Thanks to our friend Vince we have our first look at the Countryman’s color line-up for launch. As is customary MINI will be focusing on metallics for the majority of colors (a $500 option) but with five “solid” colors there’s more non-metallics than ever before. There will be some vaguely familiar faces and some new looks that will be welcome additions to the MINI line-up. Notably Cosmic blue harkens back to Indie Blue while Oxford Green is a dead ringer for BRG. Light White is a dead ringer for BMW’s famed Alpine White and Surf Blue is (surprisingly) a lot like the recently killed Oxygen Blue.
These colors will have zero cross-over with what is offered on the rest of the MINI range since the Countryman is produced in a separate plant in Austria.
The Countryman will be going on sale in September of 2010 throughout Europe and the UK. Following that the US and Canada will see the R60 debut around the March 2011 time-frame.
<p>Boring… Why are the blues and the neutrals so over represented? Can’t we get some additional variety. There is no way that I can sell my wife a Countryman without a good purple.</p>
<p>Agreed, this is a pretty boring selection overall. Though I’m very happy to see Royal Gray make a triumphant return. Assuming it’s the same as I had on my R53, it’s a very rich and complex paint that’ll wear extremely well on the R60. The warm tones also set it apart from the silver/dark silvers of the world.</p>
<p>Also…I hope that sample isn’t true to the final colors, because that yellow…blech. If I’m going to buy a yellow car I want bright, construction sign yellow like what’s offered on the R56, not some pale, Easter Egg yellow.</p>
<p>I’m with DavidB: I would love to see Light White come over to the R56 for 2011, so that I can finally have the option of ordering a proper white Cooper S this fall!</p>
<p>Was sad to see Oxygen blue depart but am glad to see its surfing revival. I hope it is close to one of my favorite milky blues as witenssed in the last gen Audi TT – Denim Blue.</p>
<p>SHAAAAWEET!!!!
this is a great colour set!
I cant wait to see them on the cars themselves.
I wonder if they are going to offer the Pure Silver option for a roof in addition to black and white?
Id Love to see the Coffee Colour with a silver roof…</p>
<p>Odd that there aren’t any silvers since that is the most popular color for cars sold in America these days. Plus this car will be targeted more at families than other Minis are, so I would have expected more don’t-look-dirty-when-you-don’t-wash-them colors.</p>
<p>Not to diss anyone who likes the browns that MINI has/is offering but… Gak to them all. Don’t get having brown, just don’t get it even on a Aztek.</p>
<p>Is it my TFT on the blink, or are those colours all too insipid? Nasty watered-down Liquid Yellow; horrible 80s Ford Sunburst Red; yucky, boring Caffe Latte or whatever it’s called. Leyland used to make something similar, and I didn’t like it then either; Surf Blue, though a tad horrid, could look funky on the R60. Rather like the classic Teal Blue; Cosmic Blue looks more like Black Eye Purple than anything, i.e. shouldn’t have bothered – let it lie; Absolute Black looks absolutely like Astro Black or whatever it was called elsewhere in the world; and True Blue baby I love… I mean it’s a hue darker than Electric Blue, which could also look cool – like a metallic version of Pageant Blue (I had one!) Cystal Silver is presumably like White Silver, and Light White we have seen in the photos – actually quite pleasant! Don’t want it on the Hatch though. I’m guessing they’ll be using up a few old cans of Oxford Green from when it was in production for BMWs. I’m sorry to see the term BRG become obsolete.</p>
<p>I’ll stick with Royal Gray, or GrEy as it will be in Europe</p>
<blockquote>I’m sorry to see the term BRG become obsolete.</blockquote>
<p>i’m pretty sure these don’t represent anything in regards to the hatch/vert/clubman colors. i think these are countryman specific, so chili red, brg, etc, aren’t being phased out, just not carried over?</p>
