Post by greenman62 on Feb 22, 2014 14:54:48 GMT -5
FWIW here is an article I wrote a number of years ago for my local Triumph club's newsletter n Illinois:
Where did British Racing Green get its start? Parsons, a well known paint manufacturer in Britain has a listing for British Racing Green (#479/16). This green would be more properly labeled "Napier Green", or an earlier appellation, "Panhard Green". Well, oddly enough, British Racing Green may have gotten its start from the (gag) French! In 1901 Charles Jarrott, a noted English driver of the period, was contracted to race a car built by the French firm, Panhard. Upon traveling to the Panhard works to view his "mount" he later wrote, "It would be difficult to express my feeling of pride as I gazed upon the monster which I was to conduct the first really great race of my life. I noticed particularly that the car was painted green - a beautiful rich, dark colour that gave the car such a handsome appearance that I wondered why everyone else had not painted their cars green also." The Panhard had been painted green to offset the bad luck associated by its designated number... #13. Green is considered a lucky color by the French. Ironically, green is considered unlucky by the British superstitious (possibly dating back to before the time of King Charles II when green was considered the color of rebellion).
The following year at the Gordon-Bennett race the British Napiers ran (successfully) painted olive green. This was not a pivotal decision since, most Napiers of the time were also painted green (good old English economy, or perhaps Napier's paint buyer was a Scotsman). The winning country of the Gordon Bennett Cup got to host the next year's race. Since racing was illegal on the roads of Britain, in 1903 the race was held in Ireland (at the time still part of the British Empire). That year the Napiers were painted a brilliant Emerald green, in deference to the Irish. Over the succeeding years which nation displayed what color at what venue varied, with the French leading the drive for uniform colors. In 1911 French officials insisted in the following colors: France blue, Britain red, Germany white, Belgium yellow, Italy Red and green, America red and white, Scotland green (bicolor designations meant that the body would be painted one color while the frame would be painted the other color). Still, constructors often went their own way; witness the 1912 French Grand Prix where the British Sunbeams were painted green, and the lone entry from Scotland; Arrol-Johnston, was painted red and green (in recognition of the Gordon tartan). In 1913 the Sunbeams were back to their proper British Racing Red... Go figure.
After the Great War, the international colors we know became more widely accepted. The British fared well with their green. The Italians have their red, which fits them very well (all that tomato sauce). The French stood by their blue (have you ever known the French to change once they got their head set on something?). The Germans stuck with white but, eventually changed to silver (which, if one was thinking in medieval heraldic terms, as those Rhinelanders often do, is no change at all). America took white and blue. When bodies enclosed the frames on racing cars this bi-color designation became "Challenger Stripes".
But back to British Racing Green… Okay, what precisely is BRG? Your guess is as good as mine. Over the years this green has varied from the almost black-green of the mid-fifties Jaguars to the frosty metallic green of Aston Martins of the same vintage. For many, true British Green is the warm green that many of the racing Bentleys wore back in the `20s and `30s. This green one, Bentley owner told me, was achieved by spraying the body yellow first and then over-spraying it with translucent blue until the proper green was achieved.
Whatever color flips your switch in this "green rainbow" there is an aire of almost mystical power that the term "British Racing Green" evokes. No one today talks about the old international colors. "Italian red" is now "Ferrari red". "French blue" is all but forgotten. The Sauber-Mercedes cars are still painted silver. But you can't talk to any one about an English car without some reference to the green that is synonymous with cars from the "Sceptered Isle". Think about it. If the topic of your Triumph or MG comes up in conversation with a stranger, you can bet that the car is green in his mind, before you set him straight.
