 (1001HA). We would paint a vehicle any color under the rainbow except for the Cadillac Firemist colors and Corvette colors. Our special paint book would have thousands of special colors in it, with more being added weekly. Unfortunately, those days are gone forever!!!

I can still remember the cars that we special painted "Kelly Green" for John Delorean, when he was general manager of Chevy and dating Kelly Harmon. Lots of special "Pink" cars for Nancy Sinatra, too!!!

F&SO "RD0066" refers to the document number for the special order instructions. My department assigned these numbers. This order was the 66th at this plant for the 1970 model year. I believe that the "R" is for the GM Assembly Plant in Arlington, Texas?

I hope that this information is helpful.

Wow!!! It appears that there is a lot of interest in the special paint process. I'll do my best to answer most all of everyone’s questions.

First, back in the late 60s and early 70s anyone could order their new Chevy with a special color. Literally any color under the rainbow was available, except for the Cadillac Fire mist colors.

The pricing for a solid color "Special Paint" would vary between no charge and $125.00. Volume would dictate the pricing.

If the customer was a fleet account, or if the dealer would order multiple vehicles in the same color, the pricing would be n/c. However, if the dealer would order a single unit, the pricing could go as high as $125, with various prices in between, based on many other factors.

Some of the other conditions that would require a car order to come through my group was: "Delete Stripes" on a Z-28, Chevelle SS, or other model with painted stripes. Colors that were current production, but on a different model, would also require our approval. We did lots of cars in "Hugger Orange" that normally didn't come in that color as n/c. Also, you wouldn't believe the number of Chevrolet's that were painted the popular 1968-69 Pontiac color, "Verdoro Green"! I even remember a fair number of cars being ordered in the 1970 Chrysler color "Plum Crazy"!

It's too bad that I can't get to the Supercar Reunion this year and answer many of your questions in person. It would be so much easier to explain in more detail. However, with the production on the F-body coming to a close, GM has me scheduled to go to the Corvette Museum and represent both Chevy and Pontiac on the same weekend at the Camaro-Firebird Gathering, in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Jim Mattison

The Cadillac Firemist colors were excluded due to them having such a course metallic. These colors needed to be sprayed through a special paint gun. Even on a Cadillac, the Firemist paint was quite a costly option!

I'll be the first to confess that I thoroughly enjoyed the years that I spent at Chevrolet. Lots of things were going on! It was a time in the automotive industry that we will never see again, as the industry has changed so dramatically!

I'll be happy to talk to folks about some of my experiences at Chevrolet (both the good and the bad), if I were to see you at a show or event. However, I sincerely doubt if anyone would ever want to read about my adventures. I was just a small fish in a big pond!

Jim Mattison

The pricing for "Special Paint" was based on if the color was a current production color on another Chevy model, the number of vehicles ordered and if the account was a "Fleet Account". We would also have the ability to, at our discretion, change the paint pricing on an order, if we felt that it was justified. Pricing varied but I remember that 1001HA was a $75 charge and that 1001PA was a $25 charge.

As for the paint, DuPont would send an ample amount to both the Fisher Body facility and to the corresponding Chevrolet plant. All of this paint was "factory package" direct from DuPont, so color matching wouldn't be a problem.

Also, on all special paint orders, a quart of paint would be shipped in the glove box of the car, so that the dealer could do any touch-up, if needed. A note would accompany this quart of paint, recommending that the owner write down the paint number inside their owner’s manual for future reference.

Special Paint Colors Found To Date

While not exclusive to 1970, special order colors seem to be more common with this year. Some DuPont paint code formulas found on build sheets and/or trim tags are: 926-76248, 926-99568, 926-98371, 926-99616, 926-97249, 927-98457, and 927-99918.

