Classic cars - the history of Land Rover Green
One of the nation’s favourite classic cars, the iconic Land Rover is certainly among the best loved and recognisable. Originally conceived as an agricultural off-road vehicle after World War 2, it proved so robust that it was quickly adopted by the army. Series I, II, IIA and III were eventually replaced by the Defender, which ceased production as a utility vehicle in 2016 (though the new Defender was launched in 2021). However, they remain a firm favourite in the classic car halls of fame - second hand sales remain strong and clubs and meetups are thriving.
For enthusiasts, getting the correct car paint codes to make repairs and keep their cars looking their best is critical. The paint codes for Land Rover classics are listed below, but first let’s take a short drive through history.
The origins of Land Rover green
In post-war Britain, Rover developed the Land Rover as an agricultural vehicle that made innovative use of aluminium as well as steel, which was in short supply. The first Series I, unveiled at the Amsterdam Motor Show in 1948, was Light Green (also known as Pastel Green).
This wasn’t so much an aesthetic choice of colour as a necessity - there was a surplus of this colour available after the war.
The British army saw the vehicle’s potential and, with modifications that met with regulations, placed orders in 1949. The Series I also changed colour to Deep Bronze Green, a military colour that has become synonymous with the vehicle.
Land Rover’s Series II was launched in 1958, the Series IIA in 1961, and the Series III in 1972 (the latter was produced until 1985).
Classic car paint codes - Land Rover Series
Aside from its box-shaped chassis, one of the most iconic things about the classic Land Rover is the colour. On early Land Rovers, this was the classic military Ascot Green, also known as Deep Bronze Green.
Other colours for other military purposes were also established, like Marine Blue and RAF Grey Blue.
With modern cars, it’s usually very easy to find your car’s paint code by registration. All you need to do is put your car reg into the search bar and we do the rest. With classic cars, we require the RAL or Pantone reference so we can give you the exact colour match.
RAL is a European colour matching system, a standard that defines colours for paint, coatings and plastics.
Custom Land Rover colours
We can colour-match your car paint touch up pen, bottle or aerosol to any original car paint colour. In addition, we can custom mix around 100,000 different colours.
Faded original paint on custom cars
However well you take care of your car with regular cleaning and trying to protect it from the effects of the sun and rain, car paint fades over time.
We mix car paint to match your exact original paint colour. It won’t have faded over time and, especially if your vehicle is a classic car, your repairs are likely to be more visible than you’d like.
It’s critical to make these repairs to your bodywork to avoid rust. We’ve put a guide together that explains how you can blend in your car paint repairs. If this doesn’t meet your requirements, then we recommend a respray.
Car touch up paint for Land Rovers
- We supply car touch up car paint as a precision pen, bottle with brush, aerosol.
- We also supply it in larger 500ml/1 litre quantities.
- Our paint is precision-measured and mixed to the highest specification.
- It’s bodyshop quality, durable and easy-to-use to achieve a good result.
- Find your paint code using your registration.
- Alternatively, tell us the RAL, Pantone or manufacturer’s colour code.