Car Paint Company

What was the old lead based automotive paint called?

What was the old school automotive paint they used to use called, I think it was a lead based paint and that is why they stopped using it. I'm pretty sure I remember it was sposed to have a deeper finish. Anybody know what I'm talking about? I can't remember the type of paint or finish that was, or what it was called??

Public Comments

1. The oldest car paint I used to paint my 1968 Pontiac was an enamel paint. They also had lacquer paints. Then the EPA US Government made the paint manufacturer's take the high volatility compounds out that evaporated out into the atmosphere. So today's paints are different and maybe http://www.maaco.com will say what they use now. "With more than 10,000 auto paint colors in quality formulations that range from high-grade enamel to single-stage urethane to basecoat/clearcoat urethane, Maaco provides the price and quality you want for your car."
2. In the beginning there was nitrocellulose based lacquer,it was made obsolete by acrylic lacquer. As for enamels,there was alkyd enamel [Dupont Dulux for example].They were based on natural oils,They were obsoleted by acrylic then urethane enamels. Lead was used as a white pigment in the old paints then replaced by titanium dioxide. The antique paint technologies were great in their day but modern finishes are far superior in all ways.