1983 Ford Touch Up Paint (89 OEM Colors)

The 1983 Ford Vibe

1983 was a glorious, transitional mess for Ford. We were finally shaking off the boxy hangover of the '70s and leaning into the "Aero" age. The Thunderbird looked like a jellybean for the first time, the Ranger was proving its mettle, and the Bronco II was the new kid on the block. With a staggering 89 colors in our database for this year alone, it's clear Ford was throwing every pigment in the warehouse at the wall to see what stuck. Whether you're rocking Desert Tan, Bright Bittersweet Metallic, or the classic Candy Apple Red, your Ford was built to look like the future-even if that future involved a lot of corduroy and cassette tapes.

Paint Health Check

You are firmly in the Single Stage Era. Back in '83, Ford wasn't bothered with fancy clear coats on most of these models. Your paint is "naked" to the world, which leads to the dreaded Oxidation. If you've ever walked past your Truck or Econoline and noticed it looks more like a chalkboard than a vehicle, that's the pigment literally turning into dust. If you rub the hood and your hand comes away the color of the truck, you aren't "cleaning" it-you're touching the ghost of the finish. The sun is hungry, and without protection, it's eating your Midnight Blue Metallic one UV ray at a time.

Restoration Tip

The beauty of this era is that there's actually hope for "dead" paint. Since the color goes all the way through, you can often buff through the chalky layer to find the original shine hiding underneath. But here is the Salty Painter's gospel: It needs wax or it dies. Once you've polished it back to life, you've essentially stripped off its only defense. You have to seal it immediately. If you don't keep a fresh coat of wax on a 1983 single-stage job, it'll be back to a matte finish before the next oil change. Feed the paint, or prepare to watch it fade away.