"modern version of original paint"

[Johnny Blaze]

Over the years I have heard guys say they took the original color of their car, and mixed a 'modern version'.

What exactly would that be? Adding metallic?

Anyone ever heard this, or done this?

[JustJohn]

I always presumed it to mean the same color but in a multi-stage paint instead of a single stage color.

[mmosley]

My car was originally painted as an enamel. When you paint an enamel you do several layers, then you can color sand if needed. Not many shops will do an enamel these days.

I could get the same color mixed as a polyeurethane based basecoat / clearcoat. With a basecoat / clearcoat the base color is relatively thin, the clear coat can be thick and / or several coats. You wet sand the clear to get the glassy smooth finish. It will not look the same as the original paint, so I went ahead and did something a little different.

In my case I picked a more recent GM paint code that was a very close match to my original color. Now, if needed, I can get touch up paint from just about any auto supply place in the US. I was not looking specifically to paint the car the original color, and since I was going down to bare metal it hardly mattered. I just liked the color and wanted something similar.

[jlcustomz]

I think what mmosley mentioned on just using a newer paint code similar to your color is what usually gets done. Can be from any vehicle manufacturer. Colors can be similar to the casual glance, but one color will pop more for one or more reasons.
An example is a mid 70's el camino I used to see at super chevy shows that usually won his(stock) class. From 500' away it looked like a basic solid colors 2 tone red & white el camino from the 70's. Up close you could see a little pearl look to the white & a little metallic to the red. I think both color codes were from modern import vehicles.
Another example of (modernizing) could be Stacy David's copperhead project. A basic ford ranger copper color was taken &modified into a brighter, nicer looking color, which turned into a requested color for other builders.
While a custom painter could take a stock paint color & custom mix it to have an enhanced look, most of the time it's best just to find another stock paint code you like better.