Mopar Color Names
Color Names
Precision in color names is important both in conveying an accurate word-picture in describing cars and in maintaining an accurate account of the restored and original cars offered at auction.
I have begun carrying around in my Motion Tablet computer a pdf document copied from Wikipedia of colors and their names to help differentiate between terminology and — more importantly — to be consistent. It helps me differentiate between “pumpkin” and “saffron” but doesn’t take into account the gloriously enthusiastically named colors affixed to some of the most sought of American cars in the Sixties and Seventies.
It’s possible to imagine the delightful debates that went on among stylists, designers, artists and others during lunchtime debates during the era trying to come up with appropriate, characteristic but also whimsical names for colors. It must have been a wonderful exchange of ideas. Full credit goes to the managers who let names like “Plum Crazy” sneak through, and that is the impetus for this page. The Mopar designers in ’70-’71 did marvelous things, but few of them are more appreciated today than the whimsical, topical names they gave to the High-Impact / High-Performance colors adorning Plymouths and Dodges of the day.
The double entendres were lying around on the ground, twitching and smiling, waiting for today’s collectors to catch on.
My favorites (aside from the ever-popular Plum Crazy and attitudinous Sassy Grass) is Green-Go, which begs to be pronounced like Warner Brothers’ cartoon’s Speedy Gonzalez would have said it, “Greengo”, and Citron Yella, the color for people who want to keep mosquitoes away.
Today it’s hard to separate Plum Crazy from In Violet, so I’ve compiled the following table from published sources (referenced lest I be accused of plagiarizing) to give Mopars their correct color names.
There are no more excuses.
On the Mopar fender tag the color code is the left-most set of three characters on the second line from the bottom.
The High-Impact/Performance Colors
Color Code | Plymouth Name | Dodge Name |
High-Impact | High-Performance | |
1970 | ||
FC7 | In Violet | Plum Crazy |
FJ5 | Lime Light | Sublime |
EK2 | Vitamin C Orange | Go-Mango |
EV2 | Tor-Red | Hemi Orange |
FY1 | Lemon Twist | Top Banana |
FM3 | Moulin Rouge | Panther Pink |
FJ6 | Sassy Grass | Green-Go |
Italics are mid-year colors | ||
1971 | ||
GY3 | Curious Yellow | Citron Yella |
EV2 | Tor-Red | Hemi Orange |
FJ6 | Sassy Grass | Green-Go |
FC7 | In Violet | Plum Crazy |
FY1 | Lemon Twist | Top Banana |
The Standard Colors
Color Code | Plymouth Name | Dodge Name |
1970 | ||
EA4 | Silver | Silver |
EA9 | Charcoal | Dark Grey |
EB3 | Ice Blue | Light Blue |
EB5 | Blue Fire | Bright Blue |
EB7 | Jamaica Blue | Dark Blue |
FE5 | Rallye Red | Rallye/Bright Red |
FF4 | Lime Green | Light Green |
EF8 | Ivy Green | Dark Green |
EF9 | Dark Emerald | |
FK3 | Burnt Orange | |
FK5 | Deep Burnt Orange | Dark Burnt Orange |
BL1 | Sandpebble Beige | Beige |
EM9 | Deep Plum | |
FP6 | Frosted Teal | |
FQ3 | Light Turquoise | |
ER6 | Scorch Red | Red |
DR8 | Burgundy | |
FT3 | Sahara Tan | |
FT6 | Burnt Tan | Dark Tan |
FT8 | Walnut | |
EW1 | Alpine White | Eggshell White |
TX9 | Black Velvet | Black |
DY2 | Sunfire Yellow | Yellow |
DY3 | Yellow Gold | Cream |
FY4 | Citron Mist | Light Gold |
FY6 | Gold | |
C37D | Petty Blue | Corporate Blue |
1971 | ||
GA4 | Winchester Gray | Light Gunmetal |
GA8 | Dark Gunmetal | |
GB2 | Glacial Blue | Light Blue |
GB5 | True Blue | Bright Blue |
GB7 | Evening Blue | Dark Blue |
GC8 | Indigo | |
GE7 | Burgundy | |
GF7 | Sherwood Green | Dark Green |
GF3 | Amber Sherwood | Light Green |
GY8 | Gold Leaf | Gold |
GY9 | Tawny Gold | Dark Gold |
GJ4 | Moss Green | |
GK6 | Autumn Bronze | Dark Bronze |
T5 | Tan | |
GT2 | Tunisian Tan | |
FE5 | Rallye Red | Bright Red |
W3 | Snow White | Bright White |
TX9 | Formal Black | Black |
EL5 | Butterscotch |
Source: Original Challenger and Barracuda 1970-1974: The Restorer’s Guide by Jim Schild; MBI Publishing, 2003 and Catalog of American Car ID Numbers 1970-79, Cars & Parts Magazine; Amos Press 1991