Remember that dull gray ’60 Dodge I had . . . ?
When I got it, it looked like this.
Then I painted the roof white (by hand), which improved the looks a little . . .
. . . but then I decided that a good running, good driving, rust-free early ’60s Mopar really deserves a fine quality top-to-bottom professional paint job–so here’s what it looks like now!
I was thinking of Teal or Azure . . .
I liked the look of this blue Polara in the brochure . . .
. . . and there was this convertible in Azure . . .
So I went to the local Maaco in Rockaway NJ. Miguel Gonzalez (who is great to work with) came up with a formula called Light Aqua Poly.
He mixed up a sample batch and I brushed it on the car in a few places. I thought it looked really good!
Prior to painting I removed all the trim I could. Lifting the mirror revealed that originally the Dodge was all white–someone had re-sprayed it gray at some point.
Me visiting Braun’s Automotive in Morristown NJ. Braun’s does quality work repairing both classic and modern cars.
Two weeks later I got the car back. Big difference, I must say!
Jackie Braun took this picture–looks like it could be used for a poster!
I drove to Acorn Hall in Morristown (former Augustus Crane residence, built 1860) . . .
. . . a real Addams Family house if there ever was one . . .
The rooms are basically unchanged since the 19th century. I once played Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag on that piano.
Front parlor.
Summer bedroom.
Ready to leave Acorn Hall . . .
A shot of that futuristic interior, just because!
. . . and back home again.
So that’s my auto painting saga–I never had a car totally repainted before. I think it was a good decision. The entire “personality” of the car has completely changed! It’s amazing what color can do. It’s like taking delivery on a brand-new 1960 Dodge Dart Phoenix in the colors I selected! Gives more credence to the old saying, “Save the surface, and you save all!”
It looks great! The color really makes it pop.
The picture in front of Acorn Hall really does look like 1960 – well, except for maybe the window a/c unit. But one could get lost looking at all the car and house details.
Thanks for your visit ! Absolutely gorgeous car , that new paint job really made her stand out even more
You did a great thing, it looks amazing! Congrats and enjoy that beautiful MOPAR! I know I would!
When the 1995 Taurus gets painted, it’s going from Indigo blue to Grabber blue. I imagine it’ll be quite the transformation there, too!
I’m a fan of the ’60 Dart, to begin with, so even in that gray color I like it. But yeah, that light aqua looks SOOO much better, especially with the white roof contrast.
I think gray, and especially silver, can be a hard color to pull off on a lot of older cars from this era, because it often clashes with all that chrome they use to use back then. I remember back in the early 90’s, looking at a ’60 Olds Ninety Eight hardtop coupe for sale, that had been repainted silver…it looked like a giant Coors beer can. Still a cool car, but I just didn’t think it wore that color well.
Ironically, the Coors in my fridge is now in a can that’s sort of a washed-out beige/creme color. It would make a nice touch-up color for my ’79 5th Avenue. So, in the long run, I STILL ended up with a car the color of a Coors beer can!
Beautiful! With the gray being a repaint and not a factory job, no wonder you were having such trouble reviving it to anything close to a shine. I have found that weathering has a much worse effect on a repaint than on an old factory enamel like Chrysler would have used.
And while I am not normally a fan of changing the color on a car, the original white with a gray interior is mighty uninspiring, and I like this far, far better. And taking off as much trim as you can in advance will give you a much, much better job.
I see this Dodge as working its way into the spot of Pride of the Fleet. 🙂
Looks really great, in my humble opinion. You did a good job. That certainly is quite a brake pedal, too!
It was a fad for a while in the fifties of promoting left-foot braking on automatic transmission cars. These super wide brake pedals on Chrysler Corp. cars fed into that, with promotional materials touting the wide pedal for left or right foot use.
This fad then disappeared after a few years. I don’t know anyone who brakes with their left foot, but I’m sure a few are out there.
My mom used to break with her left foot and would drive along with the foot slightly pressing the brake pedal. Said that was how she was taught. Her cars always seemed to wear out faster than others.
Very nice.
My fondness for cars of that era is boundless but the color combination you chose just adds to the overall impact of seeing it on the site.
I’m sure its in-person impact is even greater.
What a great NJ QQ!
