Vintage Liveries on Modern Cars

Sometimes it looks good, like the BRE livery on the 350Z.  Gulf on new cars, not so much.

In reply to Gearheadotaku :

Not that I agree or disagree, but there's an obvious exception to that theory:

slowbird said:

In reply to Gearheadotaku :

Not that I agree or disagree, but there's an obvious exception to that theory:

That's because the car itself is trying to look old. 
 

Liveries today are easy to do with a computer and a vinyl wrap. This means it's tempting to go all Red Bull on it and cover the car in detail. Too often, designers forgo simplicity and geometric strength, which is what makes the old designs work so well. Plus we associate them with certain successes.

Martini stripe all the things.

I could be convinced.

I've also always had a soft spot for Momo Livery.

I keep threatening to paint my wife's X-Terra Calsonic Blue.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  Gulf colors on a Ford GT or Mustang?  Works.  Gulf colors on a battered Pinto...or even a Mustang II?  NO.

But then, I am biased as I have considered doing BRE colors on a Sentra....doesn't really matter which generation after the 2006 model.

Some retro liveries look great on modern cars. A lot don't.

Modern liveries for the race cars that get a lot of national TV coverage are sterile, bland, or just cool kid Kyle edgy. I can't think of many that make me go "wow that's [insert adjective to describe the artists work here]." The Plaff Porsche GTD is an exception; but, then again it's just buffalo plaid. 

Even the recent BMW art cars have been a bit of a drag. 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

I like pre 60's livery where the car is painted the colors of the country.  Absolutely no advertisements.  

This would go over well down at the local 711....

In reply to Gearheadotaku : 

Couldnt agree more!

If you get paid to drive then put all the sponsors you want on your car.

I dont see the appeal of brand loyalty to a sponsor decal when you are going to slow lap a new gt3 with the PCA at a DE no matter how cool it looked or historic the decal is.

Seems kinda poseur if you ask me. People get sore over putting M or GT badges on non-m or non-gt cars but then walk over to their street car with full racecar livery? PAHLEESE.

Now gulf livery on a ford escort? Yes. That would be approved by the board of Olemiss540 trustees.

The old Motorcraft stripe design holds up pretty well, actually.

So does the Wood Brothers NASCAR livery.

Our local dealer spent a considerable amount of money to have these done, including six figures (I heard)  to have the Gulf logo embossed in the headrests.  Sometimes, I think Vaughn has too much dough.

https://autofile.ca/en-ca/auto-articles/factory-finished-gulf-liveried-porsche-918s-only-in-canada

its easy now to have someone vinyl wrap your car in any logo design you can find , 

Think how many hours it took to do it back in the day !

I know exactly how long it takes! I was partway through masking out the red small stripes to paint coat #3 of 4 of the Martini livery when I realized why everyone goes with Gulf...

Putting Gulf and Martini aside, I think this A90 Supra in classic HKS livery looks absolutely spectacular.

G_Body_Man said:

Putting Gulf and Martini aside, I think this A90 Supra in classic HKS livery looks absolutely spectacular.

quoting because that's one of the few vintage liveries that looks excellent on a modern car. 

Falken liveries always look great too. 

Yeah gulf, reknown 787b, the pig, and martini are WAY over done and barely looked good in the original cars. They look hideous on anything new. 
the last thing I want to see on a brand new 911 is a pork cutlet. And gulf on anything other than what it originally came on is hysterical. Comical at best. 
 

If you search for original liveries, it's super hard to find any. Too many "control+C, control+V". That's why I use the livery maker in gran turismo. It makes for some very original designs. 

slowbird said:

The old Motorcraft stripe design holds up pretty well, actually.

So does the Wood Brothers NASCAR livery.

Graphics made to compliment body lines are awesome. Translating straight lines to a bubble car, not so much.

Actually the 2nd rustang would look less bad if the lines didn't touch the top of the wheel arch, and the motorcraft logo was spread out a little.

I need a livery for a 1972 Corolla. One of you people that are handy with computer graphics programs ought to be able to whip up something stunning. 

_ said:

. And gulf on anything other than what it originally came on is hysterical. Comical at best. 
 

