I’ve looked at BB#25 and all of the photos I can find of SM-16, SM-18, and SM-18A stock cars to determine the paint color of the underbody and trucks. A caption on p. 65 states that SM-16s were delivered with mineral red trucks and underbody,
but one of the few color photos of an SM-16 shows black trucks and underbody. By what date would the paint color changed from mineral red to black (the color photo was taken in the 60s or 70s). The text is silent about the SM-18 and SM-18A paint color. The
photo on p. 72 of a wrecked SM-16 shows what appears to be mineral red paint, though it’s difficult to tell much about color in black and white photos.
Another puzzle is the color of the herald background for these cars. Black and white photos suggest a black background, but the color photos of two SM-16s show mineral red background. A color photo of a string of SM-18s in Minneapolis shows
six mineral red backgrounds and two black backgrounds, so both could be seen in the 1950s. Is there any information about which background was used by date range?
Nelson Moyer