<p>I think, judging from the comments lamenting the demise of BRG & Chili Red, that it needs to be restated that these colours are Countryman only. According to the interview with Vinnie Kung, on this site, the Countryman requires an entirely different palette because this MINI will be built in Austria, and the paint facility is entirely different from that of Oxford. So BRG, Chili Red etc. will still be available, though for the hatch & Clubman.</p>
<p>I thought that the Surf Blue sample looked like the Oxygen Blue sample, too. I mean, not that Oxygen Blue actually looks anything like those colors, but the two samples look similar.</p>
<p>Maybe we’ll add an R60 to [somewhat] match our OB R56!</p>
<blockquote> i think these are countryman specific, so chili red, brg, etc, aren’t being phased out, just not carried over?</blockquote>
<p>Yep. One of the interviews stated that the paint system at Graz is completely different from the one at Oxford, necessitating a completely different color palette.</p>
<blockquote>My wife and I have been postulating that MINI needs to introduce a super bright green a la Jeep’s Rescue Green somewhere in the line-up…</blockquote>
<p>Love that color! I’d also love to see a really vibrant orange. Heck, just more vibrant colors in general, really.</p>
<p>Keep in mind those colors you see on your computer monitor probably do not match what they look like in person.</p>
<p>It’s easy enough to see how off it is.. look at the mini configurator for whatever color you current mini is (if they still have it) and it’ll unlikely look the right shade.</p>
<p>Yeah, “Vibrant”, that’s what’s missing here – some life to the colours. I love Interchange Yellow, and a decent Fiery Orange would also be cool. I mean hot. Or a Lime Green. hmmmm</p>
<p>Mmmm, I’m hoping the asterisks don’t mean model specific. It usually ends up being the model I’m not getting. I’m hoping the Surf Blue is Cooper and not Cooper S if that is the case…</p>
<blockquote>A step in the right direction but still too much grey.
</blockquote>
<p>I only see one grey. How is that too much?</p>
<blockquote>Is it my TFT on the blink, or are those colours all too insipid?
</blockquote>
<p>It’s likely that your monitor is not accurately representing the colors. It is nearly impossible to accurately represent colors over the internet. Metallic colors are especially difficult.</p>
<blockquote>I’m sorry to see the term BRG become obsolete.
</blockquote>
<p>As Gabe stated in one of the previous articles, a different paint process is used at the plant in Austria. MINI took this as an opportunity to change the color palette a bit. Also, since the paints used are different, it might cause problems later if the same color codes were used for different the types of paint on the different body styles. For example, BRG applied with the process in Oxford may look slightly different from BRG applied with the process used in Austria. Besides, does it really matter what they call it?</p>
<blockquote>and the flaming continues…:(</blockquote>
<p>No kidding. I have just about given up reading the comments on any posting involving the R60. I’ll take my R60 Cooper in Light Coffee with a white top (cream with my coffee), or Royal Grey (glad to see its return).</p>
<blockquote>Besides, does it really matter what they call it?</blockquote>
<p>Nope.</p>
<p>Some of the posters haven’t read all the info on the model, or are selectively reading, or have simply forgotten that there will be a different paint process at this plant.</p>
<blockquote>Also, since the paints used are different, it might cause problems later if the same color codes were used for different the types of paint on the different body styles.</blockquote>
<p>Exactly. And again…who cares about the name of the color?</p>
<p>It seems that people are taking the colors shown above way too seriously. Until you actualy see a real physical color sample it is impossable to know exactly what these colors are. Gabe could just as easily given us simple verbal descriptions of these colors and that would have been almost as useful.</p>
<p>So here goes.