The Gulf colours are actually John Wyer's colours. After the Gt40 they were used on his Porsche 917s and the Mirage cars that JWAE built and won with.

frenchyd said:

In reply to David S. Wallens :

I like pre 60's livery where the car is painted the colors of the country.  Absolutely no advertisements.  

Blame Colin Chapman he got the John Player Red Leaf sponsorship for Lotus and it's been downhill ever since.

DirtyBird222 said:

G_Body_Man said:

Putting Gulf and Martini aside, I think this A90 Supra in classic HKS livery looks absolutely spectacular.

quoting because that's one of the few vintage liveries that looks excellent on a modern car. 

Falken liveries always look great too. 

 

Agreed!!

Shameless self promotion...

Somebody find me a red based one that would work on a first gen 4 door neon.....

Because other than momo, im striking out. 

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

I'll play along.  I copied a BMW art car, I know I know...from manufacturer

In reply to Box4VIR :

That's beautiful, it was my favorite of the Art Cars and works well on the Boxster. 

Rons said:

_ said:

. And gulf on anything other than what it originally came on is hysterical. Comical at best. 
 

The Gulf colours are actually John Wyer's colours. After the Gt40 they were used on his Porsche 917s and the Mirage cars that JWAE built and won with.

I think you've got that backwards. JWA used the Gulf colors because they were sponsored by Gulf. https://www.gulfoilltd.com/timeline/sport/

You see Gulf a lot because it's really easy. Doing something that flatters the body lines of a car is a lot harder. Martini liveries - with a few lazy exceptions - were all designed to suit the specific body they were wrapped around.

Dusterbd13-michael said:

Somebody find me a red based one that would work on a first gen 4 door neon.....

 

Because other than momo, im striking out. 

Trying to keep it "in the family" somewhat I found the following.

This one seems like an obvious choice, but it's only about half red:

It's been done though:

Probably the easiest to execute, but perhaps not very recognizable on anything that's not a Viper:

This one's not that vintage, or widely recognizable, but I like it:

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

In reply to Keith Tanner :

I may have over stated the relationship - I read it as Wyer brought Gulf sponsorship to his WEC program that covered various chassis, and the colours were the programs, and not the chassis.

Agreed - the Gulf-sponsored JWE team ran a number of chassis under the same colors.  IIRC JWE didn't run the blue and orange on GT40s until Gulf came on board as a sponsor.

Uuuum JPS!

In reply to John Welsh :

Build thread?

Justjim75 said:

In reply to John Welsh :

Build thread?

Challenge $2016 entry

Hey GRM, you spelled "BRE Datsuns" wrong.

No one mentioned the great Martini livery on the new 935

I like that Martini stripe on the 911.  A local PCA'er here has done a much more extensive Martini livery on his 996 and it looks horrible IMO.  Just the Martini stripe is more subtle.

my favorite racecar is Alain Prost's f1. What if Williams Renault made a sports racer, it might look like my Spec Racer Ford Gen3

Dusterbd13-michael said:

Somebody find me a red based one that would work on a first gen 4 door neon.....

 

Because other than momo, im striking out. 

Gran turismo 1 is your friend. 

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Dirt Late Models are guilty of this.

To me nothing will ever beat well-done Martini stripes on a white Porsche 911, especially if the rims are painted red as well.  Although the gulf oil livery on the right car can look pretty awesome as well.

I'm kind of shocked there doesn't seem to be any examples of the Millen Motorsports Pikes Peak RX-7 livery on anything modern.

I kind of want a white ND RF Miata to do it to now. Also a trailer sporting Panasports, but that's a different story.

How about vintage or vintage-esque liveries on vintage 911's?  

My friend and dealer (kinda like drugs but Miata parts) did this in Birmingham Alabama and went to Pike's Peak and Miatas at Laguna Seca.  Keith has seen it in person i believe.

Ohh..  an internet arguement about other peoples preferences..  Can I cast judgement as well?

Justjim75 said:

My friend and dealer (kinda like drugs but Miata parts) did this in Birmingham Alabama and went to Pike's Peak and Miatas at Laguna Seca.  Keith has seen it in person i believe.

I have! He stopped by our shop. I was about to mention it in response to the Millen comment. Thanks. 
 

