Does anyone have a paint code number for a solid (non metallic) Dark British Racing Green. Preferably PPG. The color I am looking for is like what is on George Poteet's 5 window that is in the January 2010 Street Rodder. Almost looks black in some lights.
Be careful here; there were at least two different shades of B.R.G. The Jags and big Healeys were dark, the Sprites and M.G.'s light. I had the codes, thinking of going with the lighter shade, but damned if I can put my fingers on them now!!
Over the years there have been at least 25 different shades that i can think off varying from fairly light to very very dark, i suspect Georges car to be the latter. Any good paint shop should be able to mix up for you
^^^Langy knows his stuff.^^^ BRG is not a specific color...well, not any more. The original BRG was pretty much a pea green, and quite ugly. Defining British Racing Green is about as easy as defining what a hot rod, street rod, or rat rod is. Everyone has their own answer. Having restored and wrenched on British cars for more than 10 years, I can tell you that I have seen somewhere between 20 and 30 different versions of BRG. Best bet? Find the version that you like, and have it mixed. No matter what the final product, you can call it British Racing Green and not be wrong.
A buddy of mine often joked his green car was BRG #2. It was a darker green, as I recall. But of course the #2 meant nothing at all. If you REALLY want a correct color, suggest you track down a good Jag restoration shop, or some vintage racing folks (Lotus, Bentley, etc also raced in Brittish livery). Even some rivet-counting, ultra-detaling model car builders might be able to help. Some of those guys do crazy research on their builds. Gary
In the early days of car racing it was said that each country should have its own racing colour, the red/white/blue of great britain had already been taken by Italy, France etc etc at this time car racing was illegal in GB so the race was held in Ireland and as a mark of respect for Ireland GB adopted green. The greens they used were lighter, the dark greens came much later. There is a interesting book by David Venables called British Racing Green
1969 GM Fathom Green, dont know if it has metallic but its a very nice dark green and readily available. PPG color chart http://www.tcpglobal.com/autocolorlibrary/aclchip.aspx?image=1969-chevrolet-pg01.jpg 1969 Jaguar PPG color chart with British Racing Green http://www.tcpglobal.com/autocolorlibrary/aclchip.aspx?image=1960-jaguar-pg01.jpg
1968 Corvettes were BRG. I have an unrestored one and it is definitely DARK green. Also check out the 1969 Fathom Green that was used on the Vettes and Camaroes as this is a nice color. My money goes with the 68 color.
Several years back we used a dark green non metalic on my '36 Ford. Looks so very similar to the BRG. I don't have any ID numbers but it was a standard Jeep color from the 70's I'm thinking. The car looks black in low light situations - just what I wanted.
My track roadster is BRG and less than three feet tall at the top of the body. Twice, while driving back roads in farm country, think dark green fields, I've had people pull right out in front of me because they weren't paying enough attention to look for a car the same exact color as the fields beyond.... But I really like the color........ Green race cars are bad luck in some circles. Any paint shop will have a selection of shades to choose from.
From a Peter Egan column written last year: http://www.roadandtrack.com/column/the-resurrection-of-the-body "I keep telling my highly skeptical friends that this Elan project is the last full restoration I will ever do in my lifetime, so I was determined to stop experimenting and find exactly the green I wanted this time around. And I spotted it once again in the paddock at Road America just a few years ago. It was a lustrous, beautiful dark green on a Lotus 27 Formula Junior. Thats it! I exclaimed to the owner. Thats the British Racing Green Ive been looking for all these years. Do you, by any chance, remember the paint code? He cupped his hand near my ear for privacy and said, 1991 Miata, Special Edition.
There was a retro honda cafe motorcycle called the gb500 it had a dark dark green that was so dark it could be mistaken for black.
Here is a link to a page with a good BRG overview and several color formulations including the one for the 91 Mazda Miata. http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/paint/pt110a.htm
Delstar British Motor Co. code: GN25 PPG code: DAR43342 dont think its the darkest, but its dark, definatly not the grass green version, still looks green, I was going to use it on a 64 Austin Healy Sprite project thats long gone. With Gaurds Red wire wheels. Hope this helps. Louie
A version a friend of mine has on his Brookeville 32 roadster......Let me know if you need the code (he used Dupont)
langy, post #9 above, is exactly correct. My father was one of the sponsors of Ecurie Ecosse, a Scottish race team some years back. The BRG they used was lighter than the darker greens we mostly see. So, it's sorta an opinion...and historical perspective. They all look good.
You really have to decide what suits your project best. Jimmy Clarks Lotus used the lighter shade with the yellow contrast. Mid to darker colors looked better on single color cars. I worked at a british car dealer back in the 70s and they were all a little different so there is no specific tone of BRG. Now that you mentioned this I think at least one of my project Morris Minors should be BRG. (Maybe the woodie)
Check out the british green on a new Lotus Elise also I had a 69 Porsche that was Irish green (looked british green to me)..It was not way dark and non metallic...
Had the same argument about Washington blue. And for that perfect shade of "Washington Blue... refer to the new FIAT colour chart!!!!