After the popularity of our first Travel Guide to Land Rover Colors, which focused on the origins of a selection of Land Rover color names from the past 33 years, we've brought you a second selection to cure your wanderlust in this difficult time. This time, we're focusing on the color names of the new 2020 model year Land Rovers.
Eiger Grey: The Eiger is one of the most iconic of all the Alps, in Switzerland. Its massive north face looms over the resort of Kleine Scheidegg. The summit can only be reached by highly experienced climbers, but there is a railway carved through the mountain, with two stations inside of it with windows cut out of the face of the wall to view the Alps.
Tasman Blue: The Tasman Sea separates Australia and New Zealand. Known by the people of both countries as “the Ditch,” it’s a 1,200-mile journey between the two nations. The steely blue featured on the 2020 Defender resembles much of its waters along the shoreline.
Narvik Black: Narvik is a town in northern Norway, on the coast. It was a major strategic port in World War II, and there were multiple battles fought there in 1940 as part of the Nazi invasion of Norway. It’s also above the Arctic Circle, and from early December to early January, there is no daylight. The name may well reflect the darkness of the polar winter.
Yulong White: Yulong is an area of Yunnan Province in China, home to some of the tallest non-Himalaya mountains in China. It is home to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, a famous massif covered in glaciers and snows at its peaks that resemble this color.
Byron Blue: Byron Bay is a town in New South Wales, Australia, and home to Cape Byron, the easternmost point in mainland Australia. The Byron Bay Lighthouse looks over waters tinged a shade similar to this stunning, and popular, Land Rover color.
Aruba: one of the relatively few Land Rover colors that does not have the name of an actual color in it, Aruba’s origins are pretty clear anyway – this very pale gold evokes the sands of the Dutch Caribbean island nation.
Carpathian Grey: This dark grey likely comes from the Carpathian Mountains which cut across Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Serbia, and Romania. The mountain peaks resemble the paint’s hue. They were also the namesake of the Cunard liner RMS Carpathia which came to the rescue of the Titanic in 1912. Cunard, like Land Rover, is an iconic British brand with a tendency to name their ships after places.
Silicon Silver: This one is a bit of a stretch for a travel guide, but California’s Silicon Valley is one of Land Rover’s biggest markets, and this silver hue resembles the raw color of the element of silicon. While it probably belongs in more of a naturalist’s guide to colors, the associations with tech success are probably also inferred.
Bosphorous Grey: This grey, with tinges of green, resembles the Bosporus Straits which divide Europe and Asia in Turkey, splitting the city of Istanbul in half in the process. When seen from space, the mixing of the waters of the Mediterranean and Black Seas gives the Straits a unique color.
Ligurian Black: Liguria is the northwestern coast of Italy, including the famous seafaring city of Genoa and the seaside villages of Cinque Terre. How, exactly, a stunning seaside region relates to a transfixing dark black is another story. Perhaps the mussels that are common in Liguria’s seafood-based cuisine?
Verbier Silver: Once again, we go skiing with Land Rover. Verbier is a Swiss ski resort in the southwestern canton of Valais. The glaciers on the Grand Combin massif resemble this classy hue.
Windward Grey: This is a very light grey, closer to a solid than a metallic, as opposed to many of the other greys available in the current Land Rover palette. The windward side of an island is the one that’s subjected to the prevailing winds, as opposed to the more tranquil leeward side. Perhaps it’s intended to suggest a windy day on the coast of one of the Windward Islands, the southern islands of the Caribbean's Lesser Antilles island chain (Saint Lucia, Dominica, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.)
Rio Gold: This SV color is a sandy gold, and can resemble only one thing – the iconic beaches of Rio de Janeiro!
Scafell Grey: Scafell is a mountain in the Lake District in England. Another steely grey, it resembles the rock of the craggy mountain.
Balmoral Blue: In the vein of Buckingham Blue, a popular color around the turn of the Millennium, this bold blue in the SV collection doesn’t seem to have any particular relation to the royal palace in Scotland, but clearly the idea is to associate the hue to Her Majesty the Queen.
Meribel White Pearl: Another ski resort, in the French Alps, Meribel White Pearl is another color designed to evoke snowy slopes.
Valloire White Pearl: Another French Alpine resort, the same story.
Firenze Red: Firenze is the Italian name for the iconic city of Florence. This red is similar to the red iris, or Giglio, on the city’s crest.
Pangaea Green: This color, the flagship shade of the 2020 Defender, refers to the name of the supercontinent that existed between 335 million years ago and 175 million years ago. It consisted of all of the continents of the Earth before they broke apart over millions of years to their current configuration.
Gondwana Stone: Another new color for the 2020 Defender, Gondwanaland was a supercontinent that succeeded Pangaea. North America, Greenland, Europe, and Asia split into the new supercontinent of Laurasia, while Antarctica, Australia, Africa, and South America formed Gondwanaland.
Kaikoura Stone: Kaikoura is a town on the South Island of New Zealand. It's set among mountains and a rocky coastline that evoke this metallic tan.
Seoul Pearl Silver: One of the few Land Rover colors ever named for a major metropolis, Seoul is, of course, the largest city in South Korea. This color evokes the city’s modern, cosmopolitan atmosphere and many glassy skyscrapers.
Namib Orange: The Namib is a coastal desert, hugging the coast of Namibia. It’s home to the Skeleton Coast, and in February, it was the host to the high-level press launch of the new Defender. This bold orange matches the raw, orange sands of this harsh, but beautiful, place.
Farallon Pearl Black: The Farallons are a group of islands off the coast of California, at the mouth of San Francisco Bay. This color reflects the hue of the stone sea stacks and rocks that make up the craggy coasts of the islands.
Estoril Blue: This SVR color is named after Estoril, a luxury resort town on the Portuguese Riviera. Presumably, again we're going for bright blue waters here.
Portofino Blue: Again we're going for crystal blue water here -- Portofino is a village on the Italian Riviera. The interesting thing is that this is a reused location -- Portofino Red is a color on Range Rover Classics and Defenders in the 1990s, which as we mentioned in the last travel guide, likely refers to the wine you'd drink here.
Madagascar Orange: A bright orange metallic from the SVR collection, named after the island nation off the coast of Africa. Presumably named to reflect the country's landscapes, and perhaps its spice trade.
Rossello Red: A deep burgundy, named after an Italian village in Abruzzo. Like some other reds, more than anything the use of an Italian town's name seems designed to induce thoughts of red wines.
Santorini Black: A bit of an unusual choice perhaps, considering that most people equate the Greek island of Santorini with the blue and white buildings that line the hillside there. But it’s also a volcanic island, and many of its formations are the result of these eruptions. The color may be inspired by the Black Beach, which is covered in black volcanic sand. The water on this beach is warmer than others in Santorini, due to the color retaining more heat and warming the sea.
All images Creative Commons licensed from Wikimedia Commons, except new Defender in Namibia (Nick Dimbleby for Jaguar Land Rover)
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