1965 Paint

Paint Codes - 1965

It should be noted up front that there are no known numbers for any particular color for a particular series or body style whether it be a solid color or two tone. The numbers shown below are valid for all series and body style Chevelles except where noted for the Malibu SS. There are also no known numbers for the different colors of convertible tops. There is a known number for black vinyl tops since black was the only choice in 1965. So just how many red (or any color) Malibu SS Chevelle sport coupes (or any other series) were built is not known and cannot even be calculated. There are a known number of Evening Orchid, Glacier Gray, and Crocus Yellow Malibu SSs were built but not by body style.

See Special Paint for more options.

1965 COLORS	PAINT CODE / SALES NAME / QTY * Color	LUCITE	RINSHED-MASON	DITZLER
	A ~ Tuxedo Black ** El Camino Black ~ 11,749	88-L	A-946	DDL-9300
	C ~ Ermine White ** El Camino White ~ 67,060 (36,636+30,424)	4024-L	A-1199	DDL-8259
	D ~ Mist Blue ** El Camino Medium Blue ~ 49,764 (17,293+32,471)	4630-L	A-1720	DDL-3301
	E ~ Danube Blue ** El Camino Dark Blue ~ 24,299 (16,548+7,751)	4631-L	A-1721	DDL-3302
	H ~ Willow Green ** El Camino Medium Green ~ 13,765 (7,530+6,235)	4633-L	A-1716	DDL-3303
	J ~ Cypress Green ** El Camino Dark Green ~ 10,131 (5,831+4,300)	4364-L	A-1717	DDL-3304
	K ~ Artesian Turquoise ** El Camino Medium Aqua ~ 53,925 (30,441+23,484)	4628-L	A-1718	DDL-3305
	L ~ Tahitian Turquoise ** El Camino Dark Aqua ~ 15,445 (7,810+7,635)	4629-L	A-1719	DDL-3306
	N ~ Madeira Maroon ** El Camino Maroon ~ 23,556 (14,503+9,053)	4624-LH	A-1711M	DDL-3307
	P ~ Evening Orchid El Camino - n/a Orchid ~ 5,075	4632-L	A-1722	DDL-3308
	R ~ Regal Red ** El Camino Red ~ 22,886 (13,525+9,361)	4625-LH	A-1712M	DDL-3309
	S ~ Sierra Tan ** El Camino Saddle ~ 20,031 (10,540+9,491)	4626-L	A-1713	DDL-3310
	V ~ Cameo Beige - El Camino Beige ~ 25,615 (14,241+11,374)	4401-L	A-1530	DDL-3136
	W ~ Glacier Gray El Camino - n/a Slate ~ 5,452	4623-L	A-1710	DDL-3312
	Y ~ Crocus Yellow El Camino - n/a Yellow ~ 8,345	4620-L	A-1715	DDL-3313

Notes:
* Chevrolet's internal report for 1965 is different from other years. All colors except Black, Orchid, Slate, and Yellow have two sales numbers. One is the color itself, such as CC for white at 36,636 and one for CC+1 at 30,424 for a total of 67,060. It is not certain what the "+1" represents or why the colors were broken down this way. One reasonable assumption would be the color by itself, the first number in parenthesis, is that color with black painted wheels and the second number in parenthesis is with body color painted wheels. Since all Black, Orchid, Glacier Gray, and Crocus Yellow Chevelles would come with black wheels anyway, only a single number is shown for those 4 colors. A Chevelle that was ordered with optional full wheel covers would get black wheels, those with no optional full wheel cover (i.e. hub caps) would get body colored painted wheels. So in the example of a white (CC) painted Chevelle with full wheel covers would have 36,636 sold while those with white painted wheels would be 30,424. But, this is only a theory.
** Denotes Malibu SS only color
1. Fremont, CA. included the paint color for the wheels at least through the end of May 1965 (5D) then stopped adding the code as of the first week of June (6A).

2. RPO Z16 optioned Chevelles is reported to be 201 cars and were available only in Tuxedo Black, Regal Red and Crocus Yellow. An unknown number had black vinyl tops. One convertible is purported to have been produced and was purported to be triple Gold but has never been documented as a 'production' car although to date this Z16 convertible has NOT turned up. There were to be 200 built at the Kansas City assembly plant and 1 prototype built at Baltimore. It is this website's contention this represents the 201 figure that's often cited.