For the 2011 Countryman MINI will have 5 non metallic colors. They will be a bright red, yellow, blue, brown and white. They will also have 6 metallic colors. They will be black, dark blue, light blue, dark green, silver and grey.</p>
<p>Beyond that, speculation on what the colors actualy will look like is fun, but unproductive.</p>
<p>I like the light coffee with white roof shown on the r60 mc launch photos sans the white wheels.</p>
<p>The surf blue is interesting. I almost changed my current r56 order to oxygen blue when it came out, but I thought it was a little too candy looking. This might be better, seems to be just a little darker which would be a little darker.</p>
<p>I don’t care what colors they chose, I’d just have liked them to use the same names for the same colors (chili red, Oxy blue come to mind). And while they may have different processes, I’m sure a big automotive company could ensure the paints match.</p>
<blockquote>I don’t care what colors they chose, I’d just have liked them to use the same names for the same colors (chili red, Oxy blue come to mind).</blockquote>
<p>Why? And they are NOT the same colors:</p>
<blockquote>These colors will have zero cross-over with what is offered on the rest of the MINI range since the Countryman is produced in a separate plant in Austria.</blockquote>
<p>It’s interesting that they are apparently not offering the common dark grey color line of the other cars, instead having “Dark Tobacco” and black. (In addition to the more colorful options). Also the variety of seat fabrics is interesting.</p>
<p>For the folks that think the color selection is “Yawn” or “Boring”…</p>
<p>Have you looked at the color selections from any other car company out there? Seriously! Take a look at BMW’s color options. VW’s. Toyotas. Hondas, Mercedes, Volvo. Maybe the Fiat 500 will have comparable color options, but other than that, I can’t think of any other car company that launches with so many different color options.</p>
<p>5 non-metallic paints here. A blue that definitely harkens to Indi Blue! A Yellow! A brown that looks drab in this color sampling but we’ve seen it on the base countryman shots and it looks pretty good to me there (back in 2006, Space Blue looked like blueberry vomit on the computer screen, but looks fantastic in person. The best part of that is that space blue is relatively rare partly because the configurator color was such crap). Sheesh…this car comes with twice as many color options as most cars do, so please, be reasonable, people.</p>
<p>As for the lack of BRG…I actually think it’s fitting. The car isn’t being built in Britain so…plus, BRG was never a real BRG. It was really just a name and now that a closer BRG color is on an exclusive MINI model, doubt we’ll be seeing it as an option for all anytime soon.</p>
<p>Does anyone happen to know when the configurator for the R60 will be up and running? I keep looking at the MINI UK site every day in hopes it will just be there, but no luck as of yet.</p>
<p>Also, I signed up for e-mail updates on the Countryman on the UK site. Since I live in the US, though, does anyone think I will still get those updates or do i have to wait for the US site to have them?</p>
<p>Looking at the UK site – the configurator is live. For the Cooper S ALL4, there are only 7 colors (or should I say “colours”) offered. Light Coffee, LightWhite, and Pure Red for the non-metallic, and Absolute Black, Cosmic Blue, Royal Grey, and True Blue for the metallics. The colours with asterisks * are not there – are they coming later?</p>
<p>The configurator does let you see a bit better what the colours look like, I think. The Royal Grey, to my eyes, has a slight green tint to it! I actually like them all, but especially the Light Coffee.</p>
<p>Oh, no more chili red? Hmmm I’ll have to check what other colors I’d prefer for this one.</p>
<p>I digs Royal Gray and Oxford Green.</p>
<p>That crystal silver could be cool.
Kinda like that lexus color?</p>
<p>5 non-metallic colors… well done!</p>
<p>That coffee color (non-metallic beige) might be the most interesting to see on a car. Could look quite retro.</p>
<p>Yawn!</p>
<p>Light white with black roof rules – just offer it for the hatch as well!</p>
<p>Boring… Why are the blues and the neutrals so over represented? Can’t we get some additional variety. There is no way that I can sell my wife a Countryman without a good purple.</p>
<p>Agreed, this is a pretty boring selection overall. Though I’m very happy to see Royal Gray make a triumphant return. Assuming it’s the same as I had on my R53, it’s a very rich and complex paint that’ll wear extremely well on the R60. The warm tones also set it apart from the silver/dark silvers of the world.</p>
<p>Also…I hope that sample isn’t true to the final colors, because that yellow…blech. If I’m going to buy a yellow car I want bright, construction sign yellow like what’s offered on the R56, not some pale, Easter Egg yellow.</p>
<p>A step in the right direction but still too much grey.</p>
<p>As far as yellow goes I much prefer the original Liquid Yellow to the recent Melliw yellow which is too mustard looking IMO.</p>
<p>i’m excited to see these on actual cars. i find it funny that pure red looks kinda orange to me…</p>
<p>I’m with DavidB: I would love to see Light White come over to the R56 for 2011, so that I can finally have the option of ordering a proper white Cooper S this fall!</p>
<p>Oxford Green!? No more British Racing!</p>
<p>Lots of Blue’s. Do you mean true blue other then surf blue gabe?
