OK fellow Ford truck enthusiasts, I'm new to this site and it seems like a good place to share and learn, so here goes. Please bear with me as this may be a little long so I'll try to keep as short as possible, but if any one would like to know more, just let me know.
My dad and I own a couple of 66 custom cabs that have an odd (rare?) paint from the factory. One (the LWB), has been in the family since 1970, and the other (SWB), we bought in 1988 from the original owner. The LWB was in really great shape when my grandfather bought it and was all original (no damage or repaint). The SWB was in very good condition for it's age at the time we bought it(it was an old man's truck that was rarely used), and actually had 95% or better original paint. We had known of this truck since it was bought new, and when the chance to buy it came up, naturally we had to have it. Both of these trucks have a DSO code of 63 which means they went through the Memphis Tn. district office,and both were sold new at dealerships in N.E. Miss.(we live in N.W. Al.) How it first came about finding the different paint was, when my grandfather first bought the LWB, he wanted to touch up some scratches that were on it. When he went to get some touch-up paint, they gave him what they thought sould be on it (rangoon red), and it turned out to be too dark. When he went back, they told him that was the only red that was listed for it. When they checked the door id plate, the paint code was 5M. Well, the M was no problem, because that was the wimbledon white that was on it, but the 5 was no where to be found in the truck listings. Then the man at the parts house (who was pretty sharp on paint) hit upon an idea. He looked under 1966 FORD MUSTANG and there it was!!!!! Code 5 was SIGNALFLARE RED! A factory Ford color that has a lot of orange in it. A really sharp and bright color!
I find it interesting that Ford put the correct code for the paint on the door plate, but didn't list it with the truck paint codes. Could this be because Ford hadn't actually planned to use this color on the trucks and, perhaps they were using up some extra paint they had? (somewhat hard to believe since the mustangs sold like crazy, but you never know). Or could it have been some oversight in failing to list this color as an option? All these years later, I still havent heard an answer for sure, but I tend to lean toward the first possibility (or something like it) since, I have saw so few of these trucks painted this color. (About four years ago, I saw one more besides our two with this color. It was a really rough SWB that needed a lot of work, but wasn't really for sale at the time. About a year later, it was wrecked pretty bad, and the motor and trans had been removed. I tried to buy what was left, but the owner moved away, and I couldn't get in touch with him.) A couple of other interesting notes about these trucks are, that they were built at different assembly plants (so that should rule out anything such as only one plant doing this, whether it be on purpose, or by accident). Also the SWB doesn't have any paint codes on the door plate at all!
Before I submitted this, I browsed all the postings in this section, and I found one other guy with the same paint codes, and he was wondering what color it was. Topic #777 posted on may 6, 2001 by n3ffn didn't have anyone answer his question as to what color it was. Well I'm glad to share what I have learned, and I hope this helps him anyone who has come across this in the past, but what I would like to know is if there is anyone out there who may know more about this, such as someone who worked at Ford, and knows why this was done, or if anyone has any info or research on how many of these were made? I would be glad to hear from anyone who has one of these, or used to have one, and if I could be of any help with other questions about these trucks, let me know. My dad and I have studied and worked on these trucks for many years. (He used to work at Ford dealerships in the late 60's and early 70's) Thanks for any input anyone has!

 

Oh, by the way, one more odd feature I forgot to mention about these trucks with code 5 signalflare red is that there are a couple of items inside the cab that don't match the rest of the truck. (1)The two that my dad and I own (and I would think that any of the others painted this color would be also) had the steering column painted dark (rangoon) red. (2)Also there are two small cover plates (one on each side of the cab on the kick panel, held on with a single screw) that are also painted dark red. This is another reason that I think Ford never originally planned on using this color. These items would naturally have been painted before being installed in the truck, therefore all trucks with a red interior should have all been dark red. Would it not seem logical that if signalflare red was to be available as an option, that ALL items painted red would match? It's true that the column is not as noticeable (since it hangs alone under a white dash), but the kick panel plates stick out like a sore thumb! I know curiosity killed the cat as the old saying goes, but can anyone help shed some light on this mystery? Come on guys, HELP!