2003 Aston-Martin Touch Up Paint (18 OEM Colors)

The 2003 Aston-Martin Vibe

2003 was a hell of a year for the folks at Newport Pagnell and Bloxham. It was the era of the V12 Vanquish dodging heat-seeking missiles on frozen lakes and the DB7 Vantage showing the world how to sunset with dignity. Back then, if you weren't driving a silver car, you were making a statement, and the only color that really mattered was Slate Blue Metallic. It's a sophisticated, "secret agent in a tailored suit" kind of shade that looks like a cold morning over the English Channel. It's deep, it's moody, and it's the survivor of a decade where most cars were just different shades of "Boring Appliance Grey."

Paint Health Check

But let's get real for a second. We are squarely in The Peeling Era. While Aston-Martin was hand-finishing these beauties, the automotive industry was still perfecting the high-solids clear coats of the early 2000s. The reality? Your clear coat is likely looking for any excuse to retire. Whether it's the notorious "pizza" blisters forming around the door handles or micro-blistering on the roof edges where the aluminum panels get temperamental, delamination is the enemy. Once that clear coat starts to lift and turn white at the edges, it's not just a blemish-it's a structural failure of the finish that will spread faster than a rumor at a Concours show.

Restoration Tip

Therefore, you need to treat every stone chip like a breach in a submarine hull. Seal your chips immediately before the clear coat starts to lift. Don't wait for the weekend. The moment you see a nick on that Slate Blue hood, dab it with a precision touch-up to lock the edges of the clear coat down. If moisture or air gets under that factory seal, the delamination will creep, and you'll go from a simple touch-up to a multi-thousand-dollar respray of the entire panel. Keep a hawk-eye on the mirror stalks and the door handle recesses-those are the first places the "peel" likes to start its campaign.