Motorsport’s 20 greatest liveries

Iconic colours

Like picking the greatest driver of all time, whittling down to the best liveries ever is a task that will never please everyone.

What’s memorable to one is forgettable to another. A paint scheme that stands out in the formative motorsport memories – such as the Renault Lagunas in the 1997 British Touring Car Championship for eight-year-old me – might mean nothing to the next person. 

Still. In no particular order, enjoy 20 of the best liveries painted or wrapped around racing and rallying machinery. Some are simply elegant, others daring and out there – all, hopefully, memorable. 

Don’t expect art cars or one-offs. Do expect cigarettes and alcohol.

(And yes, we’ve resisted the urge to simply share every Procar scheme.)

1. Jägermeister

Orange looks good on a race car – Bruce McLaren and Teddy Mayer knew that as soon as they saw it in the 1960s. McLaren’s Papaya cars, in Formula One and Can-Am are iconic.

Less well known were the Beta-liveried cars of the ‘Monza Gorilla’, Vittorio Brambilla, who is memorable for his win-it-then-bin-it in Austria in 1975, when pouring rain allowed him to sneak his one and only Grand Prix victory and crash almost instantly. 

But the team who wore orange best, better even than Arrows, was Jägermeister. Promoting young talent before its spiritual successor Red Bull 20 years later, Hans-Joachim Stuck was among them. He wore the deep orange livery in Formula Two and F1, including here in Austria in 1976.

Jägermeister (cont.)

But it’s BMWs and Porsches that most will recall in Jägermeister livery. 

Vic Elford raced an orange 917/30 in the mad Interserie, Walter Brun ran 956s and 962s, while 911s of all shapes and sizes including this 934 turbo carried drivers such as Derek Bell, John Fitzpatrick, Helmut Kelleners, Hans Heyer, Rolf Stommelen, Bob Wollek, Jacky Ickx and more.

The 1970s also enjoyed orange BMW CSLs and 320s, the ’80s bonkers Zakspeed Capris and ’90s M3s and later Alfa Romeo 155s – with Le Mans winner Andy Wallace, even.

2. Leyton House

Just two seasons, just 32 races officially known as Leyton House, but etched in fans’ minds.

The CG901, a branch of the March chassis family tree and its CG honouring team manager Cesare Gariboldi killed the year before, was a revelation. Matching its shapely figure hand-drawn by a young Adrian Newey was the ‘Miami Blue’ turquoise paint, set off by its green accents. 

The vibrant blue had first been seen in 1987 on Ivan Capelli’s March, and the green appeared on the pretty but unsuccessful CG891 of 1989, its livery was perfected for the ‘first’ Leyton House in 1990, as seen here at Monza.

Leyton House (cont.)

Leyton House’s 1990 season is best remembered for the epic French Grand Prix in July. Neither Maurício Gugelmin or the talented Capelli had qualified at Mexico in June, a fate that had befallen Gugelmin in four of the first six races, but in the southern France heat of Paul Ricard they were flying. 

As the big names pitted, Capelli and Gugelmin hit the front – and stayed out. A bizarre fairytale was ended when Gugelmin’s engine failed from second place and cold, calculating Alain Prost passed Capelli for the lead with a few laps left. 

Runner-up Capelli wouldn’t score again all year, and Guglemin would pick up one point at Spa. 

Newey left for Williams, and 1991 was a tough year, but the car again looked good. But never better than in that Mediterranean sun.

3. Gulf Oils

Maybe you just can't go wrong with light blue?

No greatest liveries list could ever be without Gulf’s iconic duck-egg blue and orange. 

The GT40s and Mirages of Johns Wyer and Willment’s team JW Engineering first bore the colours and it never looked back. It’s inescapable at every race track, whether it’s being worn in the grandstands, sold in the stores or revived on track. 

It’s even transferred to the mainstream thanks to Steve McQueen’s Le Mans.

Gulf Oils (cont.)

Most famous is probably the Porsche 917 – perhaps because of McQueen’s exploits, as it won his 1970 race.

In reality the JWA cars lost the race, despite being the best-prepared 917s around. They won nearly all the rest for 1970 and ’71, including here at Spa when Jackie Oliver and Derek Bell had a team-orders run to the flag. Depending which one you ask will depend who you’re told was quickest and should have won… As it was, Oliver took the flag ahead of Bell (pictured). 

The colours lived on sporadically after the ’70s, having brightened Mirages – even taking the victory at Le Mans in 1975 – and in the 1990s carried by McLaren F1s. 