PS: The photo you included of the Polara reminds me of how it visually differed from lower level Dodges. Specifically the shorter, cut-off, and sharper fins and the vertical grill bars (not shown). Your Dart seems to me to have a better visual balance than the Polara.
I agree with your take on the proportions of the Dart compared to the Polara. I think the ’60 Dart is probably the most tasteful Forward Look design. People must have agreed, because if my memory is correct, they sold a ton of them.
And more tasteful than the 1960 Plymouth. Speaking of Plymouth, Canadian Darts was a “Plodge” by having Plymouth interiors. http://oldcarbrochures.org/Canada/Chrysler-Canada/Dodge/1960-Dodge-Dart-Brochure/slides/1960_Dodge_Dart_Cdn-06-07.html
Looks awesome!
Looks great! I wish I had a Maaco in my area; my body/paint guy recently retired. I don’t mind doing that stuff, but it makes a huge mess and I really need a bigger air compressor for modern HVLP paint guns. Plus, a professional is simply better at body and paint than I am, especially considering I only do that kind of work every once in a while. A nice, reasonably-priced driver quality job is all I’m ever looking for, and I’ve heard that a lot of Maacos do that and more. Looks like they do.
Now I have the Maple Leaf Rag stuck in my head!
Leurkin GOOOD! Most impressive.
Although I am not usually a fan of changing from the factory paint color; I do like your choice.
Which level of the Maaco paint hierarchy did you choose?
Also curious about that question. When I was recently considering buying a car that would need a repaint (which I ultimately didn’t buy), I looked into Maaco and found that there are three levels of “everyday” work and then a separate price structure for “vintage” or “restoration” (not recalling the correct term), at almost double the price of the highest tier in the everyday category — which, of course, made me wonder how much was difference in the work and how much was markup.
In the 1990’s, I used them to do paint and body work on a ’74 Buick that came out gorgeous. I then took it to a few shows. People were amazed when I told them the paint was Maaco. Back then they didn’t have the higher “vintage” price point.
Paint quality does seem to vary from each Maaco franchise to another and which level you choose.
I have visited 5 different stores and walked around, checking out their finished paint jobs.
They ranged from barely adequate to spectacular results.
My 1991 Tempo GLS was painted by Maaco. Tons of over-spray, you could still see the flakey clearcoat pattern underneath on the tops, plenty of runs, drips, etc.
But, the previous owners of the 1997 Taurus we recently bought had it repainted not long ago at a local body shop, it was not much better, and it was far more expensive for them. Shame.
I love seeing someone give this much attention and care to what some would consider a rather dowdy old 4 door sedan. Sure, there are plenty of people willing to pour time, money and energy into a Mustang or a vintage pickup, but it takes a different kind of commitment and a little bit of love to give it to something more plebian. It looks great, and I’d personally stop to admire this car long before I’d bother to pay attention to another Mustang or restored C/10.
Side note- The photos remind me that I haven’t been back home to your area in the Summer in more than 6 years. Somehow I only ever get back there in the colder months. Now that another Summer has passed I’ll really have to plan a trip back home for next year.
Just beautiful!
A beautiful transformation! Looks terrific.
Looks great! Glad you went with a period-correct color.
Agree!
If I had not read this article and known of the paint color change; I would had never guessed it.
A most pleasing entry, Stephen. Visually and thematically. Keep ’em coming!
Looks gorgeous! There was a time in my life when I thought that these big, overwrought sedans with huge decklids and rear overhangs, tailfins, and lots of fussy details were ugly. But CC has certainly changed that! I admire that you are keeping this thing on the road.
That futuristic interior really is something. When I was a little kid riding in the back of my parents’ hair shirt K-car, I wouldn’t have imagined that Dodge once made cars with interiors like that!
Love your choice of colors and your tour of the mansion. Is your music available for listening, such as YouTubeor CD’sto purchase. I enjoy Scott Joplin’s music.
Somewhere I have a cassette recording of me playing Maple Leaf and a couple of others. It’s never been converted to modern formats. I remember it sounded pretty good, like a record album. I don’t play anymore; I’m rusty!
The piano at Acorn Hall was tuned a half-step lower (A = A flat) because the piano structure couldn’t take the wire tension of being tuned at A-440. This gave the music a mellow “old-timey” sound.
