High Impact Paint

In the late 60s/early 70s, Dodge was already offering some of the hottest cars of the muscle car era- awesome machines like the Hemi Challenger and 440 Six-Pack Super Bee. Designers, however, decided to rev up the cars’ visuals to match, creating a far-out assortment of vibrant exterior paint colors. These special colors (a $15 option) generated a big buzz in the showrooms and launched an industry trend. The color palettes used by all the automakers were opened up, giving paint designers more creative freedom.

Today’s brighter, bolder choices in exterior colors were directly influenced by Dodge’s High Impact Paint from the years 1969 to 1973. Cars that were originally painted with one of these colors have become very desirable among collectors.

The following is a list of the ten optional High Impact Paints that were popular on many Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler cars:

Paint Code Dodge Name Plymouth/Chrysler Name Years Offered
FC7 Plum Crazy In-Violet 1970-71
EF6 Bright Green Rallye Green 1969 Spring Only
FJ5 Sublime Lime Light 1970
FJ6 Green Go Sassy Grass 1970-71
EK2 Go Mango Vitamin C 1969-70
EL5 Butterscotch Bahama Yellow 1969-71
FM3 Panther Pink Moulin Rouge 1970 Spring Only/1971 Spec. Order
EV2 Hemi Orange Tor Red 1969 -72
FY1 Top Banana Lemon Twist 1970-73
GY3 Citron Yella Curious Yellow 1971

And, if you think this first batch of High Impact colors was wild, here are a few more (unused) hues and names they brewed up in the lab that were considered too extreme or controversial, even for the High Impact program:

Catch Me Copper
Statutory Grape
Gang Green
Well Red
Frank Lloyd White
Fisher Body Rust
Hi-Ho Silver
Cost of Living Rose
Unforseeable Fuchsia

In 2006, we saw the revival of High Impact paint, with the production of the Challenger concept. This carbon fiber car was decked out in an updated and eye-popping version of Hemi-Orange. The brilliant “pearl” paint, described by Trevor Creed as Hemi-orange paint “kicked up a notch,” was an immediate hit at the Detroit Auto Show. Its mica flakes acted like tiny prisms and created an iridescent, multicolored effect on the Challenger.

Watch the following video at the 17:25 minute mark.

Chrysler Imperial and Dodge Challenger. - YouTube




As soon as the Challenger went into production, in 2008, Hemi-Orange Pearl became a popular choice among SRT buyers (Note- The other colors that year were Brilliant Black Crystal and Bright Silver Metallic). Since this first year, Dodge has offered an amazing 16 additional high impact colors on its retro-styled car. In a world of bland silver, gray, white and black cars, Challengers painted in these bright colors really stand out from the crowd!


Brilliant Black


Bright Silver

Updated versions of the High Impact colors are still periodically offered from year-to-year, both as standard and for special, limited-edition vehicles. Here is the list and their popularity ranking (by production numbers):

1. TorRed
2. Hemi Orange
3. B5 Blue
4. Sublime
5. Plum Crazy
6. Header Orange
7. Toxic Orange
8. Blue Streak
9. Stinger Yellow
10. High Octane Red
11. Green with Envy
12. Furious Fuchsia
13. Detonator Yellow
14. Deep Water Blue
15. Bright White 782
16. Brilliant Black 601
17. Pitch Black 60

The main difference between classic and modern-day paints is that, now, paints employ advanced multistage color-coat/clear-coat technology. Some paints also have embedded mica flakes to create a sparkling pearlescent finish. With only minimal maintenance, colors stay bright and lustrous and hold their shine for the life of the vehicle.

Here is a list of the paint codes for some of the colors that have been offered by Dodge:

Paint Code Dodge Name Years Offered
PLC Hemi-Orange Pearl 2008, 2009, 2010
PVG Toxic Orange Pearl 2011
PL4 Header Orange 2012, 2014
PRV High Octane Red 2018, 2019
PRY Redline Pearl 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017
PR3 TorRed 2018, 2019
PRH Inferno Red Crystal 2018, 2010
PHP Furious Fuchsia 2010
PYB Detonator Yellow 2010
PYV Stinger Yellow 2012
PY4 Yellow Jacket 2017, 2018, 2019
PHG Plum Crazy Pearl 2010, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019
PBX Jazz Blue 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
PQD B5 Blue Pearl 2015, 2019
PFQ F8 Green 2018, 2019
PVP Go Mango 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
PLC Green Go 2017
PFB Sublime Green Pearl 2015

The following are photos of some of the 1970 Dodge Challengers, with high impact colors, and their modern-day counterparts.

Classic Challengers



Hemi-Orange


Sublime


Plum Crazy


Top Banana


Modern-Day Challengers


Hemi-Orange Pearl



Sublime Green Pearl


Furious Fuchsia


Plum Crazy Pearl


B5 Blue Pearl


Detonator Yellow

Also, watch this informative video.