I guess the gulf MINI is back.</p>
<p>Was sad to see Oxygen blue depart but am glad to see its surfing revival. I hope it is close to one of my favorite milky blues as witenssed in the last gen Audi TT – Denim Blue.</p>
<p>I think the sample image is a little on the drab side.</p>
<p>As a baseline, we know what Light White looks like from the launch photos. Using that, here is my color-corrected palette.</p>
<p><a href="http://i47.tinypic.com/iztaio.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc">http://i47.tinypic.com/iztaio.jpg</a></p>
<p>SHAAAAWEET!!!!
this is a great colour set!
I cant wait to see them on the cars themselves.
I wonder if they are going to offer the Pure Silver option for a roof in addition to black and white?
Id Love to see the Coffee Colour with a silver roof…</p>
<p>also…Cosmic Blue looks pretty purple to me</p>
<p>Do we know anything about the wheel options………not sure if I like the white.</p>
<p>Nice job, Ron Myers.</p>
<p>Odd that there aren’t any silvers since that is the most popular color for cars sold in America these days. Plus this car will be targeted more at families than other Minis are, so I would have expected more don’t-look-dirty-when-you-don’t-wash-them colors.</p>
<p>Not to diss anyone who likes the browns that MINI has/is offering but… Gak to them all. Don’t get having brown, just don’t get it even on a Aztek.</p>
<p>Is it my TFT on the blink, or are those colours all too insipid? Nasty watered-down Liquid Yellow; horrible 80s Ford Sunburst Red; yucky, boring Caffe Latte or whatever it’s called. Leyland used to make something similar, and I didn’t like it then either; Surf Blue, though a tad horrid, could look funky on the R60. Rather like the classic Teal Blue; Cosmic Blue looks more like Black Eye Purple than anything, i.e. shouldn’t have bothered – let it lie; Absolute Black looks absolutely like Astro Black or whatever it was called elsewhere in the world; and True Blue baby I love… I mean it’s a hue darker than Electric Blue, which could also look cool – like a metallic version of Pageant Blue (I had one!) Cystal Silver is presumably like White Silver, and Light White we have seen in the photos – actually quite pleasant! Don’t want it on the Hatch though. I’m guessing they’ll be using up a few old cans of Oxford Green from when it was in production for BMWs. I’m sorry to see the term BRG become obsolete.</p>
<p>I’ll stick with Royal Gray, or GrEy as it will be in Europe</p>
<p>Do the asterisks indicate model specific colors?</p>
<p>The red looks kind of like Verona Red as I remember it. I had a 1976 2002 that color.</p>
<p>Andrew, I was wondering the same thing. Maybe the asterisks are “S” only colors?</p>
<p>I like the White and Blues.</p>
<blockquote>I’m sorry to see the term BRG become obsolete.</blockquote>
<p>i’m pretty sure these don’t represent anything in regards to the hatch/vert/clubman colors. i think these are countryman specific, so chili red, brg, etc, aren’t being phased out, just not carried over?</p>
<p>I think, judging from the comments lamenting the demise of BRG & Chili Red, that it needs to be restated that these colours are Countryman only. According to the interview with Vinnie Kung, on this site, the Countryman requires an entirely different palette because this MINI will be built in Austria, and the paint facility is entirely different from that of Oxford. So BRG, Chili Red etc. will still be available, though for the hatch & Clubman.</p>
<p>My wife and I have been postulating that MINI needs to introduce a super bright green a la Jeep’s Rescue Green somewhere in the line-up…</p>
<p>All in all, I’m pleased with this intro color palette for the Countryman</p>
<p>I thought that the Surf Blue sample looked like the Oxygen Blue sample, too. I mean, not that Oxygen Blue actually looks anything like those colors, but the two samples look similar.</p>
<p>Maybe we’ll add an R60 to [somewhat] match our OB R56!</p>
