1978 Buick Touch Up Paint (22 OEM Colors)

The 1978 Buick Vibe

Welcome to 1978, where the Buick Regal was the king of the grocery store parking lot and the Electra 225 was still long enough to have its own zip code. Buick didn't just give you a color palette; they gave you a 23-shade manifesto of disco-era luxury. We're talking about a time when earth tones reigned supreme. If your car wasn't a shade of "dirt," it wasn't classy. With heavy hitters like Camel Beige, Saffron Metallic, and the high-society Amber Firemist Metallic, these cars were designed to shimmer under streetlights and look substantial in a driveway. It was the peak of the "Land Yacht" aesthetic, and the paint was laid on with the assumption that gas was cheap and chrome was forever.

Paint Health Check

Here's the cold, hard truth from the spray booth: your '78 Buick is a relic of the Single Stage Era. This was the age of Acrylic Lacquer. Unlike the "plastic-wrapped" look of modern cars, these Buicks were shot with a paint that actually breathes-and eventually, it chokes. If your hood looks like a chalkboard, that's Oxidation. Without a clear coat to shield it, the sun literally bakes the binders out of the pigment, leaving behind a chalky, dead film. The "Firemist" and metallic colors are the most temperamental; those aluminum flakes are sitting right near the surface. Once the air gets to them, they oxidize and turn the finish "flat." You might also notice "crows-feet" or fine cracks in the lacquer-that's the paint shrinking after forty-plus years of heat cycles.

Restoration Tip

Because this is a single-stage finish, remember the golden rule: It needs wax or it dies. If you're trying to bring back the shine to a faded Carmine Metallic or Ultramarine Blue, start with the least aggressive polish possible. You're literally shaving off a microscopic layer of dead paint to find the "live" color underneath. Be careful around the body lines and "peaks" of the fenders-lacquer is notorious for being thin on the edges, and one over-eager pass with a high-speed buffer will have you staring at gray primer before you can say "Regal." Once you find the shine, seal it immediately with a high-quality carnauba wax. Think of it as a life-support system for your pigment.