What is the origin of color green being bad luck in car racing?

From ThatsRacin.com:

"...Economaki is editor emeritus of National Speed Sport News, a popular weekly racing publication that has been in existence for 68 years. Economaki explained that in the 1930s and up until the end of World War II, no driver would drive a green car. 'It was a pronounced no-no in American racing,' said Economaki.


But how did this come about? 'We researched this extensively, and the only thing we could find out was that the first speedway fatality was one of the Chevrolet brothers in California who was killed in a green car. And it was the first accident that killed two drivers. Two drivers had never been killed in a racing accident before. ... That led to the superstition that green cars are bad luck.'"

And how about the one concerning eating peanuts? Or the one about women in the pits? Incidentally, I believe it was Darrell Waltrip who broke the taboo on driving a green car. And I should also say that this superstition didn't extend to European racing.

The most traditional colour for British racing cars is (was?) British Racing Green. Didn't do us much harm in the days when green Bentleys were winning the Le Mans 24-hour race!

Green is lucky in Ireland though; all forty shades of it. The British Racing Green was Irish green. When motor racing was in its infancy it was illegal to race cars on the public roads on the mainland, yet there were no racetracks. So the racing was held in Ireland. Motorcycle racing was held on the Isle of Man for the same reason. In deference to local sentiment when the national colours were decided on Britain chose green. The French chose blue. The Italians chose red. The Germans chose silver, eventually, supposedly because they thought that a metallic finish offered less air resistance. We stuck with green until commercialisation took over. Generations of 'boy racers', of all ages, have ordered that colour for their British sports cars as a result. What's more the Italians still sell their performance cars predominantly in red (how many green or blue Ferraris are there? )and the Germans in silver (think of how many Mercedes you see in silver as against other marques in that finish). The USA had white with two narrow blue stripes for some while but I suppose that was never likely to catch on.

Ah, British racing green... The Aston Martin version of it was different from the Jaguar version which was different from the Triumph/Standard version which was...

And Fred, in the histories I've read, the Germans chose silver because it would allow them to run with no paint at all which saved weight. Otherwise, it was much more difficult to get a really smooth surface to the body with which to cheat the wind.

Green is alternately lucky and unlucky, depending on the situation. Brides aren't supposed to wear green, as it's unlucky, but it seems to be okay for everyone else. As for racers... Bobby Labonte hasn't been wrecking regularly, and his car is mostly green.

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Originally posted by teeceeum:
Or the one about women in the pits? Incidentally, I believe it was Darrell Waltrip who broke the taboo on driving a green car.

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DW also was one of the 1st drivers to let his wife in the pit during a race.

Welcome to the Pool, aleia. Hope to see lots more of (from?) you.