The Renown livery on the ND Miata is new to me. I have to admit I don't think of it as vintage, but it is nearly 30 years old. It's also 100% appropriate for a Miata.
 

911s aren't modern cars, they wore those liveries when new :)

About Martini - it has to be modified to suit the car. There are a handful of basic designs but the main rule is that it works with the shape. The stripes are organic and can change width to accentuate the body lines. This also means it's difficult to do.

 Those who just put a strip up the middle are being lazy and their cars don't do the history of the livery justice. That new 935 looks great and Williams really rocked it on the F1 cars. 

Not really vintage livery on modern car, but vintage livery on vintage car. I'd sure love to replicate the Archer Brothers livery on my 1990 Eagle Talon for rallycross duty

The0retical said:

I'm kind of shocked there doesn't seem to be any examples of the Millen Motorsports Pikes Peak RX-7 livery on anything modern.

I kind of want a white ND RF Miata to do it to now. Also a trailer sporting Panasports, but that's a different story.

It's sort of been done!  Courtesy of engiekevs buddy, midwestwankel!

He is a GRMer, Rx7Kevin or some such.

In reply to engiekev :

Ha I didn't know that 

Fueled by Caffeine said:

Ohh..  an internet arguement about other peoples preferences..  Can I cast judgement as well?

Yeah, who needs debate over cars and car stuff? That should be limited to only websites about car stuff!

Sarah and I have been discussing some graphic ideas for the Miata so, yeah, been looking through historical photos for inspiration. We'll see if anything pans out. 

"Four Pack" Made me laugh.  I really like the red line tires.  I have always thought that was cool even on modern cars.

Dodge Super Bees

Photography Credit: Anthony Neste

Photography Courtesy Barrett-Jackson

Pretty much all of my iRacing paints are old liveries on new cars:

In reply to BullManUGA :

Dang. 

David S. Wallens said:

Sarah and I have been discussing some graphic ideas for the Miata so, yeah, been looking through historical photos for inspiration. We'll see if anything pans out. 

Wiki shows me this:    

Spec Miata was first approved as a Regional class in the Southwest Division of SCCA in 1999 and the first race as an official class was at the Fiesta Carrera Regional, Texas World Speedway 2.90 road course on July 24, 1999 at 1:05 pm and included a starting field of 4 drivers: Tim Evans, Shannon McMasters, Bob Reinhardt and David Obeney finishing in that order.

The first Spec Miata race for the National Auto Sport Association[1] was held in February 2000 by the NorCal Region. At the national level, the "UPR Racing Supply First Ever Spec Miata National" was held in Avondale, Arizona at Phoenix International Raceway's infield road course on January 13, 2006 with Brad Rampelberg as the "First Ever" National race winner. Results of the 1st SCCA National Qualifying Race may be googled at: azscca 2006 National Double Double. 

With your GRM super powers, do you have any way of seeing what those winning cars looked like?

If yes, my obscure "vintage livery" is to look like a winning car from the "ole days" of 1999 or 22 years ago.  

There was also the era where cigarette advertising was banned in many countries (but not all) so in some places changes had to be made.  As an example, Marlboro went to a bar code.  

Are there other companies who did similar?  This approach might work well where you are trying to have a livery but trying to avoid undue attention to a specific brand.  

Some red vinyl and no words would get you there: 

John Welsh said:

David S. Wallens said:

Sarah and I have been discussing some graphic ideas for the Miata so, yeah, been looking through historical photos for inspiration. We'll see if anything pans out. 

Wiki shows me this:    

Spec Miata was first approved as a Regional class in the Southwest Division of SCCA in 1999 and the first race as an official class was at the Fiesta Carrera Regional, Texas World Speedway 2.90 road course on July 24, 1999 at 1:05 pm and included a starting field of 4 drivers: Tim Evans, Shannon McMasters, Bob Reinhardt and David Obeney finishing in that order.

The first Spec Miata race for the National Auto Sport Association[1] was held in February 2000 by the NorCal Region. At the national level, the "UPR Racing Supply First Ever Spec Miata National" was held in Avondale, Arizona at Phoenix International Raceway's infield road course on January 13, 2006 with Brad Rampelberg as the "First Ever" National race winner. Results of the 1st SCCA National Qualifying Race may be googled at: azscca 2006 National Double Double. 

