Classic Oldsmobile Cutlass Paint Colors & Factory Codes (1964–1972)
Every original factory paint color offered on the classic Oldsmobile Cutlass (1964–1972), with official manufacturer paint codes, hex approximations, and rarity notes. Use the paint code to order a color-matched sample from a restoration supplier.
The Oldsmobile Cutlass and its 442 muscle variant rode on GM's A-body platform from 1964 through 1972, sharing structural hardware with the Pontiac GTO, Buick Skylark and Chevrolet Chevelle. Yet Oldsmobile dressed its cars in a palette all its own. The mid-1960s leaned on dignified "Mist" metallics and letter-coded staples like Ebony Black, Provincial White and Tropic Turquoise. As the muscle era peaked, the line picked up far bolder shots of color: Crimson in 1969, the famous quartet of 1970 special-order hues (Rally Red, Sebring Yellow, Nugget Gold and Aegean Aqua), and the high-impact Bittersweet and Lime Green of 1971.
Although GM divisions drew from a shared corporate spectrum, each one renamed and renumbered the colors so the names stayed distinctly Oldsmobile. GM also rotated its two-digit codes every model year, so the same number means different paint depending on the year — code 53 was Nassau Blue in 1969, Nugget Gold in 1970 and Saturn Gold in 1971; code 75 moved from Aztec Gold to Fire Red to Matador Red. A few 442-favorite shades such as Sebring Yellow (standard on the Rallye 350) and Rally Red were special-order only, making correctly coded survivors especially prized today.
Sources:
tpocr.com (Oldsmobile body plate / paint code data, 1966-1971)
over-drive-magazine.com (1970 Oldsmobile mid-size fact sheet)
★ Rare / Desirable Colors
Standard Colors
🔧 Restoration Tips: Finding & Matching Your Original Color
- • Read the Fisher Body cowl/trim tag on the driver-side firewall or upper cowl: the two-character paint entry gives the lower/upper body color codes that prove your car's original factory color.
- • Always match the code to the exact model year. GM reused two-digit numbers from year to year (e.g. code 53 and code 75 each named three different colors across 1969-1971), so a code alone is meaningless without the year.
- • Cross-reference the cowl-tag code against a year-specific Oldsmobile chart and the Sherwin-Williams/Ditzler (DuPont) WA or paint-mix number before ordering material — names like Rally Red (WA-4007) and Sebring Yellow (WA-3893) tie back to specific 1970 formulas.
- • Treat special-order 1970 colors (Rally Red, Sebring Yellow, Nugget Gold, Aegean Aqua) and W-30/W-31 442 documentation with extra care: pair the cowl tag with Oldsmobile PHS or build documentation to confirm authenticity, since these scarce hues are frequently re-created.