1966 Dodge Coronet 440 convertible color...

I am restoring a 1966 Dodge Coronet 440 convertible and I am trying to convince myself to choose a color other than the original (WW1 - Persian White). I am a purist and think cars should be painted to match the original build sheet and fender tag. But, since I am replacing the original 318 engine with a 383. (I think the 440 engine was correct for 1967 model year and later but not for the 1966). I want to keep the car somewhat original to the year. Anyway, since the car will not be completely stock, is there any 1966 colors that might suit my car that anyone could suggest? By the way, the original interior of my car is red.

my project is the blue stripped down car and the white one is a sample photo of the original color.

I was faced with a similar decision with the 1964 Polara convertible that I'm working on. (I'm about in the same phase of reconstruction as your are now and I'm looking forward to resuming work on it this winter.) My Polara was originally a 318 car, white paint, black top, red interior. Nothing fancy, I admit, but I had learned to drive on a 4 door '64 Polara that my folks owned so there's some sentimental attatchment here.... And like yourself, I find satisfaction restoring a car back to how it left the factory (or very close to it), and in many ways that's more challenging then the resto-mod side of the hobby.

After seeing at least 1 other white Polara in person and then others online, I didn't like how the chrome on the car 'disappeared' under the white paint. The trim on my 64 is unique to that model year, and I wanted it to stand out.

So for my Polara, I decided to change the body color to Black, but I'm going to stick with Red for the interior (including the steel dash) and then Black again for the Convertible top. For the carpet, I'm not sure yet if I'll go with Red or Black. I found a few examples of this color combination on various cars online, and I like how it looked. I'm also happy that I'm keeping the factory interior and top color while the chrome on the car will really 'pop' with the Black paint. Yes, I realize that Black can be a real S.O.B. to keep clean, but this will be a show car / Saturday night cruiser not a race car or daily driver and I'm pretty good about keeping my stuff clean anyway.

The best advice I can offer is to do tons of research and look at as many other Coronet Convertibles as you can before making your decision, and the internet is a huge help with that. Learn from the accomplishments (and the mistakes) others have made with the their color choices and then go with your gut.

Perhaps this will help sway your decision?

Very nice!!! I honestly like white myself but sometimes I'm envious of all of the high impact colors...

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The white looks great! But if I were going to change to another color it would have to be black. Imagine that red interior with a blck exterior! It just doesn't get any better!!