CORVETTE COLORS
Dark Brown Corvette: Every Year, Code and How Many Were Built
Dark Brown Metallic on the Chevrolet Corvette, 1974, 1976, 1978–1980: what the color is, the GM paint code in every year, how many were built and what share of the year that was, the interiors it came with, a picture gallery for each year, the chart of its run and the colors that came before and after it.
Quick Nav: The Story · By Generation · Chart · C3 · Related · Paint Codes · More Brown · FAQs
The Basics
The Color: Dark brown, solid on the C3 and metallic in 1980
GM Codes: 968, 69, 89, 82, 47
Years Offered: 1974, 1976, 1978–1980 (5 model years)
Generations: C3 (1968–82)
Built: 12,791 with GM counts; no counts for 1974
Best Year: 1976, 4,447 cars (9.6% of the year)
Color Family: Brown (every brown Corvette color)
Also Called: Code 968 (1974), 69 (1976), Corvette Dark Brown 89 / 82 (1978–79), Dark Brown Metallic 47 (1980)
Paint Codes: 1974: WA4328; 1976, 1978: WA4518
Pictures: 4 picture posts on the site, one per model year
By Generation: C3
The Overview
Dark Brown Metallic was offered on the Corvette in 1974, 1976, 1978–1980: 5 model years across the C3 generation. GM’s color counts put 12,791 Dark Brown Corvettes on the road, 4,447 of them in 1976 alone; no per-color records survive for 1974.
Dark brown, solid on the C3 and metallic in 1980. Its share of a year’s production ran from 4 to 10 percent. It was a no-cost color. The interiors most often paired with it were Black, Dark Brown. The chart below shows the run year by year; the generation sections carry every year’s code, count, share, interiors and picture.
This page has every year Dark Brown was offered with its GM code, how many were built, its share of the year and the interiors it came with, the site’s picture gallery for each year, a chart of the run, the related colors, and the FAQs. It is one of 77 color pages on CorvSport; the Brown Corvettes page lists every brown the factory ever sprayed, and Corvette Colors by Year has the full chart for each model year.
The Story of Dark Brown
Dark Brown was a 1970s color through and through: on the chart for 1974, 1976, 1978, 1979 and 1980, with 4,447 cars in 1976 and 4,053 in 1979, almost always with the Buckskin or Light Beige interiors. It is the most popular brown Corvette by a wide margin.
It left after 1980 as Dark Bronze and Mahogany took the slot; no brown Corvette followed until Zeus Bronze in 2020 and Caffeine in 2022.
The Dark Brown Cars to Know
1976 Dark Brown (4,447); 1979 Corvette Dark Brown (4,053); 1980 Dark Brown Metallic (2,300).
MORE: THE MOST POPULAR COLORS BY GENERATION / 70 YEARS OF LEAST & MOST POPULAR COLORS / ALL BROWN CORVETTES
Dark Brown by Generation
Dark Brown across the 1 generation it was offered on: the years, the GM paint code each generation used, how many were built with GM’s counts, the biggest year and the interiors most often paired with it. Each generation has its own section below with every year.
MORE: THE C3 HUB
| GENERATION | YEARS | CODE(S) | BUILT | BEST YEAR | INTERIORS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C3 Corvette | 1974, 1976, 1978–1980 | 968, 69, 89, 82, 47 | 12,791 | 1976 (4,447) | Black, Dark Brown |
Dark Brown by Year: How Many Were Built
GM’s production counts for Dark Brown in every year it was offered, with the years GM kept no color records marked n/a. The peak was 1976 at 4,447 cars; the full table for each year, with codes, shares and interiors, is in the generation sections below.
Dark Brown on the C3 Corvette (1968–82)
Dark Brown on the C3 (1968–82): offered 1974, 1976, 1978–1980 as code 968, 69, 89, 82, 47. 12,791 cars by GM’s count, the best year 1976 with 4,447. No per-color counts survive for 1974. Every year links to its research page (the full color chart, options and prices for that year) and to the site’s picture post for the color.
