CORVETTE COLORS
Steel Blue Corvette: Every Year, Code and How Many Were Built
Steel Blue Metallic on the Chevrolet Corvette, 1975, 1990–1991: 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 · C4 · Related · Paint Codes · More Blue · Wallpapers · FAQs
The Basics
The Color: Grayish medium blue, 1975 and 1990–91
GM Codes: 27, 25
Years Offered: 1975, 1990–1991 (3 model years)
Generations: C3 (1968–82), C4 (1984–96)
Built: 2,916 with GM counts
Best Year: 1975, 1,268 cars (3.3% of the year)
Color Family: Blue (every blue Corvette color)
Also Called: Code 27 (1975), 25 Steel Blue Metallic (1990–91)
Paint Codes: 1975: WA4671; 1990–1991: WA9080 / PPG 4223 / DuPont B9003
Pictures: 3 picture posts on the site, one per model year
The Overview
Steel Blue Metallic was offered on the Corvette in 1975, 1990–1991: 3 model years across the C3, C4 generations. GM’s color counts put 2,916 Steel Blue Corvettes on the road, 1,268 of them in 1975 alone.
Grayish medium blue, 1975 and 1990–91. Its share of a year’s production ran from 3 to 4 percent. It was a no-cost color. The interiors most often paired with it were Black, Blue. 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 Steel Blue 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 Blue Corvettes page lists every blue the factory ever sprayed, and Corvette Colors by Year has the full chart for each model year.
The Story of Steel Blue
Steel Blue was a 1975-only C3 color (1,268 cars), a gray-blue beside the Bright Blue of the same year, and the name came back as Steel Blue Metallic on the 1990 and 1991 C4, about 800 cars each year. The C4 version is the color of some early ZR-1s.
Quasar Blue and then Admiral Blue carried the C4 blue slot afterward.
The Steel Blue Cars to Know
1975 Steel Blue (1,268); 1990 ZR-1s in Steel Blue Metallic; 1991 Steel Blue Metallic (835).
MORE: THE MOST POPULAR COLORS BY GENERATION / 70 YEARS OF LEAST & MOST POPULAR COLORS / ALL BLUE CORVETTES
Steel Blue by Generation
Steel Blue across the 2 generations 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 / THE C4 HUB
| GENERATION | YEARS | CODE(S) | BUILT | BEST YEAR | INTERIORS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C3 Corvette | 1975 | 27 | 1,268 | 1975 (1,268) | Black |
| C4 Corvette | 1990–1991 | 25 | 1,648 | 1991 (835) | Blue |
Steel Blue by Year: How Many Were Built
GM’s production counts for Steel Blue in every year it was offered. The peak was 1975 at 1,268 cars; the full table for each year, with codes, shares and interiors, is in the generation sections below.
Steel Blue on the C3 Corvette (1968–82)
Steel Blue on the C3 (1968–82): offered 1975 as code 27. 1,268 cars by GM’s count. 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 1975 RESEARCH PAGE / ALL C3 COLOR POSTS / ALL C3 COLORS
Steel Blue C3 Corvettes: The Pictures
The site’s picture post for each year Steel Blue was offered on the C3: real cars in the real color, which no swatch shows properly.
Steel Blue on the C4 Corvette (1984–96)
Steel Blue on the C4 (1984–96): offered 1990–1991 as code 25. 1,648 cars by GM’s count, the best year 1991 with 835. 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 C4 HUB / THE 1991 RESEARCH PAGE / ALL C4 COLOR POSTS / ALL C4 COLORS
Colors Related to Steel Blue
The colors that came before and after Steel Blue, 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 BLUE CORVETTE COLOR / ALL CORVETTE COLORS / COLORS BY YEAR
| COLOR | YEARS | BUILT | FAMILY | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quasar Blue | 1990–1993 | 3,238 | Blue | See the Quasar Blue page |
| Bright Blue | 1975–1976, 1981–1982 | 6,705 | Blue | See the Bright Blue page |
| Medium Blue | 1973–1974, 1979, 1984–1985 | 3,863 | Blue | See the Medium Blue page |
| Dark Blue | 1973, 1977–1982, 1988–1989 | 23,140 | Blue | See the Dark Blue page |
Steel Blue Paint Codes: GM, WA, PPG and DuPont
The codes a body shop or a judge needs for Steel Blue: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 27 | WA4671 | — | — | Steel blue metallic (C3). (confidence: medium) |
| 1990–1991 | 25U | WA9080 | 4223 | B9003 | Medium steel-blue metallic. |
Blue Corvette Wallpapers
Desktop and phone wallpapers of blue Corvettes from the site’s wallpaper collections.
Blue Corvette Wallpapers — the color collection
All Corvette Wallpapers — by generation and by color
FAQs
What years was the Corvette offered in Steel Blue?
1975, 1990–1991: 3 model years on the C3, C4. Steel Blue was a 1975-only C3 color (1,268 cars), a gray-blue beside the Bright Blue of the same year, and the name came back as Steel Blue Metallic on the 1990 and 1991 C4, about 800 cars each year.
What is the GM paint code for Steel Blue?
GM used 27, 25 across the years; the code changed when GM changed its coding system, not the paint. The paint-shop codes are 1975: WA4671; 1990–1991: WA9080 / PPG 4223 / DuPont B9003.
How many Steel Blue Corvettes were built?
2,916 by GM’s counts (1,268 in 1975, the biggest year).
Which Corvette models and editions came in Steel Blue?
1975 Steel Blue (1,268); 1990 ZR-1s in Steel Blue Metallic; 1991 Steel Blue Metallic (835). 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 Steel Blue a metallic, a tintcoat or a solid color?
Grayish medium blue, 1975 and 1990–91. It was a no-cost color in every year it was offered.
What was the most popular year for Steel Blue?
1975, with 1,268 cars, 3.3% of that year’s production.
What colors are similar to Steel Blue?
Quasar Blue, Bright Blue, Medium Blue, Dark Blue. The Blue Corvettes page has every blue the factory offered, with the years and counts side by side.
Where can I see pictures of Steel Blue Corvettes?
The site has a picture post for each year Steel Blue was offered — real cars photographed in the real color — linked from the year tables above and in the picture grids on this page; the Blue Corvettes page and the wallpaper collection have more.
How does the Steel Blue 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.
