Input appreciated

A rather "loose" question but I'm hoping that you will catch my drift.

What (racing) cars can you think of that had a distinctive, "signature" livery/paint scheme?

I add appreciate it if you could add your thoughts/ideas here (preferably together with a photo)

To give you some idea of what I mean, let me give a couple of examples:
1. Herbie had that distictive stripe
2. Most US racers of the 60s/70s had an offset stripe over hood, roof and trunk.
3. The FX has those distictive white stripes (as did the mini Cooper)

I don't have in mind WRX type liveries which are plastered with sponsor stickers but rather something more simple and distinctive.

Hope you can help me out :)

There was always the Gulf two-tone scheme as appeared on Ford GT40s of the era... :)
(But I'm pretty sure this was already on your mind)

There was always the Gulf two-tone scheme as appeared on Ford GT40s of the era... :)
(But I'm pretty sure this was already on your mind)
I have a VERY empty mind :D
You are going in the right direction - Any photos?

an italian asshole time ago done those, isn't distinctive? BTW forgot to do a twosome with me on those: I'm still doing :D LOL

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c159/gionc/afskyfront.jpg

Black or RBG and JPS

http://www.assistpoint.co.uk/Images/Motor_Sport/Senna_JPS_Lotus.jpg

Traditionally (and I mean traditionally - into the 40's and maybe 50's) race cars, particularly formula and touring cars, were painted a color to indicate their country of origin. Italian cars were red: Ferrari and Alfa Romeo (so Ferrari red is just Italian red), German cars were silver: Mercedes, Porsche; British cars were green: Jaguar, Bently; Japanese cars were white: Honda, Toyota; and American cars didn't know how to race yet. You can see this even today in Formula 1, where the Ferrari is red, the Jag is green, the McLaren is, conspicuously, silver, Honda is white, and Renault is blue. Also, think about the Enzo which is most often seen in red, the CGT and the SLR which are seen in silver. You even see the NSX most often published in white.

To me, these are the distinctive "liveries" that stick in my mind for cars. Everything else is just... noise.

Oh, and New Zealand is apearantly Orange. Thanks Bruce.

Althou I'm not sure if this is what you were going after, I find one distinctive aspect in the sport of drag racing unlike other motorsports for the most part are the amazing custom paint jobs. It seems like the teams not only try to out run the others but beat them out on looks also. Especially in funny car and pro-mods, you can see cars that could sit in any auto-show.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a99/quadzero/nhra-2006-gen-gg-0001.jpg

Many more interesting and original paint jobs and liveries can be seen here. (http://www.topendtales.com/images/2005/2005.htm)

I can just imagine what you are up to now, Klutz:naughty:
Les

I'm not sure if this is what you are after but the audi stripes are a pretty striking livery I think:

http://www.audistory.24max.de/jroes/speicher/imsa/ap1010057.jpg

Sometimes simple, sometimes plastered down the sides, but Martini markings and Porsches were practically made for each other.

I did a very simple replica of a Martini Edition 924 last year:

http://images17.fotki.com/v12/photos/1/10258/3458193/Front1-vi.jpg

A number of BMW's have sported front and rear corner checkerboards, which adorn this replica of the final series 1 M Coupe made in South Carolina:

http://images17.fotki.com/v9/photos/1/10258/3458188/Finished6-vi.jpg

You can Google images for Martini and Gulf liveries. Some liveries are simpler in design than others, and it changes from car to car.

Some more ideas:

(not really an idea, but whatever) You could always look to the ultimate classic "double stripe". It has shown up on everything from Miatas to Vipers.

http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/5568/rfmiata11hv7.jpg

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/1307/vipergtsleftuc2.jpg


Or you could look at 70's nascar racers. They often had interesting things like the "bumble-bee stripe", or cowl-stripe.

http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/4980/dodgecharger70fy1.jpg


Also from that time-period was the great American Trans Am races. These cars often had vivid two-tone paint schemes. I love them :)

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/8459/wcc99transamstarteo2.jpg


Good Luck!

"It has shown up on everything from Miatas to Vipers."


So true,
http://www.dreams-cars.net/images/Galerie/Shelby/Shelby_Cobra_427_1967/Shelby_Cobra_427_1967_01.jpg

Those simple racing stripes started as a working feature. They were used by the driver as a sightline down the hood, to see if there was any vibration or other malady.

^good posting :)

I never knew that was the reason for so many cars to use those double stripes... I figured they were just popular!

Oh, and New Zealand is apearantly Orange. Thanks Bruce.
aren't they black? like All Blacks or America's cup entries? well just guesses..

BTW Zoomzoom remind me that I forgot my preferred livery:

http://images.google.it/url?q=http://www.scalemodels.co.uk/images/slotit/sica08b.jpg&usg=__osmHbrvxKgD9u4MrsUrqBYLFwGA=

and also those:

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/2090000-2090999/2090607_1.jpg

aren't they black? like All Blacks or America's cup entries? well just guesses..


In rugby, cricket and many other sports New Zealand is recognized by their predominantly black colors but in motorsports, the most recognized color for New Zealand is Mclaren orange as immortalized by the late Bruce Mclaren.

Seen here on Denny Hulme's car as he is closely followed by Bruce:
http://www.bruce-mclaren.com/images/m8d_denny.jpg

Appearing on another Mclaren, the M16-A here:
http://www.group7.suite.dk/assets/images/hulme-indy-71.JPG

And most recently appearing on the Mclaren MP4-20 test car:
http://www.mclaren.cn/pressreleases/images/MP4-20_orange.jpg

Thanks gents :thumbsup:

If anything else comes to mind, please let me know!

