A current question doing the rounds of various www sites is "what were the original colours of a J type?"
Well my under standing is that when the 10 CWT van was launched (it got called a J type late 1952 early 1953) that it was available in four standard colours.
These were taken from the British Standard Range of Colours for Vehicles, which is B.S.381C standard. Each shade had a number and later a name!
Example the blue van would have a paint code of B.S.381C 107, later called strong blue.
Here is the list,
B.S.381C 107 "Strong Blue"
B.S.381C 221 "Brilliant Green"
B.S.381C 539 "Current Red"
B.S.381C 642 "Night"
G.P.O vehicles were,
B.S.381C 223 "Middle Bronze Green"
B.S.381C 538 "Post Office Cherry Red".
Any car paint supplier should be able to mix the correct colour in what ever medium you want, i.e. cellulose , 2 pack, water based or even emulsion. That's the whole point of having standards.
