VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 1928 picture advertisement

Advertisement pic as seen on E-bay

There is also a nice 4-page spread like this in 2/11/28 issue of the Saturday Evening Post, pp. 78-81.

-R

Hi Mack,
If I paint my roadster that color blue do you think it will be OK with the judges ??
Herb

Herb, I was wondering about those colors myself, I went back and looked in the anniversity issue of the G&D. I need to repaint the wheels and outside garnish moldings on my 28 sedan, as you can see from the thumbnail on my postings it is solid Faunce Green. I need to get some trim paint (Dunsmire gray?) The color of the advertisment and also the G&D picture looks more like a Yellow green than a gray. The blue on the roadster is some what different than the color chips I remember seeing.

Chevrolet advertisment for 1928 engine. (please note the color and paint schemes)

I am very curious. Is this a coloured advertisement from back then ?

Hey Macky,
That ad sure is interesting. Engine appears gray but we know that it is green. Valve cover is definately black as is distributor and oil filter. Fan belt appears gray but we know that it is either black or red.

I am sure that some people will cite it as proof that '28 Chevrolet engines were painted gray. I caution them to find other "proof".

Can we rely on these photos? Guess this is another case of Chevrolet literature that may not accurately depict what was actually put into production. Was the engine specially prepared for the photo? (Very likely yes!)

As were most of the "factory photos" that we all have seen. Most were taken in studios or a setting by professional photographers with just the proper lighting and background. They were staged and had "improvements" to make them photograph better. Actual production line, delivery or other non-staged photos are much more reliable. But even some of them may have been altered by artists to make them more photogentic.

Chip,it is a full page advertisement that ran in the Feb. 22, 1928 issue of Lirerary Digest, it is running on ebay. The ad is for sale, I think it is a painting rather than a photo, don't think they had color photos then , did they?
I would expect that it was a photo that was "color enhanced"
I would expect that it depicted the actual production engine as closely as was possible with the technology available at the time, After all GM would not try to fool the customer, or would they?
Of course anyone with a conflicting opinion would dispute anything they are shown, that is just human nature.

Was color film available or used in 1928? I doubt it! I suspect most advertisements were made from a black and white negatives and some artist added the color. I've believed for some time that use of early advertisements as proof of color authenticity is not trustworthy.

Oldie ,I agree color even if done as well as expected is an interpetation of the artist doing it, then when it is transfered to mass production for printing it more than likely undergoes more changes.
However, I do believe that the scheme (Black parts Vs. engine color) does have some merit.
I also do think that magazine advertisements from the era tend to add to our knowledge and may be a largely untapped resource.

MrMack,

I agree with the exception of the fan blade which appears to be gray in the ad and we have all agreed earilier that we believed it was black originally. Its the little things that make us question the validiy of the total thing even though it may be correct.

I don't think there would be a reason to fudge a colour on an engine advertisement but I would imagine it was coloured by hand. It is really something the colour would stay all these years.

So, now I know that Ebay is a resource for illustrations etc.

Magazine advertising for vintage cars was never accurate when it came to the correct body colors and etc. These are artist renderings and some of the body colors and engine colors are way off from what was actually produced by the factory. Even the early Chevrolet sales brochures didn't match the original factory colors because they were artists renderings as well, and the artist had a lot of leeway with his art. :( :( :( :(

Speedline and JYD,

The three of us all believe the same thing. If its a color brochure, don't trust the color as being accurate for several reasons. Many early brochure releases are frequently incorrect from the "hardware shown" standpoint because things change and I don't trust them from that reason either. Sometimes the brochures never get corrected during the model year.

well,after reading all these post's about engine color being differ from what you guy's seem to have known...I AM COMPLETELY UNSURE NOW.I pulled my motor/tran recently so i could paint it olive/drab. :confused: thnx to the last post by the ol JYD i guess i'll still repaint it.The gentlemen that i bought my 2-dr 28 coach from claimed the engine was restored.IT IS GREY,with all the right items painted black. Hey guys i also noted that the upper body was not painted black,it appears that the entire body was green.Faunce green or Avenue green.I have came to the conclusion that the early 28 coachs were avenue green.What's up with this.

After re-looking at the advertisement post,it does look like the upper body was black on all the cars.BUT-------where's the dunsmuir grey wheels !!!!!!!!!!! :confused:

Hi 28chevrolet,

Before you start spraying the paint, I suggest you go down to Radios, Tools, Accessories, "School is in session", page 3, post Nov 03, 2002, 16:43.

Also, be aware that the post my MrMack is and early ad and shows the first combinations of colors.

Might save you some research.

I could not use this for any precise color matching but I think it may be an indicator of which items were painted engine color (whatever that may be) and which items were probably painted black I do tend to think that black is black.
I do not think that we have any documentation presented here, anyway, that can be 100% positive as to what shade or mix of Green- Blue- Gray was originally used, even if there was a car that had been put in storage for the last 75 years it is more than likely that paint has deteroiated in color to be several degrees from how it originally appeared. We may be trying to establish a standard color that is simply unknown.
old 216
That was the major point that I wanted to make with the advertisements, both the autos and the engine, can be used as another resource that is available to the internet surfer. I find a lot of information just by going to ebay home and doing a search like "1928" or "1932" or "1928 Chevrolet" and their photos are usually something you can save to a file on your computer.
The gurus here on this site, Ray, Herb,Oldie, Chevy Nut, JYD, Oldchevyman and the others have given me a new insite into the 4 cylinder and early sixes. I had very little knowlege of those Chevrolets before the 1948 models which were around when I was a teenager seeing the light for the first time, now I am trying to learn about the early ones.