I bought some parts on ebay a few weeks ago, the owner said the colour was Ink Black. To me it looks more like a Navy Blue. For those of you who own an Ink Black coupe - how would you describe the colour?

It's like a darkdark gray that's almost black but not really and with a hint of purple/green/navy depending on the light.

http://www.fiatcoupe.net/pics/galleries/omarbarakat/bigfoto01.jpg

There are a few shades of Ink Black.
I had the same problem when I bought a wing off a 16v. It was almost completely blue.
My 20VT has a hint of green / purple that's a little bit visible in the final picture.




It is a difficult colour to match. It can look perfect in some conditions and then miles out in others (e.g. the front bumper in picture 2).

It's got green, red and purple in it. Looks black in low light, like a dark biro blue in bright sunlight.

There are 2 colour codes for it

I don't remember the 16v to be available in ink black.

It wasn't - metallic black only - but that doesn't mean someone didn't put an ink black part on it...

So is the dark blue colour on the older cars called metallic black?

No, the black colour on the 16valve cars is metallic black.

Ink black came in with the 20valve versions.

I've had this convo with Neil before...

My car started life as a 16v and looks very like ink black - in fact it's had an ink black bonnet (or 2!) from a 20vt which matches up to the rest of the car.

Is the metallic black a similar blue/green colour to the later ink black used on the 20vt or is it a straight metallic black?

I had an ink black 16v, early N reg, it was my first coupe and sure it wasn't black (like the le's) and if memory serves me well it was pretty much the same Colour as my current inky 20vt!!

As far as I know all the N-reg and later were customer cars, and the only colours available were yellow, red, blue and metallic black.

It's not a light-soaking black; the metallic can make it, if you know what I mean, quite a light black without being gray. But there's no tint to it. After eighteen years I'm sure I'd have noticed!

It is amazing how the eyes can deceive. I saw yours at Brooklands a couple of years ago and thought it was Ink Black, but now you've said it there appears to be no blue tint at all.

Strange, if you look here on the fccuk buyers guide:

http://www.fiatcoupeclub.org/?navi=COUPE%20ZONE&page=BUYERS'%20GUIDE

It suggests there is black ink met / ink black metallic Colour 820 for both 16v and later 20v and then black for the le's which was nero black 601?

I sure my 16v was definately blueish as always wished it was black? Perhaps it wasn't a uk car? All very odd?

As far as I know the 16 valves were not available Ink Black. It's best you check your paint code.

Mine is Black Met 632. The Metallic makes it look lighter, slightly grey sometimes but it's definately a straight black. Ink black can look blue, purple, green but if you look carefully in natural light it's really just a very dark blue.

Here is ink black vs met black

632 is the one.

Casting back twenty years... I wonder is there was a non-metallic black? I know that metallic was an extra cost option - because I paid for it - but I *thought* that black was *only* available metallic.

Not the best pictures but it has definitely got some blue in there, and unless it was completely gutted and painted as a shell it's been that colour since new... metallic black or ink black?

But it's reflecting a blue sky.

Thanks captain obvious, as I said - not the best pictures.

Ok - in the dark with yellow artificial light...



Grey day, in the rain...

That 2nd pic above is a very good indicator of the colour. Mine is dark blue. Certainly more blue than it ever looks black. Should really be called ink blue.

I certainly owned a flat black bumper and bonnet from a 16vt. Paint looked original, but no way of knowing for sure.

Darn, I think I prefer the 16v black (met ink?)...just goes to show how bad my memory was...come to think of it my 20vt does look really blue from some angles which I don't think my 16v ever did.

I just thought the paint was better on later cars when I bought the 20vt!!

I wonder if the Club could arrange a free eye test deal for some of us Ink Black Owners?

But my car started life as a 16v NA so that should be metallic black, not ink black.

Eye test for me too please, I'm non the wiser!

601 from late 94 on I believe. Is 'pastel black' - non-metallic.

Just check your paint codes. Neil is listed as ink black on the owners list but it's wrong.

Really?

I had a 1996 16VT three or four years ago that I always believed to be Ink Black and even bought Ink Black paint code 820 when having the rear bumper repaired. It was definitely a distinct blue in colour, and the paint I bought matched the rest of the car perfectly. I'm 90% sure the car was Ink Black, and said so on the plate under the bonnet.

This is the only picture of it I have, and it sadly isn't the best to depict the colour:

16VT

There was no ink black 16v on the continent officially . But that doesn't say a thing to be honest, if you / a dealer specs it, there's a big chance Fiat will provide. It's like we specced a leather dashboard trim for our Brera Ti before it was available on the Belgian market, and specced a friend's 147 to have 'Alfa Ti wheels' on a non-Ti model. They just have to grab a different can of paint so to say.

Would be rather interesting to see whether the paint sticker says Ink Black on any 16v's. So... dive under the bonnet!

A significant publicity point in the advertising at the time was that Coupes were individually painted by Pininfarina on the construction line 'because we can' rather than batch painted.

Which does suggest that if you wanted a different colour it might not have been beyond the wit of man to get one...

In my earlier post I forgot 'green' which I think was the other metallic colour offered.

Ok - so the colour depends on the light. Being winter I've only seen it when dark or murky, I guess I'll have to wait for that thing in the sky to appear (forgetten what's its' called - its been that long since I last saw it!) to see them in a black colour.....
Thanks for the response