BMC engine colours

Small four-cylinder pushrod engine built from 1951 to 2000 for the Austin A30 and A35, Morris Minor, Mini, Sprite and Midget, Metro and much else. Sources agree the block was green for roughly the first twenty years and black after that, but no factory paint code has been found, the green varied from batch to batch, and every changeover date is argued over.

Four-cylinder pushrod engine used in BMC saloons and MG sports cars from the mid-1950s to 1980. The badge decided the colour: maroon in an MGA or early MGB, green in a Farina saloon, and black in every MGB from the 18V engine of 1971. No factory paint code has been found for any of them.

Six-cylinder pushrod engine of 2639cc and 2912cc, built from 1954 to 1971 for the Austin Westminster and its Wolseley, Riley and Vanden Plas relatives, the Austin-Healey 100-6 and 3000, and the MGC. The sports cars are the reason this page exists: their engines were finished in a pale metallic grey-green that no two suppliers mix the same way, while the colour used on the saloons is not established by any source we could fetch.