The re-creation of Atlantic Green was initially considered here. The process using original Austin Motor Company printed material for Atlantic Green resulted in the RAL Design colour signified by code 150 60 30.
With the acquisition by the Austin Ten Drivers Club (ATDC) of rare Belco swatch cards for Austin Motor Company’s 1932 paint range, more information has arisen – but is still ambiguous. ATDC’s Tony Mealing has been coordinating a publication for Austin owners that considers the closest matches to the original hues, through BS, RAL and car manufacturer existing colour codes.
The 1932 card range has revealed that Atlantic Green is not identifiable as a named colour despite its presence in the 1932 stock paint colours publication, but its presence was detected as a fine line detail called ‘light green’ on this card:
This, digitally sampled, was created into a uniform colour block. When compared back to the RAL Design range, this equates to RAL 150 60 20, the neighbouring tile to that decided upon two years ago. This is positive in that the two lines of enquiry have been entirely separate – one via 86-year-old print and one via 86-year-old paint.
We are still not in possession of a sample from an extant car painted in the 1930s. If this ever happens, we will have a third line of evidence that will further define the narrow range of possibilities identified.
RAL 150 60 30 tested on a car (below) as a hand-finish gloss paint was found to be fine-tuned by flatting, and approaches RAL 150 60 20 when sanded with a 240 paper – a smooth surface but with no polish.
The serendipitous discovery of the only known rendering of a car in this colour has also emerged through Austin publication 1118 from 1933. What is interesting is that it is NOT the car launch material, but the first revision and linking to a price rise for the 65 – despite the fact that the colour was perhaps found to be unpopular and never mentioned again.
Note: this research ideally relies on comparison of physical samples in daylight. This post conveys information but with the proviso that all computer display monitors convey things differently.
You can see RAL Design range colours here.
You can contact ATDC here.
Austin 65/Nippy Archive 