The last second generation Firebirds would go out with a blast of color for 1981 but somehow reverted to a much duller naming convention. Color names for 1981 were more mechanical but probably more descriptive. Prior years Solar Gold became Gold Metallic and so on. If the color was a metallic then Metallic appeared in the name. Basic colors were prefixed with Light, Bright, or Dark to denote the shade. Consumers probably found this less confusing and the trend would continue through the eighties.

• White dropped the Cameo prefix but was carried over since 1971
• Starlight Black became just plain old Black
• Silver Metallic was altered slightly from the Platinum of 1978 to 1980
• Dark Blue Metallic is the same as 1979's Nocturne Blue and 80's Nightwatch Blue
• Gold Metallic was a subtle change of shade from 1980's Solar Gold
• Bright Yellow is the same color as 1980's Tahitaian Yellow
• Dark Maroon Metallic is very close to 1980's Montreaux Maroon but not exact
• Dark Brown Metallic was identical to 1980's Barclay Brown
• Ontario Gray was renamed to Dark Charcoal Metallic
• Bright Red is a subtle shade brighter than the Francisco Red of 1980
• Bright Blue, Light Blue, and Orange Metallic were all new colors for 1981
• The code 56 Yellow was a new color but appeared to be more yellow than the paint chip.