1969 Q Code 428 Mach 1 - Special Order Paint - Ford Fleet Red

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1972 Trans Am - Special Order Paint - Cardinal Red (1 of 1)

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My old 1972 Formula 455HO. 1 of three known special ordered black cars. In 1972 for some crazy reason, GM decided you couldn't get black on a Firebird or Camaro. But if you paid the $79.01 (Canadian) you could special order any color you wanted.

https://www.yenko.net/forum/showthread.php?t=117705

An extra cost color was a color available on a particular model, but the manufacturer charged an extra amount to apply it. These colors were usually marked with a "*" in the dealer albums and listed as "Extra Cost". For instance, Carousel Red was an RPO color on the 1969 Firebird, but Pontiac charged you $12.64. Some of the confusion here is because on invoices Pontiac lists an extra cost color as "PAINT-SPECIAL" and people think that means special paint. But it's not, it's an extra cost color, not special paint. These cars would have a regular paint code on the invoice and trim tag.

A special paint car is a color not available on that particular model. For instance, Carousel Red on a 1969 Firebird was extra cost for $12.64, but Carousel Red on a 1969 Bonneville was a $115.85 charge because that color was not available on the Bonneville. The same $115.85 charge would apply if you wanted your 1969 Grand Prix painted Dodge Hemi Orange. It was for a color outside the normal operations for the manufacturer. A special paint car would not have an RPO paint code on the invoice and would have a "- -" on the trim tag (some exceptions, like with 1965 Tiger Gold, so it depends on year and model).

Steve, just an FYI (and it's not relevant to the discussion here), but the cost of a special paint was much higher than $79.01 in Canada in 1972. That's the cost to the dealer, not the MSRP charged to the customer.

A few special order black Firebirds made it through, including this special order 1970 Formula 400 in Starlight Black. Car was built with manual brakes, manual steering, no radio, M21 4-speed, and 3.73 gears. It has around 433 original miles on the odometer. Watch for a full feature on this soon in POCI's "Smoke Signals" magazine. http://www.4smileys.com/smileys/happ...y-smiley45.gif

Black was an available color on the 1970 and 1971 Firebirds so it was not extra cost in those years. It is just very rare to see one. Black carried a standard paint code on the firewall tag in 1970 and 1971 not the two dots as in 1972 and 1973.

That recent 1970 find is an amazing car and raised quite a ruckus when news of it appeared on PY. I can't wait to see the article.

Here's the firewall tag and Canadian invoice on my old '72. You can see the invoice prices under the "Solid Special" paint color.

Steve, Starlight Black was NOT an available color on 1970 Firebirds, it was Special Order only. Black was available in 1971 oin the Firebird, then they removed it again for 1972. The 1970 Formula referenced above has the same "- -" on the trim tag as your old '72.

Canadian prices were much higher than U.S. prices. The column you're seeing on your invoice is the price to dealers in Canada, not the retail price paid by the customer. The exchange rate was factored in when the cars were received in Oshawa and then new window stickers were created with Canadian prices.

Good info to have. What was up with GM and their hate for black paint? I guess they didn't like how bad their body prep was looking in that color?

I don't think black was a popular color for performance cars. It was middle-of-the-road at best. Generally manufacturers had a clearly defined number of regular-production colors to offer, so in this case Pontiac could decide to offer black or another color that it deemed more popular. IMHO

Pontiac offered Starlight Black on the 1969 Firebird, removed the choice for the 1970 Firebird, then offered it for the 1971 Firebird, then removed it for 1972 and it was not available again on the Firebird until 1976. Black became a popular color on the Firebird after 1977, thanks to the popularity of the Special Edition model and the "Smokey And The Bandit" movie.

Most everybody here probably already knows about this site, but for the few that dson't its a pretty good site for reference on paint colors.

http://paintref.com/paintref/index.shtml

It doesn't show "specials" like what this discussion is about, but does show you what was being sprayed across a manufacturer during a particular year.

There's stuff they get wrong at times (omissions or inclusions that are incorrect), but they update the site with corrections.