<blockquote> i think these are countryman specific, so chili red, brg, etc, aren’t being phased out, just not carried over?</blockquote>
<p>Yep. One of the interviews stated that the paint system at Graz is completely different from the one at Oxford, necessitating a completely different color palette.</p>
<blockquote>My wife and I have been postulating that MINI needs to introduce a super bright green a la Jeep’s Rescue Green somewhere in the line-up…</blockquote>
<p>Love that color! I’d also love to see a really vibrant orange. Heck, just more vibrant colors in general, really.</p>
<p>Keep in mind those colors you see on your computer monitor probably do not match what they look like in person.</p>
<p>It’s easy enough to see how off it is.. look at the mini configurator for whatever color you current mini is (if they still have it) and it’ll unlikely look the right shade.</p>
<p>Yeah, “Vibrant”, that’s what’s missing here – some life to the colours. I love Interchange Yellow, and a decent Fiery Orange would also be cool. I mean hot. Or a Lime Green. hmmmm</p>
<p>these colors must be off, because on my monitor the Bright Yellow looks like a Toyota Beige.</p>
<p>Chilli Red???</p>
<p>Bavarian Racing Green??? (remember Brittish Racing Green is not metalic!)</p>
<p>Will the little brother to the R60 get the new color names as well?</p>
<p>Mmmm, I’m hoping the asterisks don’t mean model specific. It usually ends up being the model I’m not getting. I’m hoping the Surf Blue is Cooper and not Cooper S if that is the case…</p>
<blockquote>A step in the right direction but still too much grey.
</blockquote>
<p>I only see one grey. How is that too much?</p>
<blockquote>Is it my TFT on the blink, or are those colours all too insipid?
</blockquote>
<p>It’s likely that your monitor is not accurately representing the colors. It is nearly impossible to accurately represent colors over the internet. Metallic colors are especially difficult.</p>
<blockquote>I’m sorry to see the term BRG become obsolete.
</blockquote>
<p>As Gabe stated in one of the previous articles, a different paint process is used at the plant in Austria. MINI took this as an opportunity to change the color palette a bit. Also, since the paints used are different, it might cause problems later if the same color codes were used for different the types of paint on the different body styles. For example, BRG applied with the process in Oxford may look slightly different from BRG applied with the process used in Austria. Besides, does it really matter what they call it?</p>
<p>and the flaming continues…:(</p>
<p>Looks like a type on Surf Blue… they mean Smurf Blue, right?</p>
<p>The asterisks mean available from November 2010.</p>
<p>Is the Bright Yellow more like Liquid Yellow or Mellow Yellow?</p>
<p>Gabe,
Anything about wheel options?</p>
<blockquote>and the flaming continues…:(</blockquote>
<p>No kidding. I have just about given up reading the comments on any posting involving the R60. I’ll take my R60 Cooper in Light Coffee with a white top (cream with my coffee), or Royal Grey (glad to see its return).</p>
<blockquote>Besides, does it really matter what they call it?</blockquote>
<p>Nope.</p>
<p>Some of the posters haven’t read all the info on the model, or are selectively reading, or have simply forgotten that there will be a different paint process at this plant.</p>
<blockquote>Also, since the paints used are different, it might cause problems later if the same color codes were used for different the types of paint on the different body styles.</blockquote>
<p>Exactly. And again…who cares about the name of the color?</p>
<p>Black roof and aftermarket dark window tint could soften the Toyota Ugly roofline.</p>
<p>It seems that people are taking the colors shown above way too seriously. Until you actualy see a real physical color sample it is impossable to know exactly what these colors are. Gabe could just as easily given us simple verbal descriptions of these colors and that would have been almost as useful.</p>
<p>So here goes.