Greenman62
British Racing Green
By Greg Petrolati
Back in the Precambrian period of automotive racing, long before race cars became little more than rolling billboards for various sponsors. National pride was important. Though rarely backed by a country's "national purse strings", the nation where a team or manufacturer called home meant a lot to fans who followed the sport. To better identify those racing vehicles a system of "national colors" was established as early as the first Gordon-Bennett cup race in 1900. At that time the French were allocated blue, Germany white, and America red. Since there was no English entry, there was no color specified for the Brits. Still, the color various racing cars were painted was generally left up to the constructor (witness paintings of contemporaneous races where Renaults were shown painted red, Mercedes blue, and Mors, a French built car, painted white). By Greg Petrolati
Where did British Racing Green get its start? Parsons, a well known paint manufacturer in Britain has a listing for British Racing Green (#479/16). This green would be more properly labeled "Napier Green", or an earlier appellation, "Panhard Green". Well, oddly enough, British Racing Green may have gotten its start from the (gag) French! In 1901 Charles Jarrott, a noted English driver of the period, was contracted to race a car built by the French firm, Panhard. Upon traveling to the Panhard works to view his "mount" he later wrote, "It would be difficult to express my feeling of pride as I gazed upon the monster which I was to conduct the first really great race of my life. I noticed particularly that the car was painted green - a beautiful rich, dark colour that gave the car such a handsome appearance that I wondered why everyone else had not painted their cars green also." The Panhard had been painted green to offset the bad luck associated by its designated number... #13. Green is considered a lucky color by the French. Ironically, green is considered unlucky by the British superstitious (possibly dating back to before the time of King Charles II when green was considered the color of rebellion).
The following year at the Gordon-Bennett race the British Napiers ran (successfully) painted olive green. This was not a pivotal decision since, most Napiers of the time were also painted green (good old English economy, or perhaps Napier's paint buyer was a Scotsman). The winning country of the Gordon Bennett Cup got to host the next year's race. Since racing was illegal on the roads of Britain, in 1903 the race was held in Ireland (at the time still part of the British Empire). That year the Napiers were painted a brilliant Emerald green, in deference to the Irish. Over the succeeding years which nation displayed what color at what venue varied, with the French leading the drive for uniform colors. In 1911 French officials insisted in the following colors: France blue, Britain red, Germany white, Belgium yellow, Italy Red and green, America red and white, Scotland green (bicolor designations meant that the body would be painted one color while the frame would be painted the other color). Still, constructors often went their own way; witness the 1912 French Grand Prix where the British Sunbeams were painted green, and the lone entry from Scotland; Arrol-Johnston, was painted red and green (in recognition of the Gordon tartan). In 1913 the Sunbeams were back to their proper British Racing Red... Go figure.
After the Great War, the international colors we know became more widely accepted. The British fared well with their green. The Italians have their red, which fits them very well (all that tomato sauce). The French stood by their blue (have you ever known the French to change once they got their head set on something?). The Germans stuck with white but, eventually changed to silver (which, if one was thinking in medieval heraldic terms, as those Rhinelanders often do, is no change at all). America took white and blue. When bodies enclosed the frames on racing cars this bi-color designation became "Challenger Stripes".
But back to British Racing Green… Okay, what precisely is BRG? Your guess is as good as mine. Over the years this green has varied from the almost black-green of the mid-fifties Jaguars to the frosty metallic green of Aston Martins of the same vintage. For many, true British Green is the warm green that many of the racing Bentleys wore back in the `20s and `30s. This green one, Bentley owner told me, was achieved by spraying the body yellow first and then over-spraying it with translucent blue until the proper green was achieved.
Whatever color flips your switch in this "green rainbow" there is an aire of almost mystical power that the term "British Racing Green" evokes. No one today talks about the old international colors. "Italian red" is now "Ferrari red". "French blue" is all but forgotten. The Sauber-Mercedes cars are still painted silver. But you can't talk to any one about an English car without some reference to the green that is synonymous with cars from the "Sceptered Isle". Think about it. If the topic of your Triumph or MG comes up in conversation with a stranger, you can bet that the car is green in his mind, before you set him straight.
Greenman62