The first 3 digits denote non-metallic (926) or metallic (927) paint. The last 5 digits are the mixing formula for DuPont.  Colors found so far:
926-27153 ~ unknown, found on 1970 Van Nuys, CA. El Camino trim tag. Did find a DuPont paint code 93-27153 which is an old (1958) GM paint color of Spray Green and is a close match to a paint chip chart.

926-93253 - Orange
926-97249 ~ Red
926-98371 ~ Light Blue - 1969*
926-96881 ~ Light Blue - 1970*
926-98371 ~ Light Blue - 1971-1972*
926-99539 ~ Orange (Same as Pontiac Carousel Red)
926-99568 ~ Yellow (Same as 1969 code 76, Daytona Yellow)
926-99616 ~ Orange (Same as 1969 code 72, Monaco/Hugger Orange)

927-98457 ~ Tricentenial Gold
927-99593 ~ Metallic Blue (Same as 1969 code 71, LeMans Blue)
927-99846 ~ Citrus Green (Same as late 1970 code 43, Citrus Green) **
927-99918 ~ Aqua Metallic
927-AF017 ~ Blue Metallic

Build sheet would annotate a ZP3 special paint code and show the particular DuPont mixing formula code or just the Fleet & Special Order (F&SO) number with no paint color noted as per the plant's SOP.

* There seems to be two paint codes attributed to the sales name 'Carolina Blue.' The DuPont mixing formula 926-98371 has been found on 1969, 1971 and 1972 Chevelles while 926-96881 is found on 1970s. It's known that code 926-96881 is found on a 1970 build sheet and color is simply listed as "Blue Acrylic Lacquer" but no mention of 'Carolina Blue' specifically.  A 1972 build sheet does show the wording CAROLINA BLUE but the mixing formula itself is obscured.

** Paint code 43 Citrus Green was announced as one of four late spring of 1970 colors available in Canada. Notice the applications states these colors were not available with convertibles, station wagons, El Caminos or SS 454 with LS6 option; none of which were built in Canada. But, the color has been found as a special paint for a U.S.-built LS6 sport coupe.

Matching wheels could also be ordered painted with the first 3 digits being 766 and 767 for non-metallic/metallic followed by the same 5 digit number for the body.  As more colors are discovered, they'll be posted here.

Depending on the assembly plant a special order paint would show the DuPont mixing formula as above, some plants would show two dash characters or the paint code area simply left blank. The mixing formula would be designated on the build sheet. Special order paint had to be approved by the Fleet & Special Order section of Chevrolet. Special order paint could be any color available by any automotive paint manufacturer except Cadillac Firemist colors due to the coarseness of the metallic in the paint and, supposedly, Corvette exclusive colors.

Editor's Note: At least one 1972 Chevelle built at the Arlington, TX. assembly plant has been found with paint code 47, a Corvette only color Elkhart Green. The information is backed up by the build sheet noting the color.

Another variation is this 1970 Van Nuys El Camino with a paint code of 926-BM865 and appears to be some shade of blue.

Another 926-BM875 has been brought to my attention.  Again, a 1970 El Camino from Van Nuys.

Special Paint Tag Examples

While most plants, most years, would show a paint mixing formula, dash characters, or just blanks on the trim tag for special paint, some plants would include a GM paint code that's not 'correct' for the particular year and Chevrolet model. Here are several examples.

A 1970 Chevelle from Arlington with a single paint code of 51 which is a 1970 Oldsmobile color with the sales name of "Sebring Yellow" which is the same as Chevrolet's "Daytona Yellow."

A 1972 Chevelle from Arlington with paint code 47 47 which is a 1972 Corvette color with the sales name of "Elkhart Green."

Custom Vinyl Top

Special order vinyl top colors could also be ordered via the F&SO process. Note the vinyl top code letter "H" on this 1972 Chevelle. Chevrolet's vinyl top color options for 1972 Chevelles were limited to black, green, or white with a Pewter Silver body color. The code letter "H" was used on 1972 Buicks and 1972 Pontiacs for Medium Pewter vinyl top.