Pink

Chrysler Australia's "Magenta" - is it FM3 or not?

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Ahhh... pink. That rarest and most desirable of colours for a motor car...

During the height of the muscle car era (around 1970), the marketing people of several of the world's car companies went a bit silly. One result of this was Chrysler's "high impact" colour range. Colours with great names like "Sub Lime", "Lemon Twist" and "Plum Crazy" were the choice of those who preferred not to be discrete about their muscle machines.

And amongst silliest, rarest, and therefore most highly prized was pink (personally I think that silliness is one of the most desirable features in a car). In the USA, the colour in question was designated colour code "FM3", and was variously known as "Panther Pink", "Moulin Rouge" and "Penta Magenta", depending on whether your car was a Plymouth, a Dodge or a Chrysler. (For more on FM3 see Dempsey Bowling's FM3 page and PantherPink.com).

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Here in Australia a small number of E37 (and maybe E38) Chargers were issued in a colour called "Magenta", seems to be a slightly different shade. Unfortunately the Australian paint codes were totally different to the American ones, and so it is hard to tell. The Australian code for Magenta was "MD".

Update: (20 March 2000)

After the RAMM discussion list came up with the info that the Ditzler paint code for FM3 is 2260, and the DuPont paint code for FM3 is 5129, I received an email which suggests that the Australian colour was different:

"I recently needed some Magenta paint and found that none of my usual paint suppliers had the Chrysler Code MD in their computers. After much searching I contacted PPG Ditzler in Sydney and they were able to fax me the details of the paint code. PPG Ditzler paint code for Chrysler / Mitsubishi Magenta for model years 1971 - 2 is 4459. This varies from the paint code you list on your site for FM3 so it looks like FM3 and magenta are different." - Peter Mead

Update: (2 September 1999)

Since posting this page, I have had several emails on the subject of whether Magenta is FM3 - here are some excerpts:

"Regarding the point of magenta being the same color as panther pink, if you put 2 cars side by side you would find magenta is richer in color. I've spent a lot of time in the States and knew someone who owned a panther pink challenger in Vegas. I have owned a magenta r/t here and I'm sure they're a different color. " - Darren

"Same color, without a doubt (at least by eyeball calibration). Would a check of Dupont or Ditzler color codes be able to verify if it's the same color?" - Daty

Also, the resulting thread on the RAMM discussion list came up with the info that the Ditzler paint code for FM3 is 2260, and the DuPont paint code for FM3 is 5129. If anyone out there knows the Dupont or Ditzler codes for MD Magenta then we may have a conclusive answer.