Colours are making a comeback with new cars – and I’m all here for it. We’ve seen plenty of new models from various manufacturers featuring hero shots of bright yellows, blues, reds, and best of all, greens.
As the resident ‘green car’ man at CarExpert, I thought it’d be fun to have a look at some of the iconic shades of green in the automotive industry that have influenced the many variations on sale today.
Let us know which of these five are your favourite! #MakeGreenGreatAgain
British Racing Green
Arguably the most recognisable green finish in the automotive industry, British Racing Green (BRG for short) dates back to the early 1900s and has been used on a number British racing cars, as the name suggests, such as the iconic 1950s Jaguar D-Type (above).
Since its implementation in motorsport, BRG has been a long-running option for a number of British brands like Aston Martin, Jaguar and Mini in various shades and finishes (solid, metallic etc.), and has become a popular bespoke option for a number of other European brands.
The classic combination of British Racing Green with tan interior has a cult following amongst car enthusiasts – in fact there’s an Instagram account dedicated to such a specification (@greenovertan check it out!)
A modern interpretation is the 2019 Mini 60 Years Edition (above), featuring the classic Mini combination of BRG body paint with contrasting white roof and mirrors.
The commemorative edition also came with an interior trimmed in Dark Cacao Brown leather with green pinstripe – #GreenOverTan strikes again.
Viper Green
Viper Green originated as a factory option for the 1972 Carrera RS 2.7 (above), and a popular one at that.
With matching coloured wheels and a black stripe set, this eye-catching colour has since returned to the Porsche palette for the most recent 911 GT3 and 911 GT2, contrasting well with the optional carbon-fibre accents of the modern motorsport models.
The eye-popping shade of green is certainly not as subtle as BRG, but is a fitting alternative to the bright red, blue and yellow paint options also available on the 911 Carrera RS 2.7.
Porsche has clearly influenced the rest of the Volkswagen Group, with Viper Green being a popular choice as either a factory or special-order finish for various models under the Audi, Lamborghini and Volkswagen brands.
The 2020 Volkswagen Golf R Final Edition (above) is available with a trio of special hand-painted exterior finishes, including Viper Green metallic – though strictly limited to just 50 units in Australia.
Volkswagen originally offered Viper Green metallic as a standard palette option on the Scirocco R in 2012, and recently sold a limited run of the 2019 Caddy Beach camper van in the bright green hue.
Dark Highland Green
This foresty shade of green is a hallmark of the Ford Mustang featured in the 1968 film Bullitt, driven by the one and only Steve McQueen.
Since the original movie car, Ford Motor Company has released three generations of Mustang Bullitt based on the 2001, 2008, and 2018 versions of the Blue Oval’s iconic muscle car.
All have been offered in the signature Dark Highland Green metallic paintwork, which isn’t too dissimilar to British Racing Green. It’s certainly my favourite paint option for the Ford Mustang.
Sublime Green
This eye-searing lime green was first introduced on various Dodge model lines for the 1970 model year, best known for its use on the Charger and Challenger nameplates.
Sublime Green has been given a few runs since its 1970 debut, including the 2007 Dodge Charger R/T Daytona, and the 2015 Dodge Challenger.
More recently, Sublime Green was reintroduced for the 2019 model-year Dodge Charger and Challenger (above), alongside a number of “high-impact” colour options like B5 Blue, Go Mango and TorRed.
Ultimate Green
Ford has made the list twice, this time for the bright and metallic Ultimate Green that adorned the second-generation Focus RS hot hatch from 2008.
In its media release for the 2008 Focus RS, Ford explained the vibrant green paint – which was confirmed for production after an overwhelmingly positive response to the similarly-coloured concept – was both a modern interpretation of the Le Mans Green seen on 1970s Ford Escorts, as well as a nod to the BP Ultimate livery on the Focus RS WRC rally car (hence the ‘Ultimate’ name).
Ultimate Green was one of three factory colours for the 2008 Ford Focus RS, accompanied by Ford Performance Blue and Frozen White.
Special Mentions
There’s so many great greens past and present, so it’s worth giving these vivacious verdes a mention here too:
- Verde Mantis – Lamborghini
- Irish Green – Porsche
- Green Hell Magno – Mercedes-AMG
- Verde Ermes – Lamborghini, BMW
- Rallye Green – Skoda
- Sonoma Green – Audi
What’s your favourite green? Is yours not on the list? Let us know in the comments below!
