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British Racing Green


bentwaters81tfw

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Rover did a colour called Cameron green on the P.6s & I think this may be what I'm comparing to period photos of the Vanwall, a mid green, paler than Lotus or Cooper, darker than Aston Martin, all of which were "BRG' of different persuasions, if course, like any colour question it becomes subjective.

Steve.

Edited by stevehnz
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The original racing green on early Jaguar race cars - C and D types - was so dark as to look almost black in certain light.

A good paint mixing co can create it which is what I had to do for my scratch 1/8 C Type, but it isn't in any spray cans off the shelf that I've ever seen.

 

The Vanwall colour is a good bit lighter.  More Rover BRG.

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Hi Frank,

                       I wouldn't get too hung up on exact shades for BRG and Noel's advice is good. I've heard Vauxhall's Pine Green is a good starting point. Whatever you go with, the primer you use will affect the finished colour so I'd do a few tests with your chosen paint first and then when you're happy, go for it.

 

Popular legend has it that Lotus used to mix the green until it looked about right.

Yes, I've heard that one but I can't believe that a company as big as Lotus wouldn't stock such a popular colour and have it mixed up by a professional paint supplier rather than stirring it up themselves. Maybe they'd do that in the field for repairs but I can't see them doing it as a matter of course. Who knows for certain?

Paint used to be mixed by paint factors to a formula in the old days before computers were the norm so variations were possible depending on the skills of whoever mixed it, hence paint batches were important to record.

 

Dave

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You can find pictures of Vanwalls in anything from a quite dark, blue-leaning Pine green to a much paler Apple green. I think, sadly, you are going to need to model, not just British Racing Green or even Vanwall British Racing Green, but Vanwall Driven by Stirling Moss in the 1957 British GP Racing Green...

best,

M.

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Hmmm  :worms:  I used to own a Vauxhall in Pinewood green. Bit too blue for BRG. I have the Merit kit which is moulded in 'BRG'.

I ended up with a can of Tamiya Racing Green, and that will have to do. Wouldn't you think some thing as iconic as BRG would be 'standard'

 

Next task is to find Rosso Corsa in a rattle can :banghead:.

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30 minutes ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

Next task is to find Rosso Corsa in a rattle can :banghead:.

Which one? 😜

Seriously, Halfords has a Fiat 500 “Racing Red” and a Nissan Red 526 which are good for 60s and 80s cars respectively. Humbrol 220 in a can is (I think) the later, brighter Ferrari racing colour...

best,

M.

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9 hours ago, Fastcat said:

 


Popular legend has it that Lotus used to mix the green until it looked about right.

Yes, I've heard that one but I can't believe that a company as big as Lotus wouldn't stock such a popular colour and have it mixed up by a professional paint supplier rather than stirring it up themselves.

This was in the 50's when they still operated from the garage behind Hazel's parents pub  - so not so big then.

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In the days before the 200mph cigarette packets, teams raced in "national colours" blue for France, red for Italy, Silver for Germany and Green for Britain (though Ecurie Ecosse raced in "Scottish Blue")

 

None of these colours were standardised, so Alfa Romeo red was disctinctively different from Ferrari red, the "British Racing Green" was the most abused of all varying from a Moss Green on Astons to a dark almost black shade on Jaguars. The colour could even vary on single cars, Bentleys having a bodywork of metal and fabric have a noticeably darker colour on the fabric areas. The history is documented pretty well on Wikipedia

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_racing_green

 

Modern standardisation has defined it as a "Very dark yellowish green", not sure how helpful this is, other than gratnting carte blanche!

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Rover British Racing Green from Halfords that I referred to was used on the Rover 200 range at about the time it was sold to BMW.

There are indeed different shades on cars that were raced. The Le Mans Astons version of racing green was metallic I think.

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If I may jump in?

My car club concentrates on competition cars from the 1920s through the mid-1950s. 

We have Austin 7, MGs, Bentleys, Lagondas and more. Many of these are in their original paint finish. Quite a few wear BRG

BRG indeed varies quite a bit

I had the opportunity to see the car that started it all; the 1903 Napier, and original parts from it which had been kept well preserved.

