Need a little help on 1960 Ghia colors

[marty7]

I have tried to search around but I haven't had much luck getting an exact to answer about the color for my 1960 Ghia. My color code from the birth certificate is L364 Strato Blue and when I started pulling it apart I found out it was also a 2 tone originally. I searched around in the tech section and it seems that the 2nd color was Arctic. However I can't exactly seem to find a code for Arctic. I also am not real sure what Strato looks like in person. I have seen some lighter almost seafoamy blues (which I personally like best ) and some more traditional blues too.

So I guess my questions are:

Is this Strato? Or is it a deeper blue like the Bug?

or is this Strato with Arctic top or a different color? If different does anyone know what these two colors are? (I really like this one)

I found this brochure ad on google but it seems karmannghia.org is down. I can't read what color the ad says and I was hoping someone out there might know. I googled "strato blue ghia" and it came up first but the resolution is not good enough to read the color names.

At least the top had been repainted but this is the car before I took it apart and had it sandblasted

Thanks for any feed back

[djway3474]

I have quite a few paint chips and cant find that white are you sure on the name?

[marty7]

Thanks for the reply

From the Archives then Literature is where I found the 2 tone color combos. Strato is the 2nd one from the top
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/lit/60ghiacolors_various.php


I have found Arctic White here but wasn't sure if it was correct
http://www.tcpglobal.com/aclchip.aspx?image=1960-Volkswagen-pg01.jpg

[djway3474]

Oooops I missed it. It appears to be just a shade or three lighter than the Strato. It is the chip just above the Strato in my book. Blind in one eye and cant see out of the other LOL. That would have to be it.
Strato is PPG 12336 and Arctic White (which looks close to Blue white L289) is PPG 8276

[Rome]

Marty, this won't help you, but the color of your '60 looks like a "shiny" version of the color of my '60 which my dad towed home for me 40 (forty) years ago. I recently found a slide of that Ghia in my dad's photo slide caroussel which I am eager to scan and post here. The car was already too rusty in the rockers to make it driveable so we scrapped it 2 years later after salvaging many mechanical parts from it.

The other Ghia in the paint booth "looks" to be a '63 color, L398 Pacific with possibly an L87 Pearl White roof. This info is from theSamba tech archive-
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/paintcodesghia.php

Could also be the '64 color L532 Polar Blue, though the car in the booth might be a '66 (outer mirror holes in the door, not at the back of the front cowl) unless it's a slightly earlier car on which the original mirror holes were filled in.

Using that same chart, the pale blue/green of your '60 could be L265 Platinum Grey. Note that L364 Strato Blue was only offered on Cabrios that year per this source.

[marty7]

Thanks for the replies. I did end up finding Arctic under the Type 1 Section of paint codes for 1959-60. Its code is L363. However I am really leaning away from the Strato and Arctic. I think I like the blue/mint/seafoam with the white top. I guess my car doesn't have the original motor so I have carte blanche to play around with colors

It is a little hard to tell from pics but is there much difference in Bahama Blue, Polar Blue, and Pacific ? Bahama and Polar look a lot alike and is Pacific maybe a little more sky blue?

[Rome]

Here's a good photo of a pacific blue Ghia. I know the current owner of this Ghia and it is the original factory-applied paint. When she bought the car out of NorCal it was painted a dark blue metallic. She removed that metallic blue paint laboriously by hand over a several-month period, using methods researched here on theSamba's paint and body forum.

Here's polar blue- it is much paler than pacific, with a tinge of grey-

Beetles had "bahama blue" in '65 and '66, using code L519. The "bahama blue" on Ghias from those years surprisingly had a different code L288.

[matt10]

How long ago did you get your birth certificate? A long time ago they put the engine numbers on the birth certificate and then they stopped doing it and put something like "Not available" I haven't got one in years, I'm wondering if they started putting the engine numbers on again.

[KGCoupe]

[John Moxon]