*ORIGINAL* paint code 93 'Lucerne Aqua'

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Code 93 'Lucerne Aqua' didn't sell at the dealers in late '69/early '70. So GM added more green, changed
the name to 'Lucerne Aqua Firemist' - but never changed the code number. They did this to Chevrolet a couple
of times.

2 original paint jobs, 3 pics of The Ark after PPG got done reproducing the ORIGINAL color 53 years later.

Yowza...

[Seville Life]

Where did you get that story from?

I ask because I have the 1970 Data Book and that colour, right from day-one of 1970 production was Lucerne Aqua Firemist? Indeed the brochure shows a car in Lucerne Aqua Firemist?

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Where did you get that story from?

I ask because I have the 1970 Data Book and that colour, right from day-one of 1970 production was Lucerne Aqua Firemist? Indeed the brochure shows a car in Lucerne Aqua Firemist?

"Story"? LMAO, information babe. I have the data book and dealer options book too, originals.
Code 93 was "Lucerne Aqua". The original paint chips are the color shown above. Back in the old days
brochure colors were always suspect, you think that O28S interior actually looked like that? LOL! It was in
early 1970 all the reprinted books were changed to "Lucerne Aqua Firemist", along with the paint chips,
I have those too. That color didn't sell, so GM changed it. And for dessert I met a friend in NY state who
actually worked as a mechanic in a Caddy dealership in 1970, and what a nightmare it was for their body shop
to touch up paint - with the wrong color.

Crucial to remember I'm surrounded by the best in the business when it comes to technical/authenticity, etc.
Would I have spent nearly $2000 for a box of paint and reducer if we weren't SURE it was the right color?
Please... LOL!

Also have the evidence, ON MY CAR, (data plate code 93) when it went in for full paint and body last winter.
Not only were the door jambs and inside of the trunk lid 'Lucerne Aqua', as they sanded down to metal they
found more 'lucerne aqua'. Someone had previously painted my car Home Depot Teal in an effort to reproduce to
the incorrect brochure color and the future R-M color chips that represented the new "Lucerna Aqua Firemist".

Note the blue as he's sanding down the right rear fender...
I even had the fabulous body shop cut out a piece of the inner trunk lid and send it to me to compare the old
ORIGINAL paint chips of Code 93 'Lucerne Aqua', it was a match. All of our test spray outs from PPG were done
from here. This also matched the door jambs that were a completely different color from the then current body
color, that photo is attached. This process took weeks. Fortunately they had plenty of body work to do in the
meantime. Note the color of the door jamb compared to the body (back door) in the last picture... Lucerne Aqua
vs 'Lucerne Aqua Firemist'.

My car was an early build 1970, born in November of 1969, with the original paint color 'Lucerne Aqua'. Do you
think someone at some point just repainted the car a random aqua blue? They would have removed the
original oil change sticker from the drivers' door jamb.  ...its still there...  Note that sticker
in a lower original photo, I requested the body shop 'save' that sticker at all costs, they did, its a crucial part of the car's provenance for me. They hit this job out of the park.

Don't get me wrong, if I had the car painted green it would have been technically correct. But it would have
biblically/authentically, wrong for this car. This color, "Lucerne Aqua", was the color of my father's car.
I washed it enough times when I was 10...

And now you know you the rest of the story, etc.

[Seville Life]

That is fascinating. I have two '70 Data Books and neither show the first colour so must be later versions? It's a colour (both) that is stunning. I started my Cadillac life with 1970 cars.

I'm English, we were into Buicks, I was 14. This guy appears wanting engine parts for this mint, like new '70 Coupe deVille. It had arrived in England on New York plates and was confiscated by Her Majesty's Customs for not paying any import taxes? The guy drained the engine oil before they came to take it away and so bang it went. We ended up buying a car that running we could never have afforded.

There's something about them, every detail, the front, those rear lights, that steering wheel.

I assume the car in the picture is yours? Love the Dumbarton cloth trim. Paul

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

That is fascinating. I have two '70 Data Books and neither show the first colour so must be later versions? It's a colour (both) that is stunning. I started my Cadillac life with 1970 cars.

I'm English, we were into Buicks, I was 14. This guy appears wanting engine parts for this mint, like new '70 Coupe deVille. It had arrived in England on New York plates and was confiscated by Her Majesty's Customs for not paying any import taxes? The guy drained the engine oil before they came to take it away and so bang it went. We ended up buying a car that running we could never have afforded.

There's something about them, every detail, the front, those rear lights, that steering wheel.

I assume the car in the picture is yours? Love the Dumbarton cloth trim. Paul

Dumbarton O28S is awesome - until you have to get the drivers seat reupholstered and know it won't match the
rest of the interior so you decide spending $15K to get your entire interior to match isn't worth the 3-5 points
and you're suddenly OK with the driver's seat not matching everything else. LOL!

Actually, the plot thickens - there were 3 names for Code 93. The first, was my color #93 "Lucerne Aqua".
Then came code 93 "Lucerne Aqua Poly", same color, same code, different name. Then came "Lucerne Aqua Firemist",
same code, different name, different color (more greenish).

Try owning my car KNOWING it was the ORIGINAL Code 93 'Lucerne Aqua'. Everyone wanted to paint my car green (Lucerne Aqua Firemist) when I KNEW, when I could SEE, this car was the original bluer aqua, JUST LIKE my dad's car. The evidence is in the photo's I posted. Fortunately a shop up the street from HVA, Garbitt Auto, had the ORIGINAL paint chip from late 69/early 70. My 70 car was a late 69 build. Dickie's father kept everything. It was Dickie who matched that color exactly with PPG, did a test spray out in his shop, and it matched my car. Dickie Garbitt was the only one who believed me since his father was a Cadillac guy and remembers that color being in his shop. Phew.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Paint color names were stated with and without the "Firemist" designation in official sources.  After 1963, whenever a paint code was 9X (nineties) it was automatically a Firemist color (optional at extra cost).  Prior to that, a 9X color was one of the standard "Eldorado" colors however even these could be ordered on any other model at extra charge.