4. Richard Petty STP

Disney Pixar’s Cars might have moved Richard Petty’s livery on to the world stage, with the ‘Dinoco Blue’ The King depicting The King himself – and Petty voicing the character – but the aesthetically more pleasing scheme has to be the STP.

The dash of day-glo orange, or whole slab on the side like in this image from his fourth Daytona 500 win from 1973, more than makes up for the loss of the vast wing as on his Plymouth Superbird of old.

Richard Petty STP (cont.)

STP’s colours changed around through the years, and was found on a variety of cars including the odd Lotus at The Brickyard, but The King wore it best. 

Here he’s kicking up a wheel at the brilliantly only-in-NASCAR named Banquet Frozen Foods 300 race at Sears Point in 1990. He finished a lowly 26th, three laps down. But looked good doing it.

5. Gold Leaf Lotus

More than just a great and simple livery, that it was provided by a sponsor was revolutionary at the time.

Lotus wasn’t the first to carry sponsors on its cars, of course, but rarely had it been done so comprehensively and in such a high profile way.

Whether it was instantly iconic, that’s up for judgement. But it has stood the test of time and adorns the T-shirts, caps, and even Lotus special editions or otherwise the world over. 

Gold Leaf Lotus (cont.)

Its results have helped build the legend, but that could well be down to the remarkable Lotus that carried it.

Firstly on the 49, Jim Clark and Graham Hill shared four wins in 1968 – surely more had Clark not been killed in an F2 race at Hockenheim between the first and second Grands Prix. Double World Champions. In ’69, third in the Constructors’ with a victory apiece for Hill and Jochen Rindt.

A year later, the Austrian won in Monaco in a 49 before the 72 rocked up and helped him to four wins on the spin. Tragedy struck at Monza, a crash killing the man who would be champion by the year’s end. 

6. John Player Special

It was this that replaced Gold Leaf. The black and gold of parent company John Player & Sons and its Special.

Like its predecessor’s paint scheme it came with success – and slides, not least because of SuperSwede Ronnie Peterson (pictured) – and Emerson Fittipaldi doubled up, in 1972 and ’73, with eight wins. If Emmo and his 72 finished it usually took home points: only twice out of the top six in 27 races, but with seven retirements. 

Mario Andretti and SuperSwede combined for one last Constructors’ in 1978, the year the versatile Andretti also claimed his Drivers’ title. Martini took over the year after, and the Lotus 80 flopped. A coincidence, I’m sure.

John Player Special (cont.)

Like the livery it replaced, special Lotus models appeared including an Esprit to celebrate Andretti’s victory. 

It also crossed the globe in the ’80s to Australia and Jim Richards’ epic BMW 635. Experienced gun for hire David Hobbs even raced with JPS Team BMW in the two-driver enduros.

But it’s a sideways SuperSwede, drifting effortlessly around bends like here at Paul Ricard, that’s how JPS is best remembered. 

7. Martini Racing

Martini might not have had much luck with Lotus between those two JPS stints, but it certainly did elsewhere. 

Picking the best livery is no small task, either, especially since no two have been the same. The recent Williams can be disregarded – let’s say for being too modern, not because it was a disappointment… 

A Martini livery won Le Mans on a 917, white with red and blue stripes, likewise winning rallies the world over on Lancias, and it was rapid on fragile Lancias in endurance racing. 

For variety’s sake, Martini never looked better than on Gordon Murray’s designs for Brabham.

Martini Racing (cont.)

White in 1975, from 1976 red took over as the dominant colour – Alfa Romeo was now the power source, succeeding the brilliant Cosworth DFV.

Three fourth places in ’76 for the BT45 were backed up by four podiums a year later split between Carlos Pace, John Watson and Hans-Joachim Stuck, the German having been drafted in following Pace’s death in a aircraft crash.

A strong start for new signing Niki Lauda in 1978 yielded a second and third in the opening two races, but he finished just five of the next 14. All on the podium, though, with two wins, to help Brabham to third in the constructors’ title, along with Watson three podiums. 

Martini turned green for Lotus for 1979, and was next seen with Williams 25 years later. Should have stuck with red, maybe.

8. Jeff Gordon’s DuPont

There was general bemusement when F1 banned drivers from changing their helmet designs week after week. Good in practice, as people recall days when helmets were a signifier of the driver and even helped fans decide who to follow, but just more red tape than necessary. 

Quite what the rulemakers think of NASCAR’s stock cars changing liveries every other week… One that stuck mainly to its theme was Jeff Gordon’s Dupont scheme.

Garish? Maybe. Iconic? Definitely.

Jeff Gordon’s DuPont (cont.)

