Cotner Bevington Data Plate

Nicholas Studer

PCS Elected Director 2022-2025
Hello - would anyone be able to decode a bit of the C/B Data Plate on our 1970 C/B Cotington 48? Specifically I'm looking at the paint code there, 5040L55R012.

It's white over red now, and as a former Fire Dept ambulance that would make sense as being original. Not sure if they used ALF Red (looks most likely to me) or the GM Matador Red that was the Red for that year. I know previous discussions here have been that it's hard to be "incorrect" but if there's an opportunity to do it right I figure I should chase it down. Thanks!

CBDataPlate.jpg
 
Sorry for the delay Paul, had to get the photo. See below.

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Looks like paint is blank, I understand C/B got these as an incomplete chassis. Luckily, I may have decoded the C/B paint number possibly. Check out http://www.phantomcoaches.org/literature/68dw28.jpg for the 1968 C/B color options. For all but the one I need (of course), the last number is clearly an RM-BASF color. Also, seems like the vast majority corresponded in name too for that year's Oldsmobile paint names. Check out http://paintref.com/cgi-bin/colorcodedisplay.cgi?year=1968&manuf=GM&model=Oldsmobile for cross-comparison.

However, you'll see Bolero Red as R/L55R012/1U5742R with the middle number matching my data plate. Unfortunately that last number that is otherwise RM-BASF doesn't come up when I search it and is the only one different from the others with the last number not corresponding at all it seems. Further, there is Scarlet too - which was the Oldsmobile red (paint code R) for that year.

Interestingly, Bolero Red (GM code WA3595) was never an Oldsmobile color name, that was the name for Chevrolet's red with the same color called Spanish Red on Oldsmobile. The WA3595 GM code only existed for that year - 1967. Regardless of name difference, both had paint code R and were the standard red for that year. R for 1968 was the darker red paint - named Scarlet for Oldsmobile and Matador Red for Chevrolet with GM Code WA3804. After 1968, the letter codes go away and become a less useful 2-digit code. So, the only real conclusion I can make I am coming to is that for 1968 C/B had a special red option which referred to the previous year's lighter red. Fascinating.

The question is what happened by 1970. I imagine it wouldn't make sense to have that internal L55R012 paint number become something else by then. I can't link it up to any specific reason why they'd do this that would allow me to infer why they would carry over that color. There were no lighter red options offered in 1968-1970 as standard - just one red outside of the Corvette reds. Nope, it wasn't a special Corvette color, by the way. I wondered if that might be something to do with it, but again it was just the standard red for the year previous to the 1968 options listed. Perhaps someone at C-B just liked the color. Either which way, the most likely conclusion I can think of based on given information is the red paint on my ambulance was originally 1967 Bolero/Spanish Red. The white on top is probably the 1970 white for Oldsmobile, Porcelain White (WA 3465).

What do you all think? The above was rather painful to come up with...
 
I agree on the paint code and your analysis of the colors, however, of greater concern that the color of the paint, is the hole in the the cowl. How are you going to deal with this? If the rest of the cowl is in poor condition, then the best thing to do is to buy a cowl from a car in one of the Arizona wrecking yards, and just swap it out. If there is rust in the front floors, then you could get a cut that would include the floors to about under the front seat. Fixing rust can be a daunting task, and expensive also to do it right. As much as changing the cowl seems like a major task, it will still be less work in the end. This is the type of work that Ed Renstrom just loves to tackle......:rolleyes: :D ;)
 
Seeing that hole in the photo there was a unpleasant surprise. I'll be talking with the shop tomorrow to see quite how bad it is. From what I can tell by the photos, the data plate was behind the fuse bank for the emergency lighting. Assuming this is the case, I don't believe there's any other holes I can see from photos and none I noticed in person. Your suggestion may be the plan...

