Consumers could buy 1970 model year Mopars painted in some pretty funny
High Impact colors, such as this “Plum Crazy” Dodge Charger R/T.
The year was 1969. Somewhere, somehow in planning for the 1970 model year cars, the automotive industry got a sense of humor. This resulted in the best car paint color names of all time.
Chrysler Corp was first out of the gate with its High Impact colors for models such as the Charger, Challenger, ‘Cuda, and Road Runner. Ford was right behind with its list of optional paint for such masterpieces as the then all-new Maverick. Although the actual paint shades were nothing too remarkable, the names might have been the most creative things ever to come out of Michigan.
For instance, 1970 Dodge High Impact Colors included:
Sublime
Green Go
Go Mango
Banana
Panther Pink
Plum Crazy
Hemi Orange
Plymouth got mostly the same colors with different names:
Limelight
Sassy Grass Green
Vitamin “C”
Lemon Twist
Moulin Rouge
In Violet
Tor Red
As cute as Mopar’s High Impact Colors were, Ford one-upped them on names for its 1970 poly-paint colors:
Original Cinnamon
Bring ‘Em Back Olive
Three Putt Green
Anti-Establish Mint
Last Stand Custard
There She Blue
Young Turquoise
Hulla Blue
Good Clean Fawn
Counter Revolutionary Red
Knight White
Freudian Gilt
History Onyx
Paint Names You’ll Never See:
With these great paint names in mind, the staff here at The Four Wheel Drift has dreamed-up the worst paint names that could ever be printed in a brochure or on a window sticker…
Yellow Snow
Blue Balls
Gang Green
Golden Showers
Gray Matter
Salmon Nilla
P.U. Ter
Packer Fudge
Tan Line
In the Buff
Beef Tungsten
Once You Go Black
Popper Cherry Red
Purple Nurpel
Lapis Dance
Pierced Naval Orange
High Whore Silver
Augusta National Country Club Membership White
Stinky Pinky
Almost Celibate Cardinal
Camel Topaz Two Tone
Augmented Chestnut
Copper Feel
What a Maroon
Sapphire Crotch
Red Tide
F-Uchsia
I Cannot Tell A Lilac
Sue ‘Em Vermillion
A Postscript – The Paint Color Nickname Hall of Fame:
From the files of “things we wished we thought of,” in 1970 the Chrysler Corp-supported Plymouth Superbird of Charlie Glotzbach started running NASCAR’s Gran National circuit painted in the factory color Plum Crazy. A creative journalist, however, gave the color a nickname that stuck with the media for years: “Statutory Grape.”
What are the chances that in its all-things-retro craze, DaimlerChrysler offers the new Hemi Challenger due out next year in this shade?
Sam Barer\'s Four Wheel Drift 
This is really funny. I just stumbled into finding this site, but considering how funny, informative and honest it is, this car enthusiast will be visiting more in the future. It’s good to see that at least one web site isn’t muzzled by what the advertisers will or won’t let one say!
Keep up the great work!!!
I bought a 1969 Dodge Dart GTS with a 340 shortly after enlisting in the Air Force. It was Hemi Orange, and this car was the most fun to drive of any car I would own. There’s just something about a car with these colors, 500+ hp on tap (not stock), a four-speed and 4.56 gears!! Not to mention the Edelbrock cross-ram with 2 Carter AFBs to boot! I lost my mind in 1979 and sold that car.
The largest number of colors on a particular car, in one given year, happened on the 1967 (Ford) MUSTANG. Not only were there the “normal” 15 or so paint colors, there were also territorial colors that were only used in 1 of the 3 different plants, making Mustanngs. Each plant had it’s own territorial colors, plus there was the National “Color-Of-The-Month “Club” where they’d produce a certain color for only 60 days. Plus the Playboy Pink Cars, named after Hugh Hefners’s Playboy Club.
Nationwide Colors:
Silver Frost/Raven Black/Frost Truruoise/Acapulco Blue (Winter 1966/1967 only) / Arcadian Blue (Springtime 1867 Only) / Lime Gold/Nightmist Blue/Wimbledon White/Brittany Blue/Candyapple Red/Clearwater Aqua/Burnt Amber/Dark Moss Green/Sauterne Gold/Pebble Beige/Springtime Yellow/Beige Mist/
Diamond Green (Borrowed from T-Bird) Springtime 67
Diamond Bue (Borrowed From T-Bird Springtime 67
Dusk Rose (Springtime 67) (Only made at NJ Plant)
Anniversary Gold
Unclear who or what “Anniversary” it came in #1, #2 & #3 a slightly different shade for each Mustang Plant
Blue Bonnet (For Texas Only)
Timberline Green (For Washington State & Oregon and Northern California & High Country Ski Country Color)
Lavendar, for Mississippi, Lousiana & Arkansas)
Bright Red (Unknown for what area)
Playboy Pink – Nationwide, Special Order
Aspen Gold – (High Country Color)
Columbine Blue (High Country Color)30 colors in 1 year on one make/model car.