MORE: THE C3 HUB / THE 1976 RESEARCH PAGE / ALL C3 COLOR POSTS / ALL C3 COLORS
| YEAR | CODE | BUILT | SHARE | INTERIORS | PICTURES | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 968 | no record | — | Black, Neutral, Saddle, Silver | Pictures | — |
| 1976 | 69 | 4,447 | 9.6%, #4 of 10 | Black, Buckskin, Dark Brown, White | Pictures | — |
| 1978 | 89 | 1,991 | 4.3%, #9 of 12 | Dark Brown, Light Beige, Oyster | — | — |
| 1979 | 82 | 4,053 | 7.5%, #6 of 10 | Black, Light Beige, Oyster | Pictures | — |
| 1980 | 47 | 2,300 | 5.7%, #8 of 10 | Black, Doeskin, Oyster | Pictures | — |
Colors Related to Dark Brown
The colors that came before and after Dark Brown, the ones it is confused with and the ones that shared its slot on the chart. Each has its own page or a line on its family page.
MORE: EVERY BROWN CORVETTE COLOR / ALL CORVETTE COLORS / COLORS BY YEAR
| COLOR | YEARS | BUILT | FAMILY | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mahogany | 1976, 1978, 1981 | 7,395 | Brown | See the Mahogany page |
| Dark Bronze | 1981, 1984–1985 | 2,833 | Brown | See the Dark Bronze page |
| Frost Beige | 1978–1980 | 7,707 | Brown | See the Frost Beige page |
| Silver Beige | 1982, 1986–1987 | 9,142 | Brown | See the Silver Beige page |
Dark Brown Paint Codes: GM, WA, PPG and DuPont
The codes a body shop or a judge needs for Dark Brown: the GM order code on the trim tag or service parts label, GM’s WA formula number and the PPG / Ditzler and DuPont mixing codes where they are documented. Where a code is blank the sources did not list one; the notes say where a source disagreed.
MORE: THE RPO CODES LIBRARY / THE VIN DECODER
| YEARS | GM CODE | WA | PPG / DITZLER | DUPONT | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 68 | WA4328 | — | — | Dark brown metallic. (confidence: medium) |
| 1976, 1978 | 82 (1976) / 89 (1978) | WA4518 | — | — | Dark brown metallic. (confidence: medium) |
FAQs
What years was the Corvette offered in Dark Brown?
1974, 1976, 1978–1980: 5 model years on the C3. Dark Brown was a 1970s color through and through: on the chart for 1974, 1976, 1978, 1979 and 1980, with 4,447 cars in 1976 and 4,053 in 1979, almost always with the Buckskin or Light Beige interiors.
What is the GM paint code for Dark Brown?
GM used 968, 69, 89, 82, 47 across the years; the code changed when GM changed its coding system, not the paint. The paint-shop codes are 1974: WA4328; 1976, 1978: WA4518.
How many Dark Brown Corvettes were built?
12,791 by GM’s counts (4,447 in 1976, the biggest year); GM kept no color records for 1974, so the true figure is higher.
Which Corvette models and editions came in Dark Brown?
1976 Dark Brown (4,447); 1979 Corvette Dark Brown (4,053); 1980 Dark Brown Metallic (2,300). In its years it was available on every body style and model unless the year’s note says otherwise; the year tables above say which.
Is Dark Brown a metallic, a tintcoat or a solid color?
Dark brown, solid on the C3 and metallic in 1980. It was a no-cost color in every year it was offered.
What was the most popular year for Dark Brown?
1976, with 4,447 cars, 9.6% of that year’s production.
What colors are similar to Dark Brown?
Mahogany, Dark Bronze, Frost Beige, Silver Beige. The Brown Corvettes page has every brown the factory offered, with the years and counts side by side.
Where can I see pictures of Dark Brown Corvettes?
The site has a picture post for each year Dark Brown was offered — real cars photographed in the real color — linked from the year tables above and in the picture grids on this page; the Brown Corvettes page and the wallpaper collection have more.
How does the Dark Brown page fit with the rest of the Corvette colors research?
Every model year has a research page with the full color chart (codes, counts, interiors and soft tops), the Colors by Year page indexes them, every color with three or more years has a page like this one, and the twelve family pages (Red, Blue, Black, White, Silver, Yellow, Gray, Green, Orange, Purple, Gold, Brown) list every shade ever offered.