The ones that spring to mind are the JPS Lotus, Gulf, Marlboro McLaren:

http://www.atlasf1.com/evolution/80s3.jpg

http://www.jenskleemann.de/wissen/bildung/media/4/47/mc_laren_porsche_f1.jpg

http://www.awirz.ch/225ap.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a99/quadzero/nhra-2006-gen-gg-0001.jpg


i didn't know journey sponsored a car.

I always liked the old BMW M (from the good old DTM times) livery because of it's simplicity :naughty:

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/3542/247641M3_DTM.jpg

The Honda F1 cars from the 60's were basically rolling Japanese flags.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/2006_SAG_-_F1_Honda_RA272_1965_-01.JPG/800px-2006_SAG_-_F1_Honda_RA272_1965_-01.JPG


+1 for various Marlboro and Martini cars. Especially the Marlboro chevron liveries that look like the cigarette box. They should make a silver and a green Marlboro car to push the lights and menthols. Maybe a long-tailed car to rep the 100's. ;)

I'm not sure that I have understood quite right, but the Alitalia liveries of the 70's and 80's were pretty distinctive, both the Lancia Stratos and the Fiat 131.
For the same reason, "Martini Racing" will always be connected to the Lancia Delta and the series of WR championship wins.

Sorry if this doesn't help :uhoh:


Cheers,
Luis

Lius, it ALL helps - thanks!

Jay, I was thinking along similar lines on that one ;)

Hello,

I'm not really sure if you are talking about "car paint scheme" itself or about paint scheme in general, I mean including sponsor's colors and logos as i consider that most of racing cars get their paint shem from their sponsor.

In this case there are a lot of great liveries:

Audi's HB scheme:

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e14/phil67c/Audi-SanRemo85.jpg

Lancia's Martini scheme:

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e14/phil67c/deltamartini5.jpg

Rothmans scheme:

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e14/phil67c/corse86loubet.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e14/phil67c/1987.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e14/phil67c/NZ1996_2.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e14/phil67c/pajero201-92_1.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e14/phil67c/911_3.jpg

Belga scheme:

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e14/phil67c/hasp86-groogmans.png

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e14/phil67c/hasp86-duez.png

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e14/phil67c/killarney2003_slowly_sideways_img_9.jpg

Bastos scheme:

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e14/phil67c/hasp86-colsoul.png

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e14/phil67c/porsche-bastos_1.jpg

etc etc.

You also have the typical Matra or Alpine "french blue" livery, the Gitanes metallic blue, the gauloises blue, the Lucky strike's white and black, the "33export" beer's red and yellow...


Phil

Or you could go different and paint your car up like eddy vanhalens guitar.

i was going to suggest the honda F1 cars but Jay beat me to it.
however, as a whole I prefer the 273 car mainly because of that amazing exhaust but the car is cool as hell as well, although not not as simple as the 272.

http://bonkura.takuranke.com/events/f12004jp/img/honda_ra273_left.jpg

but if you're after iconic, how about the Renault Gordini car's and their stripes?
http://www.vieux-volants.com/Galerie%20photos/Course%20de%20cote%20St%20Hyppolite%2004%2007%2020 04/Renault%208%20Gordini.jpg

Will, I'm surprised at you. The American National racing colors are pure white with blue striping (or alternately dark blue with white striping).

This color scheme had been seen at Le Mans as early as Stutzes and Chryslers in the 30's, but was most popularized by the efforts of Briggs Cunningham and his Chrysler powered roadsters.

http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/images/large/2151-4.jpg

Shelby American, Reventlow Scarab, Huffaker Genie, the MkI GT40, and the Grand Sport Corvettes all also wore the color scheme until the international colors were eventually abandoned in the late 60's.

Yeah, but Europeans traditionally look down their noses at American race cars, they weren't ever "gentlemanly" enough, I suppose ;)

Well, the Cunninghams and Scarabs were classed in the same category - in European eyes - as the Listers, Costins, and OSCA's. They didn't use bespoke engines, "Garagists" as Enzo Ferrari deemed them, so there was just the typical non-factory snobbery.

It was that the American factories DIDN'T come over to Europe in the post-war period that earned the snobbery. Cars like the Corvette Grand Sport stayed in the states, running at Sebring, Riverside, and Nassau instead of coming to Spa, Brands Hatch, and ultimately Le Mans.

The only major American efforts to go outside of America were the Chapparals, Shelby American, the GT40's, and (in F1) Gurney-Weslake.

We didn't play in their playground, instead running on our own tracks, so there's the snobbery.

You got to love this one

http://www.lanciadeltaonline.com/modelli%20evo/martini5/mart5arc/AAAA0003.jpg

I like this one to

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g37/MK_Grunf/porsche_gt3rs-13.jpg

or this

http://www.barchetta.cc/All.Ferraris/images/0070/fiat-abarth.jpg

or like most of abarth cars, just plain red stripe

http://www.italian-classics.net/Bilder/Abarth%20Fiat%20850.jpg

and my personal favorite

http://www.alfagtv6.com/images/italyTrip/GTAJunior.jpg

Hi there,

For me these are some of the coolest liveries

Porsche 917 Pink Pig

http://www.porsche917.com.ar/ZLemans7121PinkPig.JPG

I love pink cars. And I like pigs. And I love to eat. Those are the reasons why I particularly like this livery. (maybe to "sponsory" for you)

Oscar Koveleski's 1971 McLaren M8B
http://www.a2zracer.com/img517.jpg
I love the McLaren orange and the lightning on the side. It's original and simple and it makes the car look even faster.

Thanks guys!

This is some great stuff you are giving me!

@ LK - I would give my left rivet to be at a race like the one in your first picture :eek: :drool: