Controversial paint scheme - part 2
 

Since my last post to the previous thread with the same title, a string of little emergencies has kept me from making much progress, but Ludwig's in primer and so smoooooooth.

I received a $100 check from someone on this forum who wishes to remain anonymous. I haven't deposited it yet, but the conditions the writer put on it was that I'd have to paint Ludwig a pale yellow and leave it that way for at least a year even if I hate it immediately. Neither the "contributor" nor I can find a Mercedes color code for pale yellow, but I do remember that a friend of my dad had a mid'50s 300SL roadster that was a light yellow with red leather and it was striking with the top down. To be clear, we're not talking about anything like the bright bold yellow on some modern SLK's!

There's a pale yellow '72 230SE at http://www.exoticar.co.za/European/EuropeanSedansPics/1972_mercedes_230se_pale_yellow_.htm, but it looks a little washed out (could be the overcast skies of Britain since it has RHD).

I know yellow cars have the worst resale of all colors, but I don't intend to sell Ludwig, so that's not an issue for me. Besides, offbeat colors are very popular at the vintage car shows.

So, leaving two tones off the table for the moment, what's the groupthink about all one color, either pale yellow or creamy ivory? Remember when you're trying to visualize it that I have red leather, and the top will usually be down. Here's a thumbnail of the pale yellow; the creamy ivory is in the signature block (mentally block out the red lower panels):
http://www.carcentric.com/Ludwigsmal...oogiebeige.jpg

MB623, Light Ivory, shows up on two color chip brochures I have, one from 1989 and one that AFAIK covers '77-79 or so. My other choice among those shown would be MB606, maple yellow; given your red interior, Light Ivory would be the way to go. As for other yellow options, 624 is too yellow and 673 is too close to tones reminiscent of my earliest days of parenthood.:o

I've seen MB's 623 Light Ivory in person, and it's not ivory at all in my estimation. I'd call it Straw or Yellowish Tan or maybe Dried Mud.

On the Vintage Forum, they're telling me the Pale Yellow is 691 Light Yellow, but one chart I saw said 691 was a 1995 W202 color, so I don't think that's it.

The ONLY choices for voting this time around are:
- the contributor's choice - pale yellow - which has in its favor the fact that I get to apply the $100 check to the cost of paint, or
- my original choice - creamy ivory (not MB's 050 appliance white, but what PPG calls Vanilla Shake because that's what it looks like) - which has in its favor a more ordinary, "seen it a thousand times" look.

How about my yellow SL. The book shows it is paint code 680, and a list I checked (US) showed it was called Sun Yellow.

I had a couple of doubts about the colour before I saw the car, but now I can't think of one I would trade it for. I love it.

Hopefully the image will be attached.

Sun yellow again - view from rear.

OK, OK, since you won't believe me, here's the color chart.:) Bought on Ebay, it doesn't state a year, but from the colors included I've pegged it as about '77-79 or so. It's on its side to fit the posting limits here.
FWIW, I've found it useful to copy an image into Word using "paste special", and then rotate/crop/expand as desired. The remaining directions assume the page is upright, and I include them against the possibility of illegible labels.
May I direct your attention to the bottom left corner, MB606, "maple yellow" or "ahorngelb", which is the palest of the yellow tones shown, and I believe is the color mentioned above as desirable. The second from the bottom on the right is MB624, "yellow", and is notably brighter than 606, and the bottom right corner, MB673 "sahara yellow" is clearly out of the question.

I like the Oz car just the way it is, but I'm afraid that with a red leather interior, it would look like a Mexican fiesta was coming to town. All I'd need would be a bright turquoise leisure suit and a big guitar!

And, Craig, my negative comments were about MB623 Light Ivory being much darker than its name would imply, not about MB606, "maple yellow" or "ahorngelb". Regardless, neither is the soft, pale, lemon milkshake color I have in my mind (and think the '72 230SE probably is in person).

I think W107 SL's look good in any shade of yellow: sun yellow, light yellow, pale yellow, yellow yellow, etc.

I almost bought a light cream 1972 280 SEL 4.5, and it looked great in that color, but I've never seen a W107 SL in that color, and am not sure how it would look.

I have seen many light cream "pagoda" SL's with red leather, and it is a striking color combination.

Here are three yellows and Vanilla Shake (PPG formula colors, not from any production car), each paired with as close as I can get to my red interior color:
http://www.carcentric.com/PPGyellowredstack.jpg
I added a strip of pure white (MB050) along the left edge for contrast.

I think the bottom one (Vanilla Shake) must be close to the light cream color suginami mentioned. The SLK's are closest to the top yellow (screaming yellow). I think what I'm looking for in a Mercedes color is closest to the third yellow from the top.

Notice, too, how the different yellows make the red look different although they're all the same. The top red looks orangish and the bottom one looks the closest to what my seats are like.

So, for voting purposes, the choices are the bottom yellow or the Vanilla Shake.

I vote for either color.

If you find a site that shows the paint codes, I'm sure you'll be able to match the color used in W108 sedans.

Here's my 107 in Light Ivory........In different light conditions it appears to be very light yellow. The name is accurate as the patina on aged ivory can resemble this color.

Now here's the car when I first got it. Bright sunlight with a 3 CCD digital camera.....

606G
 

I vote maple yellow, but I am a bit biased.... ;)

better pic
 

That's a crappy one, try this instead: