Im trying to get the "Mandatory Red" paint they used on the 91-92 Firehawks reproduced. from pictures ive seen, the color seems more vibrant and brighter than other GM reds such as Bright Red or Torch Red. ive seen a few pics of a firehawk next to a red 1993 Z28, and the firehawk color seemed so much better. what is the paint code, if any? how could i get this color reproduced? maybe there are other colors that look the same from auto paint companies...

thanks

 

Both '91 and '92 were code 81U...aka Bright Red.

The Hawks weren't painted anything special...just GM's shade of red for that year(s). They called it mandatory red because they were supposed to be all red. They were also supposed to be all Formulas, and all hardtops...but those two rules didn't stick, either. There ended up being 4 that weren't red, one T-top car (which was also white!), and one vert (which was red...but a T/A instead of a Formy!). Hope this helps you out!

 

i know not all were red. thats odd because the red on firehawks seems a lot brighter than the red on other 3rd gens

 

I talked extensively with Joe Durk, who owns 1992 Firehawk #11, at the Firehawk Rally in Norwalk, Ohio in 2001 or 2002. He is a heck of a nice guy, with a heck of a nice car. It was 81U red. Here are a few pictures I took at Norwalk, you can see my '97 LT4 car sitting back-to-back to his '92.

 

well that sucks. doesnt the firehawk look more vibrant though? the 4th gen is a very low mile 1LE, so both paints should be in similar condition

 

Must have more Zaino on it. lolI dunno, but I do know SLP didn't repaint the entire car.