Longevity played its part: first seen in 1992, it took 20 years for another company to dislodge the logo from the number 24.

The win count is impressive, at 84, winning the final time out together in a special 20th-anniversary livery, too. 

The lairy jackets have even made it into the vintage shops of Brick Lane in East London…

(DuPont is a 200-year-old science and technology company whose roots stretch back to the French Revolution.)

9. Castrol

Great liveries aren’t reserved for the race track. Rallying has had its fair share, too.

Up there are the Castrol-liveried Toyotas of the 1990s. Even the dumpy-looking Corolla looked great.

Dumpy looking when compared to the epic Celicas of years previous, that is. The Toyota Motorsport livery – red and white, best imagined on the GT-One sports car of 1999 – was swapped for Castrol’s white with green and red dashes in 1992. 

And success continued. Carlos Sainz wrapped up the world title, followed in consecutive years by teammate Juha Kankkunen and then Didier Auriol (pictured) in the perfect display of teamwork.

Castrol (cont.)

Then came 1995…

Sainz switched to Subaru, and Toyota turned the turbo up to 11. All four drivers, Kankkunen, Auriol, Armin Schwarz and Thomas Rådström were deleted from the points tables and Toyota was banned for a year for illegal turbo restrictors.

Movable intakes meant air was going in and, importantly, around the restrictor rings, as found during the Rally Catalunya.

That might taint the colour scheme for some, I admit.

10. Subaru World Rally Team

When Sainz moved to Subaru for 1994 he didn’t have to worry about his Impreza looking a duffer.

Dark blue, gold alloys, bright yellow 555 stylishly along the side with a dash of Repsol on the front. Simple but unforgettable.

The Sainz vs McRae battle helped in 1995, as did the Scot’s dramatic “if in doubt, flat out” driving style. Spectacular wins were matched by even more spectacular crashes.

The first Briton to win the RAC for two decades reigned in that year of 1995 and was immortalised on the PlayStation.

Subaru World Rally Team (cont.)

The 555 livery had quite the lifespan. In 1992 the Subarus had Rothmans’ white and blue, but swapped tobacco brands for 1993 and never looked back.

It took 11 years for those three digits to fall from the side of the Legacy and then Impreza, officially ending in 2004 with barely a misstep, livery-wise, on the way.

The Scoobys remained blue with gold from then on, hanging on to that, err, legacy, until Prodrive and Subaru quit the WRC for good. 

11. Rothmans

Tobacco brands have provided some of the most famous and popular liveries in racing.

Among them was Rothmans, parent brand to 555. First came the Porsche 956s of the factory team, taking even title sponsorship in 1982. The timing was bang-on: the 956 dominated the top level of sports-car racing like nothing before seen, not even the 917. 

Rothmans Porsche, with its blue flanks piped with red and gold, won that debut Le Mans in ’82 and backed it up in ’83, and would have probably claimed a hat-trick had the ACO and Porsche not been at such loggerheads in ’84 that the factory boycotted the race.

It went to Dakar, too, on the mad 959 run by Prodrive, and of course rallying first with an Opel Ascona and later the Subaru Legacy of Prodrive – having also been carried by Prodrive founder Dave Richards when he co-drove for Ari Vatanen. 

Rothmans (cont.)

And then came Williams, and success on an even bigger scale.

When Damon Hill followed his father’s footsteps towards the F1 world title he did so wearing the blue, white and gold of Rothmans on his FW18. The crisp lines matched those of the car, which is among the greatest of all Grand Prix cars – at least of modern times.

IndyCar prodigy Jacques Villeneuve added a second championship for Rothmans Williams in 1997, beating Michael Schumacher in a fraught campaign. 

The brand had joined Williams from Grand Prix motorcycling, winning titles with greats Freddie Spencer, Wayne Gardner and Eddie Lawson, but tragedy hit the team in 1994 when Ayrton Senna was killed in a crash at Imola. 

12. Marlboro

From a Grand Prix perspective the Marlboro colour scheme of red and white could lay claim to being the most famous of all cigarette brands. And in the longevity stakes, too.

Its beauty ran more than skin deep, because it not only sponsored McLaren for years, but promoted young prospects as best it could. Andrea de Cesaris, here unenviably getting his first taste of the MP4/1 around the streets of Monaco, was one of them. 

The main signifier for a Marlboro-backed driver could be subtle – a simple patch on the shoulder of their suit, such as a young Ayrton Senna – or, in the case of the many teams sponsored by the Philip Morris firm, full suits to match the car. 

