5 Of Our Favorite Classic Mopar Colors

The Mopar family of Chrysler brands has brought us some of the most powerful and fun-to-drive models of the muscle-car era, like the Dodge Challenger and Charger, Plymouth Roadrunner and Barracuda, which was discontinued after 1974. A big source of the joy these cars generated was the mighty V8 engines that powered them. But Chrysler's designers paid just as much attention to the shells of these cars as the engineers did to their guts. In the summer of 1969, Chrysler unleashed its palette of High Impact paints on the world — an array of hues that made the colors offered by Ford and Chevrolet all look like washed-out shades of grey and beige in comparison.

Chryslers 10 new colors cost just $15 extra and could be applied to almost any car in the lineup, unlike the limited number of vibrant colors offered by Ford and GM. The High Impact paints were available through 1973, and can add significant value to cars that have survived the intervening half century. Here are our five favorites from that brief but vibrant chapter in Mopar history.

Sheb Wooley's novelty hit song "The Purple People Eater" was released in 1958, more than a decade before Chrysler began offering its cars in a shade that turned those beasts into purple pavement eaters. On Dodge models, color code FC7 was known as "Plum Crazy," while on Chryslers and Plymouths it was labeled In-Violet. It was only available in 1970 and 1971, and the '71 Dodge Challenger pictured above is one of only 2,700 painted in that shade, according to Muscle Cars Universe.

The $15 you would have spent for a coat of Plum Crazy in 1971 is equal to less than $120 today, but the color makes these models worth a small fortune on the used market. A 1970 Challenger Convertible in FC7 sold just under a year ago for $76,000, and a hardtop coupe went in January for $165,000. If you simply must have one, there's a coupe currently for sale via GR Auto Gallery in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for $86,900. In 2016, Dodge brought Plum Crazy back as part of its Heritage Collection of colors for certain Challenger and Charger models.

Paint code EV2 was known as HEMI Orange on Dodge models and TorRed on Plymouths and Chryslers, and the hue appeared orange in bright light and red in darker conditions. It was originally offered from 1969 through 1972, but Dodge did not help the red/orange controversy when it brought the shade back as part of the Heritage Collection in 2009. Instead of settling the argument of whether the color was orange or red, Dodge decided to offer two separate colors under both of its previous names.

Pontiac used a similar shade on the 1969 GTO Judge, a color it identified as "Carousel Red" but which also looked orange in daylight. Classic Mopars in EV2 are also worth a premium today. Two 1970 Charger R/Ts sold last year for $72,000 and $150,000, and one of only 237 1970 Challengers with the 426 cubic inch HEMI V8 sold for a staggering $329,500 just a few days before this writing.

FJ6 denoted a shade of green called Sassy Grass or Green Go, another color that shone differently in sunlight and under overcast skies. The 1971 Dodge Challenger at the top of this article and the 1970 Dart Swinger just above are both painted in FJ6, but the Dart's paint appears much less vibrant without the light of the sun. It was originally only available for those two model years, but Dodge later made just under 1,500 2011 Challengers in a similar shade called Green With Envy. 

In 2017, the color returned to the lineup with the original Green Go moniker. Classic Sassy Grass/Green Go Mopar models carry the same premium on the resale market as the other High Impact colors. A 1970 Plymouth Barracuda in this shade sold earlier in August for $62,500, a '70 Challenger R/T coupe with the three-carburetor six pack option went earlier this year for $78,000, and a convertible version of that same model and vintage sold just a few days before this writing for $106,400.

Mopar color code EL5 was known as Butterscotch or Bahama Yellow depending on the brand, and was offered between 1969 and 1971. It's nowhere near as bright as many of its High Impact siblings, but still screams "classic" just as loudly as Go Green or HEMI Orange. This reserved color option was also not as popular as the more vivid colors, but that doesn't mean you can find classic Mopar models in Bahama Yellow for less than one in a bolder hue. 

Classic Lady Motors in Cornelius, North Carolina has a 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner like the one above in Bahama Yellow listed for $67,500, and a similar model from 1971 went for $48,995 via the Streetside Classics location in Phoenix, Arizona. Those two examples were bargains compared to the EL5 HEMI-powered 1971 Plymouth 'Cuda listed by Gateway Classic Cars in Las Vegas for a cool $153,000.

While EL5 whispers to observers like it's in a crowded library, paint code FM3 screams like it's trying to get your attention across a packed stadium. This color was called Panther Pink at Dodge dealerships and Moulin Rouge on Chryslers and Plymouths. It was only briefly available in the Spring and Summer of 1970.  Auto Evolution supposes it was only used on a few thousand cars in total, and fewer than 100 Dodge Chargers. The video blogger who captured the Panther Pink 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner above at the 2019 Adirondack Nationals claims it's one of only 44 made. Many bashful owners chose to foolishly repaint their FM3-colored Mopars, making this color extremely hard to find today on any surviving examples 

The 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A was made as a homologation model for the Sports Car Club of America's Trans Am series, and Mecum Auctions claims that only about a dozen Panther Pink examples of this  particular car have survived this long. Mecum tried to sell one of those rare Challenger T/As at the same 2020 auction where the green 1968 Mustang from the film "Bullitt" sold for $3.74 million. Unfortunately for the top bidder, their $52,000 offer wasn't enough to take it home. If you think you'd be pretty in pink, we found a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda in this stunning hue available in Branson, Missouri via Classic Cars.com for $63,000.