1970 Original Colour - Cream or Old English White ?

[Nickleback]

I need to identify the correct build colour for my car for a total original re-spray but have run into an Jaguar identity crisis.

My heritage certificate says the car is Cream, however when I checked with Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust about the certificate colour they said the following.
According to the build sheet the car is Cream, however as mine is a late series 2 build from 1970, these were built with the Series 3 colour of Old English White and then listed on the build sheet as Cream. The Head Archivist at JDHT confirms this is 99.9% correct but will not guarantee !?

I cannot check the car as it has a had a poor previous re-spray which could be wrong and I am told there is no way to identify from the car it's correct colour code.

So, on the assumption that the colour is S3 Old English White originally would I be correct in assuming that the colour would be the same on the late S2's therefore just paint it the same as I want to keep the car original.

Does anyone have a good picture of a late S2 FHC in Old English White please.

[neil4444]

Hi Mike,

In the knowledge base it states that Cream / OEW (code 2680) was available from the 1st series 1's. It then shows that OEW changed from paint code 2680 to 8461 November 71.

See viewtopic.php?t=951

On that basis I would assume yours is Cream/OEW (2680).

Regards,

Neil

[Nickleback]

Thanks Neil,

Yes I had seen that and Cream is code 2680 and changed in Nov 71 to OEW code 8461 which is why I went to check with JDHT just to be sure.
Now they are saying it changed earlier in 1970 - if it did - when ?
Further down on the listing it says Cream was only used up to 1970

Could the record we have in the knowledge base be wrong ?

Was the colour code never stamped on the car anywhere, then I could solve this !

[neil4444]

I must admit it doesn't look completely clear in the knowledge base as further down there's a list which mentions a different code for OEW.

My series 1 had no colour code stamped on it from what I could find. It had had 2 resprays over it's original carmen red. Cream/OEW followed by Opalescant Silver Blue. This was then followed by a liberal painting of a bitumen type black around the engine bay. So I guess it's possible that any paint code was obliterated.

Only when I took the car apart did I start to find traces of the original red under brackets, engine frame connections, etc.

Are you able to find original paint somewhere & perhaps get a couple of rattle cans to spray some testers for comparison ?

Lastly, is the clue perhaps in the fact yours is recorded by JDHT as Cream rather than OEW ?

Regards,

Neil

[neil4444]

Btw, I have an unmolested S1.5 bonnet painted in original Cream/OEW but very faded. It looks much whiter than in your avatar.

[Nickleback]

The avatar pic is the bad re-spray from USA which could be anything resembling :?

Yes the engine bay struts are all original paint so matching to them may be my only way to check & resolve.

[neil4444]

I've just T-Cut a bit of my Cream/OEW bonnet to try & see what the original colour is like. It does seem to be on the very white side of Cream/OEW. Mine was a 67 s1.5.

HTH

[Ropariva]

Had the same dilemma with my car (1R20826 April 1970)
My Heritage certificate mentioned that Cream was also known as Old English White!?! Didn't help alleviate the confusion.
From what I have seen over the last few years, Cream and Old English White are very different.
I found this car on XKE data that is awaiting restoration. It's a series 2 from April 1970, but has a series 1.5 bonnet.
http://www.xkedata.com/gallery/zoom/?id=323978
The bonnet appears much lighter than the rest of the car.
When I came to choose the paint for my car, my supplier could only find a code for Jaguar Old English White, so that's what I went with. Really happy with the colour, but clearly a richer cream than the faded duco.
One place I found on my car that had original paint in really good condition was under the front indicator lamps. As it was sealed from the weather and light, the paint was shiny and probably as close to original as I would get. Good paint shops will be able to colour match to a small sample area like this.
Was your car fully stripped for its previous resprays? If done poorly as you say, they may have masked these areas providing a good possibility for a match. Good luck.

[Nickleback]

Hi Ropariva,
Yes that car is very close to the build date of my car which was May 1970 and is very similar, mine also has a lighter 2nd respray on the bonnet and the rest of the car is cremier & darker.
As the respray on mine was really just a "blow over" without any stripping I'm sure that we will find some hidden original paint to analyse & copy, but I think is will probably turn out to be Old English Cream. - Will let you know in due course !
Thanks

[jagman1970]

FWIW. My car has a build date of 1 April 1970 and it it definately OEW not cream. The heritage cert shows cream. I have owned the car for 39 years.

Regards

Keith

[Nickleback]

FWIW. My car has a build date of 1 April 1970 and it it definately OEW not cream. The heritage cert shows cream. I have owned the car for 39 years.

Regards

Keith

Thanks Keith,
That confirms now what JDHT said, so OEW it is ! :D

[Ropariva]

So....is OEW whiter than Cream, or Creamier than cream?

[Nickleback]

So....is OEW whiter than Cream, or Creamier than cream?

I believe OEW is whiter than cream, but I guess I will be sure later this year when the re-spray is done

[malcolm]

Mine is a '69 2+2. Some papers say it is cream, others OEW.
I think it is OEW. Whether that's whiter or creamier I don't know! Here it is so you can judge:

[Nickleback]

Yes, I also think that is Old English White too despite the factory papers saying it's cream