In this year, 1981, both McLaren and Alfa Romeo wore Marlboro as title sponsor.

Marlboro (cont.)

It is McLaren with whom most think of when Marlboro is mentioned.

The association began back in 1974, winning the title that first year and again two years later courtesy of James Hunt. With TAG power and under the stewardship of Ron Dennis, the Marlboro and McLaren partnership returned to the top with Niki Lauda and Alain Prost, and later Ayrton Senna.

Would the Prost vs Senna rivalry be quite the same without the iconic red and white trim flashing around circuits together? 

13. Silk Cut

Away from F1, cigarette brands made their mark, too. Few places more revered than in the purple and white of Silk Cut and the Jaguars of Tom Walkinshaw Racing.

The words ‘Silk Cut Jag’ make race fans go weak at the knees, even if they care only for F1.

Early Group C Jaguars were in the green and white of Group 44, which had been the de facto works cars until TWR took over. And they never looked back or better. In 1986 the cars turned white with flashes of purple, but in 1987 and ’88 (as pictured) they found perfection.

That it won Le Mans in 1988, three decades since the last D-type win in 1957, only helped matters.

Silk Cut (cont.)

TWR Jags, with another Le Mans win under its belt in 1990, remained so liveried until 1991, when the incredible XJR-14 replaced the evolutionary XJR-9/11.

In IMSA, the cars bore a Castrol livery and ran this a close second – but couldn’t quite match the Silk Cut in the memory stakes.

After all, stop by any stall at a race track and there will be something in purple and white evoking these great Cats. Or models of them, but good luck finding one with the words Silk Cut still down the flanks. You might find Slik Cat, though, getting around those pesky advertising rules…

14. BMW M

Manufacturers can be a bit hit-and-miss when it comes to livery. Long gone are the days of racing in the colours of your country, assigned near the turn of the 20th century and the dawn of motorsport – yet Bugattis look best in blue, Aston Martins in British Racing Green (if not Gulf…), and Alfas and Ferraris in red. 

None would be classified as marque colours, even the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows shared with rival Auto Union, so enter BMW’s ‘M’ colour scheme. Its dashes of red, white and blue are an important element on the fastest BMWs on the road, a badge of honour elevating them from the average Bimmer.

On track, it has adorned the most iconic of BMWs from CSL Batmobile to modern GTE M8s – and celebrated at every (re)turn.

Jolly Club, more familiar with Alfa Romeos and Lancias, ran this CSL for Martino Finotto and Manfred Mohr to a class win in the 1974 Spa 1000km.

BMW M (cont.)

It looks good in black, too.

Not least with Ringmeister Hans-Joachim Stuck (him again) getting air in a CSL in 1974. He and Ronnie Peterson qualified on pole but retired with, you might not be surprised to learn, suspension issues…

Derek Bell and Jacky Ickx shared the similarly coloured sister car, too.

There have been many variations on the theme through the years, probably worthy of a gallery on its own.

15. Jordan 7UP

This is another, like the Leyton House, where the car and livery are equally matched. 

Bizarrely, the 7UP deal came about because Michael Jackson’s tour had been cancelled, according to Eddie Jordan in an interview with Simon Arron in Motor Sport. 

Bertrand Gachot and de Cesaris, both with Marlboro badges stamped on their suits, would be the drivers, and the former had apparently spiked the 7UP deal before it began when he didn’t turn up a meeting. Only for that 7UP-backed Jackson tour to go south and money to be freed up and needing spending.

Turns out, Gachot had been arrested for pepper spraying a taxi driver and was otherwise engaged. As he would be for the Belgian Grand Prix, when a certain Michael Schumacher stepped in and up to the mark (and made Jordan plenty of cash from Mercedes).

All of which only adds to the 7UP Jordan 191 legend. 

Jordan 7UP (cont.)

As for the 191, it was designed by Gary Anderson – one of just three in the team – and was as pretty as a Formula One car can be.

It scored a brace of fourths with de Cesaris, and Jordan Grand Prix claimed fifth overall at the end of the year. 

16. Alitalia

Think Alitalia, think Stratos.

Or maybe Fiat 131 Abarth, because it was on this that the famous green and red on white replaced another famous livery, the dark blue and yellow of Olio Fiat.

Alitalia and Fiat’s two appearances together in 1976 were followed with success in 1977 as Markku Alén (pictured) claimed the FIA Cup for Drivers. Alas not yet the World Rally Championship, which was a year away. 

Eight wins followed in 1978 for Alitalia and the 131 wearing the branding of the airline that had originally been designed by Walter Landor. 

Alitalia (cont.)