Humbrol 3 is almost an exact match for its racing green

 

As an aside. I went to Halfords to get some paint mixed to match my 1930 A7 Ulster. I thought they made a mistake so I went to ICI in Ballymena. They mixed the paint as well. I compared the colour matching notes. The red on my car is an exact match for that used on a Ferrari 440, a Peugeot, a Renault and Mini Metro. Just shows how colours & shades get used over and over

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I would say that British Racing Green is short for British Racing teams use Green. 😀

I doubt that when Britain was issued green for their race colour, no shade of green was specified. I guess it is Bentley's fault that people associates the dark green to this.

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Ah, the Le Mans Bentleys were supposedly Pea Green, not the dark blower green that everyone uses...

Now for some supposed facts! In my collection of random information I have 4 pages copied from a book (about 50/60's car models??) giving colour references (or not). Here are the greens and the teams that used them:

 

BS 226 Mid-Brunswick Green  - J.B.W. (who?)

BS 217 Sea Green - H.P.K. Dibley

ICI Larch Green - Tony Marsh

ICI PO30-2732 Westminster Green - Morgan Motor Co.

ICI BP Green or BS 228 - David Piper

Porsche Irish Green or ICI P030-3133 - Porsche (GB) Ltd.

Valentines Jewelescence 19197 Mist Green - A.C. Cars

ICI P031-2657 Green - C.T. Atkins

ICI P031-2248 Green - Brabham Racing, Motor Racing Developments, Epstein Racing

ICI P030-3503 Dark Green - B.R.M., Epstein Racing

Linden Green - B.R.M., E.R.A.

ICI P030-3302 Connaught Green - Team Chamaco Collect

ICI P030-152 Green - Cooper Car Co., Bruce McLaren, Gerard-Cooper

ICI M035-2629 California Sage Green - Aston Martin

Thomas Parsons Napier Green 479/16 - Bentley

ICI P030-7789 Pale Green - British Racing Partnership

ICI P030-5250 Green  (Jaguar Racing Green) - Earl Howe, Epstein Enterprises Ltd., Jaguar Racing

Thin Wall Special Green  - Vandervell

Vanwall Green - Vandervell (yes I know - not helpful!)

ICI P030-8120 Green - John Dean Racing, Gilbey Engineering, Ron Harris, Team Lotus, Lister, C. Lucas Engineering, Ian Walker

ICI P030-3133 Ford Galleon Green - Ford Advanced Vehicles

ICI P030-3436 Dark Green - Gilby Engineering

BS 276 Lincoln Green - David Good

ICIP031-4390 Light Borneo Green - S.M.A.R.T.

ICI P030-2855 Green - Standard Motor Co.

ICI P031-2638 Opalescent Dark Green - Peter Sutcliffe, Vita-D

Masons Jolex Bright Green 9955 - Sidney Taylor

ICI P030-2997 Light Green - Vita-D

ICI P030-2865 Connaught Green - Vita-D

ICI P030-5107 B.M.C. Dark Green - Roy Winkelmann

 

Enjoy!

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Yes the British green seems to have been all over the place while the restored Bentley's dark green has stuck in the mind of people.

Then we have the Italian red race colour that often is stated to come from the winning Itala from the 1907 Peking to Paris race.

For some reason it often has been stated as being red while the car was grey.

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On 04/03/2020 at 12:47, Orso said:

Yes the British green seems to have been all over the place while the restored Bentley's dark green has stuck in the mind of people.

Then we have the Italian red race colour that often is stated to come from the winning Itala from the 1907 Peking to Paris race.

For some reason it often has been stated as being red while the car was grey.

What sort of grey?  (ducks...)

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Hi Jo NZ, I think I have the same book. It's called Motor Racing Team Colours and Markings by John Baxter, published by MAP in 1967. Judging by the acknowledgment at the front of the book, the author contacted the teams concerned and obtained the paint specifications, where quoted, from them. Of course it's only a snapshot and applies to the information on the day. For instance, some teams changed their colours in line with sponsorship or even because it looked better on telly! 

Presumably Tony Vandervell had a unique colour mix for his cars or didn't co-operate because there is a description of the teams history but only a note that the Thinwall Special was a lighter green than the Vanwall. 

Still, it's a useful little booklet as far as it goes and at least it was an attempt to categorise colours for once.

 

Dave

 

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