For the 2011 Countryman MINI will have 5 non metallic colors. They will be a bright red, yellow, blue, brown and white. They will also have 6 metallic colors. They will be black, dark blue, light blue, dark green, silver and grey.</p>
<p>Beyond that, speculation on what the colors actualy will look like is fun, but unproductive.</p>
<p>…as for the new colors for the new Countryman…</p>
<p>So far,so good…</p>
<p>(especially the,”true blue”,on a MINI Countryman S,All4,JCW package.)</p>
<p>I like the light coffee with white roof shown on the r60 mc launch photos sans the white wheels.</p>
<p>The surf blue is interesting. I almost changed my current r56 order to oxygen blue when it came out, but I thought it was a little too candy looking. This might be better, seems to be just a little darker which would be a little darker.</p>
<p>I don’t care what colors they chose, I’d just have liked them to use the same names for the same colors (chili red, Oxy blue come to mind). And while they may have different processes, I’m sure a big automotive company could ensure the paints match.</p>
<blockquote>I don’t care what colors they chose, I’d just have liked them to use the same names for the same colors (chili red, Oxy blue come to mind).</blockquote>
<p>Why? And they are NOT the same colors:</p>
<blockquote>These colors will have zero cross-over with what is offered on the rest of the MINI range since the Countryman is produced in a separate plant in Austria.</blockquote>
<p>In addition to exterior color, the options for upholstery, interior surfaces and color line have been posted on this site:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.newminiclub.nl/" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.newminiclub.nl/</a></p>
<p>Good fine rkw.</p>
<p>It’s interesting that they are apparently not offering the common dark grey color line of the other cars, instead having “Dark Tobacco” and black. (In addition to the more colorful options). Also the variety of seat fabrics is interesting.</p>
<p>“Good find”, that is.</p>
<p>For the folks that think the color selection is “Yawn” or “Boring”…</p>
<p>Have you looked at the color selections from any other car company out there? Seriously! Take a look at BMW’s color options. VW’s. Toyotas. Hondas, Mercedes, Volvo. Maybe the Fiat 500 will have comparable color options, but other than that, I can’t think of any other car company that launches with so many different color options.</p>
<p>5 non-metallic paints here. A blue that definitely harkens to Indi Blue! A Yellow! A brown that looks drab in this color sampling but we’ve seen it on the base countryman shots and it looks pretty good to me there (back in 2006, Space Blue looked like blueberry vomit on the computer screen, but looks fantastic in person. The best part of that is that space blue is relatively rare partly because the configurator color was such crap). Sheesh…this car comes with twice as many color options as most cars do, so please, be reasonable, people.</p>
<p>As for the lack of BRG…I actually think it’s fitting. The car isn’t being built in Britain so…plus, BRG was never a real BRG. It was really just a name and now that a closer BRG color is on an exclusive MINI model, doubt we’ll be seeing it as an option for all anytime soon.</p>
<p>Nice find, rkw. I noticed Dark Anthracite is back on the interior list!</p>
<p>Does anyone happen to know when the configurator for the R60 will be up and running? I keep looking at the MINI UK site every day in hopes it will just be there, but no luck as of yet.</p>
<p>Also, I signed up for e-mail updates on the Countryman on the UK site. Since I live in the US, though, does anyone think I will still get those updates or do i have to wait for the US site to have them?</p>
<p>Looking at the UK site – the configurator is live. For the Cooper S ALL4, there are only 7 colors (or should I say “colours”) offered. Light Coffee, LightWhite, and Pure Red for the non-metallic, and Absolute Black, Cosmic Blue, Royal Grey, and True Blue for the metallics. The colours with asterisks * are not there – are they coming later?</p>
<p>The configurator does let you see a bit better what the colours look like, I think. The Royal Grey, to my eyes, has a slight green tint to it! I actually like them all, but especially the Light Coffee.</p>