1957 BMC Touch Up Paint (3 OEM Colors)

The 1957 BMC Vibe

1957 was the year the British Motor Corporation really hit its stride, putting the world on wheels with the Morris Minor 1000 and the "baby" Austin A35. It was an era of post-war optimism where the roads were finally starting to look less like a coal mine and more like a garden party. While the rest of the world was experimenting with flashy two-tones, BMC kept it classy. We've focused our collection on the heavy hitters that defined the fleet: the deep, regal Black, the punchy Island Blue (an Austin favorite), and the legendary Old English White No. 2-a color so iconic it basically became the uniform for every MG and Austin-Healey to ever clip an apex.

Paint Health Check

You're looking at the Single Stage Era, my friend. Back then, "clear coat" was something they used on fingernails, not fenders. These BMC beauties were shot with thick, solvent-heavy cellulose or synthetic enamels. It's honest paint with a lot of soul, BUT it's a total magnet for oxidation. If your Island Blue looks more like a dusty chalkboard than a tropical ocean, that's the pigment literally dying on the surface from UV exposure. Without a clear layer to hide behind, these colors "chalk" up. If you ignore it, the paint gets porous, lets the moisture in, and that's when the "tin worm" starts eating your floorboards from the outside in. This paint needs wax or it dies-simple as that.

Restoration Tip

Before you go stripping that Morris Minor down to bare metal and crying over your bank statement, try the "Leap of Faith" buff. Because this is single-stage paint, the color goes all the way through. You can often shave off that top layer of dead, chalky oxidation with a medium-cut compound and find a showroom shine hidden underneath. There's usually enough "meat on the bones" of 1950s paint to handle a good polishing. Once you've brought the color back to life, seal it immediately with a high-quality carnauba wax. It's the only thing standing between your BMC's survival and a slow fade into a grey primer sunset.