Remember AMC, the small independent often ahead of its time, car manufacturer? AMC led the pack with the high impact “psychedelic” colors when in 1967 it offered Electric Green, Tangerine and Blue-You’ve Never Seen. These colors were part of the limited production Rebel Raiders. In ’69 these colors were offered as regular production colors renamed Big Bad Green, Big Bad Orange and Big Bad Blue. The AMX and Javelins also had painted bumpers to increase the impact.
Bud,
Absolutely — AMC was known for creative marketing. We shouldn’t forget that AMC also contributed one of the most memorable INTERIOR colors: Levi’s Denim Blue.
Contrary to popular belief, the Levi’s interior option found on AMC vehicles, such as the Gremlin, Matador and Jeep did not use real Levi’s denim jeans fabric. The fabric used in the vehicles was a tougher-grade automotive-spec fabric colored to the Levi’s denim blue and stitched with orange-colored upholstery thread.
Thank you for keeping AMC in our heads.
Here’s one more to list under “Paint Names You’ll Never See”…
** Arrest Me Red **
-especially good for cars which already look like they go really fast.
I am wiping my laugh tears at these color names. Gang Green?? Too much!!
I also like “Can’t Catch Me Copper”
This post reminds of the movie “Joe Dirt”. He was looking at a auto trader and he couldn’t believe they would let a charger go that was Plum Crazy Purple. I had a good laugh reading some of the other names that were used also.
As I was employed in 1970 in sales, in a I.C.P. dealership (Imperial, Chrysler, Plymouth) we got to see the daily manufacturing updates & releases. What very very few people ever knew was that 2 of MOPARs “High Impact Paint Colors” were actually released on (for) the Imperial !! Hard to believe and I have never seen one, but the bright yellow (Lemon Twist / Top Banana AND the Tor-Red (a super-bright Red-Orange) were released for the 1970 Imperial LeBaron and Crown models. THEY WERE EXTRA COST ! Dying to know, I wrote several letters to Chrysler Corp. asking how many Imperials were made in each of those 2 colors. It’s now 39 years later. I still await an answer….
A PS to above:
The Tor-Red offered on the 1970 Imperial was also called “Hemi Orange” on Dodge(s) ….
Both Colors HAD to HAVE black Cloth interior on Crowns, and Black Cloth interior on LeBarons -OR- Black OR White Leather on LeBarons. Either color cost $14.00 extra MSRLP & $11.00 at Invoice.
it’s really funny and i m surprised to know that could colours also sound so wiered……….
which is sassy light green color…?
Sorry but you have one mistake, yes Dodge and Plymouth shared a bunch of the same colors but Vitamin C orange is a different color than Hemi Orange. Vitamin C orange has is a lighter shade with a bit of metal flake in it, Hemi orange is a darker shade of orange, and doesn’t have any metal flake.
Other wise a great article.
Tor Red = Hemi Orange
Vitamin C = Go Mango
On the dealer announcement of the 2 “High Impact” on the Imperial,
(Link in blue, above) it states only the Tor-Red was being offered. Perhaps when that went to print…..But we recieved at the dealership a notice that Top Banana (a.k.a. “Lemon Twist” ) was now ALSO available on ALL Imperial models. It was a revised sheet like the one’s link above.
I sold alot of Imperial(s) ~ as the dealership was in a very wealthy area. We were the top selling Imperial dealership in Northern New Jersey.
My brother was a car salesman for years and had some special names for the paints. His Olds was green “gall bladder green” and he also call the gun metal gray Chevy “casket gray” He had a rough time selling the later to anyone under 80 years old.
Das BOOM- I use to mix auto paint.
Thought one color for Ford was called “Thanks Vermillion”.
I worked for a man who was a Dodge dealer back in the 1960’s & 70’s. He told me that Chrysler Corp. considered calling that color “Statutory Grape”. Probably a good thing it didn’t make the cut.
Always thought that was an urban legend. Still not sure if I believe it.