But it is on the Stratos that it’s most familiar, the arrow design almost matching the car’s dart-like form. 

It was already a champion, having won in 1974, and in iconic Alitalia colours it added two more manufacturer titles. Fiat gave the airline its own hat-trick a year later with Alén.

The later design, when the red gained more prominence than the more bare early colours are arguably it at its best and most memorable.

17. Falken

Fast-forward a few decades or three and you’ll find one of the best liveries of the modern era.

Anyone who has ever been to the Nürburgring 24 Hours will recognise it and no doubt have a soft spot for the turquoise-on-blue colours, even though it’s yet to taste victory at the big race.

Hot Wheels has been so taken by the designs that it has produced no fewer than 13 models in the livery so far.

Falken (cont.)

The brand’s tyre research on the ’Ring means it focuses on VLN and is rarely seen outside the Eifel Mountains.

That’s not to say it’s been on only Porsche and BMW GT3s. Previous carriers have been Nissans 350Z and R34 GTR, plus Toyota Supras and even an Escort Cossie.

You’ll glimpse it through the tyre smoke of some of the world’s best drifters, though. Apparently tearing through layer after layer of tyre is good exposure.

18. Sunoco

Roger Penske, Mark Donohue and Sunoco struck fear into rivals during the late 1960s and early ’70s. 

Which means this is another of those where the legend adds to the livery. Not least on the team’s Can-Am killer, the Porsche 917/30. Producing more than 1000bhp it blew the once-dominant McLaren right out of the series.

Its dark blue and yellow only added to the package, and this is what will spring instantly to mind when anyone mentions the words ‘Porsche’ and ‘Can-Am’ together.

Sunoco (cont.)

The paint scheme worked on just about anything The Captain and the man with the Unfair Advantage combined over.

From the early Camaro, Sunoco cresting the rear haunches, to the Lola T70 that took the model’s only major victory at Daytona in 1969, to the Ferrari 512 that went door-to-door with the 917s in Florida and finished third (and with a third of its bodywork made of tape…) – it’s iconic in the liveries of America stakes.

It made it to F1, too, as here at Mosport in 1971. But when Penske claimed its one and only Grand Prix victory, in Austria in 1976, it wore the red, white and blue of Citibank. Not unlike the AMC colours that adorned the Penske Javelin in Trans-Am.

But the Sunoco paint job takes it.

19. Team Duckhams

This will be instantly familiar to anyone who went to a race circuit in the 1980s or ’90s. The Van Diemen works team and sponsor Duckhams.

Future Grand Prix drivers and World Champions carried the blue/purple and yellow stripes on their Formula Fords in front of one man and his dog on any given Sunday, or in front of big crowds in the Brands Hatch Formula Ford Festival.

Pictured is Marc Goossens, three-time Formula 3000 race winner and 1991 Festival champion for Van Diemen. 

Team Duckhams (cont.)

Mark Webber was among the names who took Duckhams to glory at Brands Hatch, here in 1996. Eddie Irvine matched the brilliance of the livery by dominating for the Norfolk squad, late IndyCar champion Dan Wheldon duelled with Jenson Button, while Mike Conway and James Courtney both shone, too.

The yellow and blue has been seen on much more than Van Diemens, though. Alain de Cadenet and Gordon Murray built the Duckhams Special for Le Mans – the first major racer the South African created, out of a Brabham Grand Prix car no less – plus Surtees in Formula One and F5000, the Mondeos of the British Touring Car Championship and more.

But when TOCA was fired up in the PlayStation and Formula Ford was selected, there was only ever one livery you wanted: Duckhams blue and yellow.

20. BASF

Yes, yes. No Procars and no one-offs. But because this did both…

The Procar series brought not only a grid-full of BMW M1s but great liveries, too. Among the best and most easily recalled was this BASF Cassette effort.

It went to Le Mans in 1981, too, with Hans-Joachim Stuck (again!), Jean-Pierre ‘Jumper’ Jarier and Helmut Henzler, one of six in the field – across three separate classes. 

BASF (cont.)

By the time it was barrelling down the Mulsanne, the Procar series had already folded, in 1980, a bright but brief highlight still revered today.

The BASF Cassette car was entered in the IMSA GTX – X for experimental class – two were in GTs (one of which was entered by Helmut Marko) and three were in with the Group 5s. 

Nelson Piquet drove the Sauber-entered car at the Norisring, while Hans Heyer shared with Stuck in the Brands Hatch 1000km – in 1981 known as the Flying Tiger 1000.

That name might have been forgettable, the BASF M1 certainly was not.