In this era, "poly" was used to indicate polychromatic paint (metallic) that again has no significance to the color formulation for a given paint code. So regardless of whether code 93, Lucerne Aqua was described as "Firemist" or "Poly", it made no difference. "Poly" in this era is not to be confused with the later use of "poly" for polyurethane paint.

[Seville Life]

So is the picture of your driver's seat after reupholstering? SMS cloth? Would love to see a better picture of your car.

Eric - I never knew that about the use of the word 'poly' in paint descriptions. Polyurethane must have been an expensive choice, it was used on marine applications also?

Do you know when polyurethane was first used?

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Eric - I never knew that about the use of the word 'poly' in paint descriptions. Polyurethane must have been an expensive choice, it was used on marine applications also?

Do you know when polyurethane was first used?

The only materials I've seen "poly" appear is in color sample charts distributed by paint manufacturers, ie: R-M, Ditzler etc. Only the metallic colors are shown as "poly". All Firemist colors would naturally fall into that category.

I have no idea when polyurethane became an OEM finish applied by an auto manufacturer but I can say that acrylic lacquer was pretty much used in all regular production GM vehicles until 1984 and beyond that only for certain models. After 1990, lacquer was no longer used by GM. 

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

So is the picture of your driver's seat after reupholstering? SMS cloth? Would love to see a better picture of your car.

It hasn't been done yet, and I'm just doing the driver's seat. The rest of the seats are in great shape and have aged gracefully. What pictures do you want to see, in or out? When I get home later I'll respond.

[wrefakis]

Lucerne aqua was always a firemist color at extra cost
any change in color during model year production would have been noted in sevice bulletin to dealers
aftermarket paint charts do not apply to oem
period

[Seville Life]

Interior please. The Brougham interiors were great.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

The bottom line is that color forumlation was never changed for a given paint code in a given model year as this would result in confusion and mismatching issues.

If a color was to be revised, a new paint code would be assigned with a new color name. There are a few instances in which a color was dropped mid-year and a new color introduced but those were rare.

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Lucerne aqua was always a firemist color at extra cost
any change in color during model year production would have been noted in sevice bulletin to dealers
aftermarket paint charts do not apply to oem
period

Yes it was a firemist color.
code 93 was referred to as "Lucerne Aqua", then "Lucerne Aqua Poly", and finally "Lucerne Aqua Firemist" in a different shade of aqua.
Period.

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

The bottom line is that color forumlation was never changed for a given paint code in a given model year as this would result in confusion and mismatching issues.

If a color was to be revised, a new paint code would be assigned with a new color name. There are a few instances in which a color was dropped mid-year and a new color introduced but those were rare.

Usually you're fairly accurate with your opinions Eric, not this time.
When the car tells you its story physically, when mechanics who worked in dealerships in 1970
agree to the differences, you have to admit you are wrong. It was a very short run of Code 93 in the
color The Ark was painted from the factory in. The color didn't sell, so it was changed to something
'greener'.

[Dave Shepherd]

I also worked for GM, Cadillac division back then, pretty sure the paint info on the trunk tag also noted the brand of the paint used, may be some differences in shade there.

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

I also worked for GM, Cadillac division back then, pretty sure the paint info on the trunk tag also noted the brand of the paint used, may be some differences in shade there.

Data plate on the car shows Code 93 for paint.
I had the body shop physically cut out a piece of the trunk, the area least likely to be affected over the years,
and matched the paint to that. Which also matched the door jambs, which also matched the paint they stripped down
to before they hit metal in the body shop. Those photos are attached. The research I did on this color took weeks, others are welcome to go down the same rabbit hole as I did. The color of my car is correct for its birth date of November 1969. Other 1970's built later in the 1st quarter and beyond will be a greener tint. Do you really think I'd spend $2000 for a gallon and a half of paint and gallon and a half of reducer for the "wrong color"? LMAO!

[wrefakis]

No
lets assume a 70 sedan came in in early september 69
placed in demo service
sold in march 1970
needs a touch up prior to delivery
factory changed paint color formula
how would you order correct paint??
answer you would have been sent a service bulletin to that effect
where did cadillac produce ant document indicating changes in code 93?
there were colors added and discontinued,so the code 93 changes must appear in factory documents

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Usually you're fairly accurate with your opinions Eric, not this time.
When the car tells you its story physically, when mechanics who worked in dealerships in 1970
agree to the differences, you have to admit you are wrong. It was a very short run of Code 93 in the
color The Ark was painted from the factory in. The color didn't sell, so it was changed to something
'greener'.

If I had a dollar every time a factory worker or dealership worker with decades of experience told me something factually inaccurate, I could buy your car. Memories fade and something that begins with a grain of truth gets garbled into something completely different as it passes from one individual to the next or something gets misinterpreted. Three other people here have also said essenitally the same: The color in question was the same on day one as it was throughout production, end of story. You're free to believe what you wish.   

Unintentional production variations from different spray guns by different workers on different days in different plant areas are another matter.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Here's an example that may help explain where the confusion is coming from. This sample from the 1979 showroom guide is labeled "Slate" only but it's actually Slate Firemist.

[Dave Shepherd]

That's  why the code is important for at least a starting point, I remember the cosmetic company Avon pink, code 00, extra gallon in the trunk.