TWO-TONE **
Lower	Upper
		CK ~ Ermine White / Artesian Turquoise ~ 3,761 (1,397+2,364)
		DC ~ Mist Blue / Ermine White ~ 6,383 (718+5,665)
		HC ~ Willow Green / Ermine White ~ no production numbers
		JV ~ Cypress Green / Cameo Beige ~ 680 (212+468)
		LK ~ Tahitian Turquoise / Artesian Turquoise ~ 1,036 (349+687)
		SV ~ Sierra Tan / Cameo Beige ~ 4,186 (1,266+2,920)
		VN ~ Cameo Beige / Madeira Maroon ~ 657 (218+439)
		WA ~ Glacier Gray / Tuxedo Black ~ 609
		YC ~ Crocus Yellow / Ermine White ~ 331

** GM Restoration kit notes models not available with two-tone color combinations.

Other "Not Available" combinations/series include:
131-13200, 133-13400, El Camino - DC, HC, WA & YC (note also it states no two-tone available on 13480 El Camino)
135-13600 & Deluxe El Camino- HC, WA & YC
137-138 Malibu SS - Only HC

Oddly, the HC two-tone combination apparently was not available on any series according to the table. So the question arises, why is it listed if it was not available on any series OR body style?

It should be noted the double-letter codes in parenthesis below are ordering codes. Where applicable on the Fisher Body number plate a single number is used.

COLOR	CONVERTIBLE TOP CODE ~ COLOR
	1 ~ White (Std. C05AA)
	2 ~ Black (RPO C05BB)
	3 ~ Beige (RPO C05AB)

COLOR	VINYL TOP CODE ~ COLOR
	6 ~ Black (RPO C08BB) ~ 2,442

Color Rating by Sales

It needs to be pointed out that there is no known breakdown of color and specific series or body style, numbers are for all 1965 Chevelles including convertibles where they would have a convertible top and sport coupes where they might have a vinyl top. Colors are listed total number of sales from most to least. Two-tone combinations are listed separately.

Popularity Number	Total Reported Sold	Color
1	67,060	Ermine White
2	53,925	Artesian Turquoise
3	49,764	Mist Blue
4	25,615	Cameo Beige
5	24,299	Danube Blue
6	23,556	Madeira Maroon
7	22,886	Regal Red
8	20,031	Sierra Tan
9	15,445	Tahitian Turquoise
10	13,765	Willow Green
11	11,749	Tuxedo Black
12	10,131	Cypress Green
13	8,345	Crocus Yellow *
14	5,452	Glacier Gray *
15	5,075	Evening Orchid *
	* Evening Orchid, Glacier Gray, and Crocus Yellow were only available on Malibu SS series.

Popularity Number	Two-tone	Colors - lower/upper
1	6,383	Mist Blue / Ermine White
2	4,186	Sierra Tan / Cameo Beige
3	3,761	Ermine White / Artesian Turquoise
4	1,036	Tahitian Turquoise / Artesian Turquoise
5	680	Cypress Green / Cameo Beige
6	657	Cameo Beige / Madeira Maroon
7	609	Glacier Gray / Tuxedo Black
8	331	Crocus Yellow / Ermine White
	none reported	Willow Green / Ermine White

GM of Canada Paint Code Chart

General Motors of Canada, LTD. offered many of the same colors as their U.S. counterpart. Although these colors are listed as 1965 Passenger Colors on the paint code chart, it is unknown if these additional colors were available on Chevelles as well. Several Canadian colors were identical to U.S. colors, only the sales names were a bit different.

Paint codes are shown as a single letter for solid color Chevelles and convertibles. Only when a two-tone paint scheme was ordered were two letter codes used. On convertibles, a single letter paint code is used and the convertible top color is shown on the bottom line of the trim tag with mixed verbiage but generally something like "TOP10," TOP 2," "TP2" or something similar.

1965 Canadian Colort Chart

Color vs. Sales Name

Paint color names often differ from the advertised Sales Name. One example might be where the factory paint color is simply RED but the sales name may be BOLERO RED or CRANBERRY RED. Yes, the paint mixing formulas are different between BOLERO RED and CRANBERRY RED but to the factory it was still just red. In a case where their may be two or more hues of a color with sales names such as DEEPWATER BLUE, NANTUCKET BLUE, and MARINA BLUE, the factory colors are simply shown as MEDIUM BLUE, DARK BLUE, or BRIGHT BLUE. A given paint color for a year may have a different sales name for Chevrolet than it does for say Buick, Oldsmobile, or Pontiac. An example of this is the 1969 sales name for Chevrolet of HUGGER/MONACO ORANGE is the same color as the 1969/1970 Pontiac sales name of CAROUSEL RED. Same color, same OEM supplier mixing formula, just different sales names for the two GM divisions.

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