The 'E' Type Forum

Guys,

as my 1.5 will leave in a couple of weeks for respray, i would like to know a bit more about the beige color which my car used to be when released in 1968 (now it's bronze).
It's realy hard to find it on the web (on XKE data, you have all kind of beige), and the only reference I fonded on the forum only mention the reference number of the color, without showing any real colour.

Does, by chance, one of you have a "beige" e-type, with the real "beige" color (and not Ascot Fawn, as the reference seams to be different), and could kindly show me a outside picture of it?

A better solution would be to see it in real in Switzerland... even if I know there is not that much member from my lovely country around here :D

Any help would be really kind, as to me, the color of the car is deeply and truly important.

The colors ( sic) article on xkedata may help. It has a Beige sample car there - whether that really is the colour I don't know - because what is shown as Ascot Fawn looks suspiciously like Warwick Grey to me ( and I had a Warwick Grey Mark 10 so I am quite familiar with it ) and the beige looks more to me like Ascot Fawn . None of the cars shown as Warwick grey bears any resemblance to true Warwick Grey which is a creamy beige

http://www.xkedata.com/catalog/colors/

Thank's chris, however, i'm not 100% convinced by the color page on XKEDATA... If you click on "more beige cars", you have many different shades of this famous beige. And as it is a really special color (to much gold makes it "sand", not enough saturation makes it an "old english white") I don't want to do any mistake by respraying it with the beige paint code.

So if someone of you read this, and have a real beige car, it could be really kind to just add a picture below...

Unfortunately you can't rely on photographs or your PC screen to render true colours. The same picture taken with a Canon and a Sony camera, for example, will give a different hue to each image - the companies regard it as their 'signature'. Even our Canon G10 and Canon S90 which are in a similar price bracket and age produce noticeably different colours and that is when using the 'auto' setting. Once you start using the manual settings the gap widens. Once you have the pictures on a PC many people use Picasa to 'improve' their images most commonly with the 'I'm feeling lucky' button. Even if you have a true colour picture you are then going to be at the mercy of your monitor, none of which are adjusted at the factory to render true colours. They are set to be bright, colour rich and garish to attract customers in the shop. Same applies with Plasma/LCD TV screens which is why, ideally, you need to have them calibrated after the first 100 hours of use - few people do of course because it costs ?250.

If you want the car returned to its factory colour then get the paint shop to use the original Gaslurit, ICI or Dupont number and go for it!

David, I truely agrea with you. The very best would be to see a beige e-type in real.

Unfortunately, this specific beige where used only during the year 68, i'm living in switzerland, a very small country, and i'm asking to see this e-type on a UK forum, so my chances to see it in real are quite small.

Would you like to "go for it" and paint your car in a color you've never seen before, even if it's a factory one?

And concerning the calibration and colours of a picture, don't worry. I've a very well calibrated Eizo screen for my everyday job, and I got all the tricks to re-color a picture as close as possible to the reality (even if I cannot reach it at 100%).

I already asked the paint code of a couple 1968 beige e-type owners, founded on XKEData, but no answer at this time. So my demand is still up to date.

According to Clausager there were 262 S1 and 1.5 cars painted Beige and six S2's. He lists the paint code as Beige (Honey Beige) = 26632 (Glasso GIP). With such low numbers produced I would guess finding one to look at is going to be very difficult indeed!

Same Beige car, three different views and three different hues:



Ideally you need to look at an un-restored car because with a re-paint there is no guarantee they used exactly the same code as original. To be honest, and given how rare this colour is, I would go ahead and paint it the way it left the factory because it looks great to my eyes. In a sea of red, opalescent blue and gunmetal E-Type's it will really stand out and that is a big positive.

Hmmm!! I would lay quite substantial odds that what is called beige is just a synonym for Warwick Grey . Certainly the second and third pictures of that E are as near as you can get to a screen depiction of Warwick Grey . Jaguar were really quite fond of using different names for what was actually the same colour

Warwick Grey = ICI 4690
Beige = Glasso GIP 26632

Jaguar also offered Cornish Grey, Daimler Silver Grey, Fern Grey, Mist Grey, Oyster Beige, Pearl Grey in addition to Warwick Grey and Beige on the E-Type. In addition Dove Grey, Pearl Grey, Birch Grey, Lavender Grey, Battleship Grey, Cornish Grey and Light Grey were variously offered on certain models. But if you wanted a specific colour on your E-Type you could have it as a special order.

The factory were pretty switched on to the way some colours work better at different latitudes and only offered Ascot Fawn, Light Blue, Light Green, New (Cherry) Red, Pale Primrose Yellow, Sable, Valentine Beige, and Signal Red on LHD S1 and 1.5 cars for example.

I added a picture of a Warwick Grey car (Mk2 original, unmolested, unrestored) to the above post for comparison and I think it certainly highlights the difference in colours.

Thank's guys for your replies.

Yes David, you're right, this beige color is such a rare one that it could be great to repaint mine as it was in 1968.

Last year, when I decided to purchase my S1.5, I saw the beige SII you previously mentioned. It was a 35'000euros car in Nederland. A beauty, but out of my budget.

So, if this (SII beige color) is the Glasso GIP 26632 beige, then i'll go for it. I like the very old school feeling it gives to the car, without making it to outdated. And with a perfectly done paint, it will certainly be gorgeous.

I think i'm just a little bit scared, because I don't want to ruin all the time I spent / i will spend on the resto, just with a tint i'm not 100% sure of.

Just to finish this topic, here is what I founded.
A 1968 S 1.5 unrestored beige e-type:

http://www.lbilimited.com/fineautoDetail.php?Aid=47

I think this is the one I was looking for.
Seriel number 1E35223, which is not far away from mine!

Looks like it has had some repairs as the paint is a different colour on the bonnet and one door compared to the rear so you need to be circumspect in deciding which is the original!

This car just illustrates the problem of what the colours really were. It is described on XKE data as being Ascot Fawn

It's an absolute nightmare! :)