1959 GMC Touch Up Paint (8 OEM Colors)

The 1959 GMC Vibe

Welcome to 1959, the year GMC decided that if you weren't driving a truck that looked like a forest, you weren't really working. This was the final stand of the "Task Force" era styling, where the chrome was thick and the hoods were wide enough to host a neighborhood BBQ. While the rest of the world was busy obsessing over tailfins and space-age jets, GMC was leaning hard into a palette that looks like it was inspired by a very moody botanical garden. We're talking a heavy rotation of greens-Galway Green, Glade Green, Reef Green, and Sherwood Green-interrupted only by the occasional "Dawn Blue" or a "Frontier Beige" that looked like it had already seen a few dust storms before leaving the factory. It was a time of utility with a dash of mid-century class.

Paint Health Check

If you're staring at a survivor 1959 GMC today, you're likely looking at more chalk than color. This was the Single Stage Era, my friend. Back then, we didn't hide the pigment under a plastic clear coat; the color took the full brunt of the sun, wind, and rain like a man. The "Legend" of these trucks is that they're bulletproof, but the paint tech was a different story. Without a protective clear layer, these old enamels suffer from "Oxidation"-that chalky, white, hazy fade that turns your deep Sherwood Green into something resembling a dusty chalkboard. In this era, the paint needs wax or it simply dies. If your truck has spent forty years in a field, the pigment hasn't just faded; it's literally turned into dust that'll come off on your shirt if you lean against the fender.

Restoration Tip

When you're prepping a '59 for a fresh coat, remember that these old trucks have more curves than a back-country road. My advice? Don't skimp on the buffing. If you're working with an original finish, you can often "save" it by carefully removing the dead, oxidized top layer to reveal the vibrant Baltic Blue or Cadet Gray underneath-but once you get it back to a shine, you have to seal it immediately. For a full respray using our 1959-accurate shades, remember that this era's look is all about "depth," not "plastic." Build your layers with patience. Once that final coat is cured, keep a coat of high-quality wax on it at all times. If you treat it like a modern car and just leave it in the sun, that single-stage pigment will start "breathing" and fading before the next oil change. Elbow grease is the only thing that keeps a 1959 truck looking 1959.