Fellow fiends:
I'm not sure exactly how British racing teams adopted Green as their
national racing color but it was certainly true in the good old days of
international grand prix racing (i.e. pre-sponsor, pre-ugly ground effects
cars). However, these color designations had nothing specifically to do
with MG.
Specific colors were routinely associated with the nationality of the entry.
Green was used by the Brits (ERA, Conaught, BRM, Lotus, Cooper, Jaguar,
BRP); Silver was German (Auto Union, Mercedes, and I belive Porsche); Red
was (of course) Italian (Ferrari, Fiat, Alfa Romeo), French was Blue
(Bugatti) and the US was either White or White with a blue stripe (though I
can't point to a true "US" grand prix car). Were the early Gurney Eagles
White? I know Briggs Cunningham raced white/blue at Le Mans. Early Honda
was white as well, so there is some confusion here.
These color designations have largely gone out the window in modern racing,
with the exception of Ferrari (the last of the purist GP teams) and their
red cars. I think in the final days of the F1 Lotus team (2 or 3 years ago)
there was a small patch of green on the cars (next to the sponsor's logos).
Now-a-days, its sort of a nostalgic thing to refer to BRG or to the "Silver
Arrows." I'm in favor of it.
I'd be interested in hearing any other remarks along this thred, though it
might be good to encorporate MGs into the posting. After all...
Will "What ever it is, I'm against it!" Zehring
|