Swarfy – remember those metallic cellulose days. I could paint a front wing, hand the paint gun to another person who’d paint the door and he’d pass it to someone who’d paint the rear wing. And you’d have three different shades of the same colour, because the shade depends on where the metal ends up in the paint. Spray distance and thickness applied make a huge difference. I recall in around ’70 we had a silver Capri in with front wing damage. Ended up spraying the whole car. These days, painters don’t know they’re born. You paint the front wing and then mist across the next panel so that by the end you’re at original finish. Then apply lacquer. Can’t do that with cellulose.
With the A series I think half the trouble is that people are hung up on the word ‘golden’ when in fact the colour is near halfway between gold and silver.
I had an oil tank that had been in my store for decades and was, with 99% certainty, original paint. I cleaned the back and matched as close to that as I could. Is it accurate? Who knows, but I’m happy with it and that’s the main thing. In my view some go too far in their quest for originality, to the extent it’s actually better finished than when it left the factory. That’s no longer original.