 

With your GRM super powers, do you have any way of seeing what those winning cars looked like?

If yes, my obscure "vintage livery" is to look like a winning car from the "ole days" of 1999 or 22 years ago.  

Back at the office, I have photos of Shannon's first Spec Miata car. I want to say it was red. 

John Welsh said:

Wiki shows me this:   

The first Spec Miata race for the National Auto Sport Association[1] was held in February 2000 by the NorCal Region. At the national level, the "UPR Racing Supply First Ever Spec Miata National" was held in Avondale, Arizona at Phoenix International Raceway's infield road course on January 13, 2006 with Brad Rampelberg as the "First Ever" National race winner. Results of the 1st SCCA National Qualifying Race may be googled at: azscca 2006 National Double Double. 

 

With your GRM super powers, do you have any way of seeing what those winning cars looked like?

Here's the entire field of the first national:

The0retical said:

I'm kind of shocked there doesn't seem to be any examples of the Millen Motorsports Pikes Peak RX-7 livery on anything modern.

I kind of want a white ND RF Miata to do it to now. Also a trailer sporting Panasports, but that's a different story.

EDIT: a few post up beat me to it. But this picture is better :)

why do it on something modern when you can still do it on an RX-7 (Kevin Schmidt's)

Liveries today are easy to do with a computer and a vinyl wrap. 

The easiest way to do a mock up livery is using the livery editor on a racing game like gran turismo. I designed my entire Miata that way. Easy as pie. You can see every angle before you spend money on supplies. 

I thought that there was a lack of Jag content......

These guys came up to Canada and ran at my track (at different times) when I was also running (thankfully not in the same race!)  The V12 XKE set a lap record.  It was 1978 for the XJS and earlier for the Huffaker XKE.

In reply to wspohn :

Bold, simple, clean. It totally works. 

In reply to wspohn :

So 1978 Trans Am and circa 1974 for the Huffaker Jag at Westwood for a rare international SCCA National?

86 Benetton F1

In reply to sergio :

Noice. 

One of my 2 wheel projects, a Wards Mojave with a CB550 engine, will have a McLaren based livery. 

The orange color was offered by Wards when the bikes were made. The frame will be lt blue

This is my old van. 

And here's my new van. 

In reply to AaronBalto :

wspohn said:

I thought that there was a lack of Jag content......

These guys came up to Canada and ran at my track (at different times) when I was also running (thankfully not in the same race!)  The V12 XKE set a lap record.  It was 1978 for the XJS and earlier for the Huffaker XKE.

 

The car is a Group 44  car not a Huffaker car. The Huffaker car  had a single seat  rollbar

Shameless self promotion

Umm, isn't that livery right about the same age as the car it's on? I mean, it's super-duper cool but I'm not sure "vintage livery on modern car" applies ;)

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Since when do "Shameless self promotion" and "logic" co-exist?? 

In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :

I will accept this explanation.

Rons said:

In reply to wspohn :

So 1978 Trans Am and circa 1974 for the Huffaker Jag at Westwood for a rare international SCCA National?

Yup - and you are right - not many races for SCCA are credited up in Canada. We got Terry Visger in a Huffaker MGB and a really fast Volvo P1800 (I forget who was driving) plus Dick Workman in a 427 Cobra and several cars I don't recall in detail.

I checked my dates.  First NASCAR race at Westwood was 1973, the first SCCA National and the first ever outside the US was 1975, and the first Transam was 1977.

I switched to vintage racing when that started in 1981.

Please for the love of god tell me that this is real. I mean historically and that someone has a vintage car in this livery

In reply to Teh E36 M3 :

I was thinking the same thing - can't say I've seen that livery before, but I it looks great!

Most OK but why BRE on a Mazda???

In reply to slowbird :

I wanted to put this pain scheme on a local dirt track car, including the number, and have it say "Thanks for the help from our secret supporters."

I remember BRE also fielded some Datsun 510's in the under 2 liter Trans Am and wrested the championship from Alfa Romeo's GTV coupes.