the correct color of red for a 750 Sprint

[JHertzman@xxxxxxx]

In AD7-341 Peter Pleitner asked about "the correct color of "Bertone Red"
for a 750 Sprint", mentions that he has Tom Zat's color charts, and suspects
it might be the "501B", "but don't really trust this info.  So does anyone
have better info for me?  If you have done this research (preferably something
I can use at the PPG store), please send me what you know, how it was
determined, and indicate your level of confidence in this information."

First, the "B" on 501B in Zat's color charts is not part of the color code, it
designates one of the price groups for paints sold by Zat.

Second, I have tried to develop a usable list from the late sixties Body Shop
Manual, any factory color chip charts I could get, and paint manufacturers'
lists, and then when I got the D'Amico-Tabucchi book (which lists names, but
not numbers, of colors used on each model in particular years, but is not
necessarily totally reliable) I tried to correlate the DA-T names with the
previously accrued names and numbers.

Third, in all this stuff there is no "Bertone Red". There is Bertone White,
Bertone Grey, and Bertone Blue, but no "Bertone Red" mentioned in any of these
sources. A caveat is that the names change for different markets and/or
different years; a red usually called by another name might have been called
"Bertone Red" when that Sprint was sold here. It is also possible that the
same name is used for slightly different colors, although that happens more in
more recent years. The name "Rosso Alfa", Alfa Red, is used for three
variants, 501, 530 (in the eighties on Spiders and GTV6s) and 555 (on the
Milano).

"Rosso Alfa", Alfa Red, is the only red name listed in d'Amico-Tabucchi for
the Giulietta Sprint. 

The late sixties factory Body Shop Manual, which has a numbers/names list of
standard Alfa colors, has three reds: 501 Rosso Alfa, 514 Rosso Italia P.F.-
Farina Red, which would have been Spiders only, and 509 Rosso Amaranto-
amaranth (also called plum) which d'A-T says is first used on the Giulias.

SO- I would say it is fairly certain that it is 501, which he should be able
to use at the PPG store.

Peter Pleitner also says "I hope to use PPG's color and clear coat system."
His car, his choice, but a clear coat system will give him a car which looks
very different than when it left the factory. It is arguably a much better
paint, but in the same ways that most 1998 cars are much better cars than any
forty year old Alfa Sprint. Something to think about, but certainly his choice
to make.

Cordially,

John H. 

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