I always liked the Dart and with it’s 1950’s style paint job, it looks like a lot of fun to drive and dream in.
Gorgeous car and a great color choice Stephen.
My Dad’s ’60 Dodge (a lowly Seneca, but still…) was a baby blue color. Looking at the color swatches, I’d have to guess it was Frost Turquoise, but I’m not entirely sure. I was about 5-1/2 years old when he traded it in for a brand new ’66 Impala, just as I was becoming car-aware. I don’t really remember this car much other than in home movies, but of the 1960 full size cars from the Big 3, the Dodge was my favorite. You see so few of them now. I’m so glad you are preserving one!
My Dad’s looked something like this one pictured below, only not pained like a cop car. While I thought at one time that his may’ve been a 2-door post sedan, it was actually a 4-door. He didn’t do the whole “2-doors-are-safer-if-you-have-children” thing until he bought the ’66 Chevy, and every car since then until my sister and I were adults, after which he finally got another 4-door car.
Light metallic blue with a tinge of turquoise looks great on cars from this era, to the point I have to avoid it as a car modeler or I’d paint every early ’60s car in it…
It’s a very good point about the gray washing out the chrome. I had always assumed that the upper door frames on your car were painted, or at least the B-pillar part was. It was only after seeing it in blue and noticing there was no blue above the beltline that I scrolled up to the gray pics again and double checked, viewed all the pics large, and that the window frames are indeed entirely chrome.
Car came out great, but I really liked the interior pics of the house!
Looks really good!
Can you speak a bit about the overall process, and using Maaco? I’ve periodically thought about using Maaco – they are plentiful in my area — but have always been told that was unwise. Obviously, removing all of the trim you can makes for a more cost-effective job, but did you have any unexpected issues in the process? Like trim that wouldn’t properly come off? I’d imagine that damaging anything on a car this old could become expensive rather quickly. Did the project overall come in within your budget for time and resources?
Again, the end results certainly are striking. Congratulations on your like new 62 year old car!
Nice job! I love that dash mounted rear view mirror. I think this blue is a much better match with the green interior than either the white or gray.
Excellent! Great color, and nicely done.
It’s just beautiful. Wow! Also really enjoyed the virtual tour of Acorn Hall… a great setting for your beautiful Dart.
Ironically, my fondest memory of this car was for my cousins wedding that year. It was white and I remember thinking what a beautiful car it was as we proceeded out of the church and followed it to the reception. A fond memory of a 6 year old.
Wow, that new paint job really flatters your Dart! I actually liked the gray on that car, but totally understand the reason for a new paint color that could be buffed and shined properly. I do like various shades of turquoise on cars from the late 1950s and early ’60s and respect the effort put in here to match one of the factory shades. The end result is a stunning improvement on a car that looked pretty good to begin with!
Forgot to add that I really like those wheel covers – shined to a fare-thee-well in way that would meet the approval of CC’s JPCavanaugh!
A bit off-topic but I wondered by curiosity how the 1960 Dart 4-door sedan would have look if Chrysler had continued the roofline style of the 1957-59 4-door sedans?
This looks terrific, Stephen. The blue really makes it pop against the white and the chrome.
Looks great, and much better than 2022 BMW or Audi grey!
Those colours look great, and really show off the chrome. Much better and brighter than the ‘grandpa’s car’ grey.
WOW ! .
It looks great .
I’ve had several cars re sprayed at Maaco, never got a bad job but not sure I’da trusted them with your baby either, it really pops now, good deal .
Single stage or two ? .
-Nate
I love the new color!
Belated, but wanted to add my compliments! You had a good looking car that has moved to beautiful!
In a world where wagon body styles dominate, these three box sedans are starting to look exotic.
The ’60 Dart was in many ways the most successful 1960 Mopar. I’ve always thought it an attractive car, the one car Exner was able to update for the ’60s that didn’t suffer excessive Exnuberance.
At 306,000 sales, it may have been the most successful 1960 Mopar offering. A casual glance shows it likely outsold the big Plymouth, and was essentially the last really successful full-size Dodge. Total Exnuberance for 1961 cut sales in half. Ouch!