Rick H, I agree it was always a blue car, with a 51A on the trim tag, there's no arguing it was originally that color...He may have been trying to say that a special order car COULD be a non-standard color, it just so happens that they chose a standard color for this car... I really don't know where he's going with that one, but as an SS396 car, the tail panel WOULD be painted black, regardless of color choice... as far as what % gloss of black, that can be taken that to a new thread if you wish.