Caterpillar has had a long tradition for being Yellow but…….. that was not always the case.
As you know Caterpillar was formed on April 15th 1925 by the merger of Best Mfg and Holt Mfg. Best was primarily black in color with red accents and Holt was Gray with red accents. So when Caterpillar started they went to gray with red accents but in December 7th of 1931 they went to Caterpillar “Highway” Yellow.
Paint Codes:
Gray Federal Standard # 595B-26134
Red Federal Standard # 595B-11120
1/7/31 to 6/1/79 Old Caterpillar Yellow: Cat # 4C-4185, PPG# 80453 Dupont # 421A
7/1/79 to current year New Caterpillar Yellow: Cat # 4C-4184,
