1974 Chrysler Touch Up Paint (19 OEM Colors)

The 1974 Chrysler Vibe

Welcome to 1974, the year Chrysler decided that if the gas crisis was going to shrink the wallet, the cars should at least look like a rolling executive lounge. Whether you were piloting a Newport or the massive Imperial LeBaron, you weren't just driving; you were navigating a continent. We've got 19 colors in the vault for this year, and let's be honest, Chrysler owned the "Earth Tone" aesthetic. From the swampy depth of Avocado Gold Poly to the sunset-on-shag-carpet glow of Tahitian Gold Poly, these colors weren't just paint-they were a mood. You had enough "Poly" (metallic) options to make a disco ball jealous, all wrapped in that heavy-duty Mopar attitude.

Paint Health Check

We are firmly in the Single Stage Era here. Back then, the color and the shine were all mixed into one thick, heavy-duty soup of acrylic enamel. There's no clear coat to peel off, but that doesn't mean you're in the clear. These 1970s finishes are notorious for "chalking"-that's when the top layer of paint literally dies from UV exposure and turns into a white, powdery mess. If your Deep Sherwood Poly looks more like a dusty chalkboard than a forest, you're looking at heavy oxidation. The aluminum flakes in those metallic "Poly" colors are especially sensitive; once they start to oxidize, the paint loses its "flip" and just looks flat and tired.

Restoration Tip

Because this is single-stage paint, you can actually "resurrect" it, but you've got to be careful. The "Whisperer" rule for '74 steel is simple: It needs wax or it dies. Before you touch up a chip with our Navajo Copper or Lucerne Blue, you need to buff away the "dead" oxidized layer to find the true color underneath. Use a medium-cut compound to take off the chalky ghost of the 70s, but don't get too greedy-once you hit primer, the party's over. Once you've found the shine, seal it immediately with a high-quality carnauba wax. If you don't keep a barrier between that enamel and the oxygen, it'll start turning back into a pumpkin before the next oil change.