There's very few truly things I hate in the world - corrosion is one of them...
 
you most likely have the colors right except CB used the caddy white Cottington white. the cream one not the bright white one. the numbers will not always jive with the year of the car. we did discussed that Red in a different post. they most likely did not use the GM name for it but they did on the white. most of the time when looking at the paint code L means lower U means upper and if it's a three tone the center is a M
r is confusing but if they were going for roof and it's white then it's the caddy GM code 12. but once again year.

the modal number is Cottington 48 the body number is the assembly number for the car. serial number should be what is on your title? but it might be the one off the GM tag. lot of strange things happen when you get to the DMV. then the engine number will be the engine they put in that chassis during assembly. if it matches congrats.

no I don't love to fix that rust I'm just to dumb to say no. interesting enough all the GM tags on the cb have a gm number of 38880
but to compare there is the tag off my 72
 

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Hi Ed - thanks for the post. Do you know which post where you talked about that? Can't seem to find it.

R was on the paint sheet from C-B, not on my plate. There's 1, 2, or 3 single letters in front of the middle number that I believe is their internal paint number and separated by slashes. I can't decipher it. Interestingly - http://www.phantomcoaches.org/literature/68dw24.jpg shows the M-M paint codes. A brief look shows the names and colors with RM-BASF codes primarily correspond to Cadillac. However, they have the option of both the same WA2661 white used that year for both Oldsmobile and Cadillac - same as the C-B has (just with Cadillac name of Grecian White). Or, you could go with the older Cadillac-only WA3128 Aspen White last used in 1965. I guess M-M and C-B were fond of previous years' colors.

Anyway - the GM Code WA3967 Cotillion White (12) was the 1969 white for Cadillac and also for Oldsmobile with the name Cameo White and Chevrolet as Dover White. In 1970, Cadillac stayed with the exact same Cotillion White, although they changed the paint code to 11 just to be confusing. However, Oldsmobile and Chevrolet used WA3465 Classic White (10) in 1970 instead. By 1971, Cadillac continued with the Cotillion White and Oldsmobile switched back to it with the same name they used in 1969 of Cameo White. Chevrolet switched back too, with Antique White as the name for the same thing. So, thus there was a 1 year break to this different white for Oldsmobile/Chevrolet for a stock car.

This is probably an academic discussion as both will look great - and I am finding it hard to perceive the difference anyway at least from photos online. But, do you think it likely C-B stuck with the WA3967 Cotillion White for 1970 or swapped to the WA3465 Classic White for that year like the regular Oldsmobiles did? Probably wouldn't have a final answer unless somebody has an actual 1970 dealer's paint list like I found for 1968...
 
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I think that unless it was a special order, they just used whatever that they had in the spray gun that day, and paint inventory on the shelf. You have to keep in perspective, that these were production cars that were going to be sent out on the road to work, and most people didn't care what white was on the roof, or what red was on the body. They really didn't care that much about how the paint looked on the car, as long as it was covered with paint. A prime example of this was my 1969 Miller Meteor. One side of the roof was finished perfectly, and the other side, the lead wasn't finished very well, and it was full of sanding scratches. As I have said so often, General Motors didn't produce show cars for the public to drive, and the parts they produced for the cars that the public drove, were not show quality parts. Today, if you have a perfectly preserved 1970 Cadillac, and put it side by side with a restored 1970 Cadillac, the restored one is going to put the original, unrestored, perfectly preserved one to shame. If you want to restore a car to factory condition, you are going to need quite a number of "flaws" in your restoration.
 
I love it Paul. I agree, totally academic discussion. It's in doc nature to be exacting in precision where likely there wasn't. :)
 
Just got my new perscription for grumpy pills, and had to try them out. Thsi morning someone asked Sandy if she woke up grumpy, and she replied... No... I let him sleep... :D
 
impossible to find the true color on line way to many variables. but it gives you a direction to find it in the chip book. but you will find the 12 is a creamer white and the 11 is a bright white. but you need to remember to bring a year into the paint store. gm 11 if not enough information. if you have a formula from any of the major manufactures it's kind of 50/50 if another one can cross reference it. as for the other discussion it was kind of a side track off the 70 ambulance ,I think. see if I can find it
 
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