Recently had my little convertible painted. Excellent job! My little 67 looks very sharp. However, I am having a few little tiny places on the car chip. What causes this? Again, the gentleman who painted my car has it looking awfully sharp. The paint just seems very brittle? Is there a good reason for this? Going to have my 69 painted in the months to come & I'm wondering what I could do to avoid the chipping on my next project.

The chips are coming from road debris or careless actions around the car. The different brands of paint as well how long the paint was allowed to cure, the prep work under the paint and the protection used on the paint (wax) all play a part in how well the paint resists chipping.

Concurring with Dennis. You can't stop it from chipping. A small projectile with a sharp edge flying off a tire while driving 60MPH is going to chip the paint.

...and these cars are best served driven!

poor prep-sanding (If parts are left on and taped off, you often see peeling or chipping in those areas, as it can be hard to sand and prep well around stuff left on), excessive film build, or choice of undercoats can help contribute to chipping. Also I think it takes awhile for paint to fully cure and reach its maximum adhesion, and if the paint is pretty fresh, it may not have full adhesion yet.
Could also be the paint used. An inexpensive paint could possibly chip easier. But it seems that paint manufacturers have to compromise. A paint that sets up very hard may chip easier, while one that stays a bit on the soft side, may mar or scratch easier. I think I would rather have one towards the soft side, as there is a chance running a buffer over it, you may be able to remove scratches. The only hope for a chip is touchup or repaint. But I agree with others, paint will chip when hit by a hard high speed projectile. Stay away from dump trucks carrying a heaping load of gravel, trucks leaving a job site with no mudflaps and parking lots. :(
One reason manufacturers often use paint protection products, gravel guard is often sprayed on rocker areas by manufacturers, you see 3m paint protection film installed in prone areas, door edge guards installed. or why some will install a car bra.

I appreciate everyones in put on the chipping situation. Regarding the cure time. The little drop top is has been in cure mode for over a year. I've owned the car for 13 years. It's always been a good looking car. However, the paint job on it now is so sharp that I guess in years past I never paid nearly as close of attention to it...A stranger would probably never even notice some of the little boo-boos that turn up on the car. I guess I just need to chillout & drive it!!!! Hope all you have a great rest of the week. JM

try being a painter/bodyman. We notice where every little flaw is in our paint or ripple in the bodywork. Stuff the average person probably would never even notice. And those flaws will eat at us. Allthough we may try,its pretty much impossible to be perfect- A ton of things are waiting to cause a flaw in a paint job, and although you can take many precautions to prevent things happening, some are just out of your control.
And its not just our work either. Walking at a car show, instead of spending a lot of time looking at the engine, or engineering of the car, we will probably spend most of the time looking at the paint and sighting down body panels. Although we may say this one they did a very good job on the paint, but we will be looking for every little flaw, and they all have some. Everyone I've ever looked at has had something, panel alignment a little off, a paint flaw or ripple, some scratches still in that could have done some more work with the buffer. I haven't gone to any really big national shows, but the nicest I seen was an orange buick gs at a local show. Danged if I could really see any flaws in the paint/bodywork, impressive. But then it wasn't under bright flourecents either, not much they hide.