With the eighth-generation Volkswagen Golf R just around the corner, VW wanted to send the outgoing Mk7 model in style with something unique. For the 2019 model year, Golf R customers could select from one of 40 unique paint colors in VW's Spektrum Program.

Priced at $2,500 a pop, many of the colors paid homage to historic hues from the brand. Mars Red, for example, pays tribute to the Mk1 Golf GTT, Ginster Yellow harkens back to the Mk3 Driver's Edition GTI from 1997, and Jazz Blue Pearl comes from the Mk4 20th Anniversary GT.

Of the 40 available colors, we wanted to know which were the most popular, so reached out to VW to get some answers. VW told CarBuzz that Viper Green Metallic (pictured below) is by far the most popular, accounting for nearly 17 percent of all special-order colors sold (26 cars in Canada and 33 in the United States). Viper Green first arrived on the 2008 Volkswagen Scirocco, a car that was never offered in the US.

Also pictured with the Viper Green car are Ginster Yellow and Sarantos Turquoise. VW revealed that Ginster Yellow ranks within the top 10 most popular colors made that's made up of Viper Green Metallic, Cliff Green, Ginster Yellow, 91 Blue, Prussian Blue Metallic, Violet Touch Pearl, Racing Green, Dark Violet Pearl, Nogaro Blue Pearl, and Irish Green.

Seven of the colors - Azure Blue Pearl, Bordeaux Red Pearl, Caribbean Green, Curry Yellow, Dark Burgundy Pearl, Mars Red, Raspberry Red - are unique to just one single car in the US. You can count yourself very lucky if you own one of these colors. Another seven colors - Anthracite Metallic, Futura Yellow Metallic, Hot Chili Pearl, Ice Blue, Inky Blue Pearl, Oxide Red, and Star Blue Metallic - were never ordered at all.

"Volkswagen enjoys a uniquely large enthusiast base across many of its models, and the Golf R is no exception, attracting one of the most loyal and exacting legions of Volkswagen fans," said Megan Closset, Volkswagen Golf Product Manager, USA. Each car rolled off the assembly line in Wolfsburg, Germany, and required a roughly one-kilometer trip away from the main factory floor to a specialized building to receive their individual paint jobs.

Each owner received a handwritten welcome card from Closset, the mother of the Spektrum program, as well as a color swatch, an additional "R" logo, and confirmation of the total number produced for the US market. These cars will undoubtedly be more valuable than a standard Golf R from this generation.