16-04-2025, 12:16 PM
(This post was last modified: 16-04-2025, 12:16 PM by Mike Costigan.)
DuPont pioneered metallic lacquer for spraying in 1927--one of the very first cars to be painted with it was the 1928 Miller 91 driven by Louis Meyer (later of Meyer-Drake, manufacturer of the legendary Offenhauser engines). His car was painted gold, which was made by mixing finely ground brass powder in clear nitrocellulose lacquer.
The problem with nitrate lacquer and metallic powder was that this early form of lacquer had very little resistance to UV light, even rain -and it wore away rather quickly. That exposed the metallic powders, which then dulled, in addition to creating a rough surface, that no amount of polishing could repair. For that reason, the metallic paints available pretty much all through the 30's to the 50's, were not all that popular.
Pearlescent paints have been around since at least the early 1910's - but were difficult to paint, as pretty much all car painting in that era was done by hand, with lots of rubbing and polishing afterward. While early pearl paints were created using ground fish scale, even powdered mussel shells, it wasn't until the use of powdered mica that pearlescent colours became practical and popular. Many 'quality' cars in the late-1930s included metallic or pearlescent colours in their range - the Talbot Ten introduced in 1935 was possibly the first British car to be exclusively available in metallic (silver, grey and gold) and pearlescent (maroon, blue and green) colours.
The problem with nitrate lacquer and metallic powder was that this early form of lacquer had very little resistance to UV light, even rain -and it wore away rather quickly. That exposed the metallic powders, which then dulled, in addition to creating a rough surface, that no amount of polishing could repair. For that reason, the metallic paints available pretty much all through the 30's to the 50's, were not all that popular.
Pearlescent paints have been around since at least the early 1910's - but were difficult to paint, as pretty much all car painting in that era was done by hand, with lots of rubbing and polishing afterward. While early pearl paints were created using ground fish scale, even powdered mussel shells, it wasn't until the use of powdered mica that pearlescent colours became practical and popular. Many 'quality' cars in the late-1930s included metallic or pearlescent colours in their range - the Talbot Ten introduced in 1935 was possibly the first British car to be exclusively available in metallic (silver, grey and gold) and pearlescent (maroon, blue and green) colours.