Whenever we talk about a car, we usually focus on its performance, what kind of engine it has, or how it looks. Even when talking about its appearance, we usually emphasize the shape of the car. How many curves it has got, how the grille looks, or how the rear bumper connects with the body. But we do not talk about its color nearly as often. However, in the world of motorsport, the story is different.
When we watch a race, the cars are moving at very high speeds. So it can get difficult to differentiate between the competitors if they all drive similar-looking cars. Hence, the teams give their race cars distinct liveries. Here, we often associate cars of the drivers or teams with their colors, number, and sponsors. These colors now go hand-in-hand with the race cars for years to come.
Another aspect of making a car iconic is featuring it in movies. We can not imagine the Orange Toyota Supra from The Fast and The Furious in any other color. We hear General Lee, and an Orange Charger pops up in mind. In other cases, we even associate automobile manufacturers with a certain color. Think of a Ferrari, any Ferrari, and we bet you’re picturing something in that distinct shade of Rosso Corsa Red. These 10 combinations of cars and colors are some of the most legendary in the whole of automobile history.
10 Renown Green & Orange - Mazda 787b
The 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans race marks the one and only appearance of this particular Mazda 787B. Mazda entered 3 cars in the race. 2 of them were in their regular White and Blue livery. But Car no. 55 had an outrageous color scheme. It had a bright orange and green paint job to honor their long-time sponsor, Renown.
The 3.5-Liter car started 19th and gained 16 positions with 6 hours to go. Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes-Benz C11 spun out and the 787B gained 2nd place, eventually winning the race. The Renown Mazda came, won, and left. That’s the stuff of legend right there.
9 TNT Express - General Lee Dodge Charger
The Dukes of Hazzard (1979-1985) used to be one of America’s favorite and most popular Action-Comedy series. The General Lee Dodge Charger is one of the most famous cars because of that. We all know that the Charger is Orange, but what shade? Many people believe it’s the Hemi Orange, but the showrunners scrapped that color because it looked brown on film.
The folks at VINwiki built a General Lee replica, and Travis Bell was their in-house expert on the famous car. He got to scan the trunk lid of the original Charger. It revealed that the General Lee color's name is the TNT Express.
8 Candy Orange Pearl and "Nuclear Gladiator" - Toyota Supra A80
Ah, the bittersweet memory of Paul Walker as Brian O’Conner in The Fast And The Furious (2001). The Supra was the car that started it all. The craze, the explosion of popularity of JDM and tuner culture in America. These movies were the catalyst for one of the automotive industry’s biggest phenomena.
The movie guys painted the Supra in Lamborghini Diablo’s Candy Orange Pearl finish and applied the famous Nuclear Gladiator vinyl on it. The result was a car so popular, its auction garnered half a million bucks.
7 Goodwrench Black - Dale Earnhardt's NASCAR
You can safely say that liveries are a big part of NASCAR racing. GM's Goodwrench repair service brand started sponsoring Dale Earnhardt's car in 1988. It was the Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. They continued the title sponsorship for the legendary racer till 2001.
Dale Earnhardt was The Intimidator, but now he was also The Man in Black. The paint scheme was simple, with a Black base and the name of the brand Goodwrench and his number 3 in White. But that Black Chevy is still attached to motorsport fans’ minds 20 years later.
6 Gulf Blue & Orange - Ford GT40, Porsche 917
The strange combination of Blue and Orange is unique if nothing else. The iconic Gulf livery has wrapped many distinguished race cars like the Porsche 917, McLaren 12C GT3, McLaren F1, Porsche 908/3, and Aston Martin Racing’s Vantage V8 GTEs.
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But the most famous of them all is the Ford GT40. Celebrated racing driver Jacky Ickx drove the Gulf-branded GT40 and won the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans. Today, we can see various racing games paying homage to the Blue and Orange paint scheme as a special livery.
5 British Racing Green - Various Jaguar Classics
British Racing Green is perhaps the color with the most heritage here. It is the official motor racing color of the UK. It has been in use for more than a century now! Over the years, manufacturers have transcended the colors on their road cars thanks to its popularity.
You must have seen at least one British classic like an E-Type or an ‘80s V8 Vantage in this color somewhere on the internet. Jaguar even revived the color for its F1 team in 2000. Moreover, it’s so beloved that manufacturers even today have this color in their spectrum.
4 White, Red & Blue Martini - Lancia Delta, 037
The Alitalia Stratos almost made it in this list. But the 037 and the Delta just have to be here. Martini is another classic livery that we have seen in numerous exalted race cars from Rally to Endurance. Like the Goodwrench, the Martini livery is simplistic.
It’s basically a white car with Red and Blue stripes and Martini’s name written all over it. But the sheer number of championship-winning cars bearing this livery has made it an icon. Other than Lancia, Porsche has the most race cars that featured this livery.
3 Passion Red - Mitsubishi Lancer
Regardless of which Lancer it is. If it’s taking part in the WRC, it’s wearing the Passion Red paint scheme. Tommi Mäkinen’s rally dominance in the Lancer only helped solidify the car’s status as a legend. Mitsubishi is very proud of its Rally history, they have every right to.
They have even introduced ‘Passion Red Edition’ of several of their road cars in the same paint job. There’s even a Lancer EVO VI Tommi Mäkinen Edition in the same color. They made the car to celebrate his four consecutive World Rally titles.
2 Rosso Corsa Red - Ferrari
If there’s one color we can imagine a Ferrari in, it’s the Rosso Corsa Red. It can be a Le Mans endurance car, a Formula 1 race car, a Supercar, or even an SUV. If a thing has the Prancing Horse badge on it, it belongs in that shade of Red. When it comes to road-legal cars, there’s nothing more synonymous than a Red Ferrari.
Sure, their cars also come in other colors like Blue, Yellow, Black, or White, and they look awesome and are popular. But nothing can beat the Rosso Corsa Red. Nothing.
1 Mica '555' Blue - Subaru WRX
Remember what we said about a road-legal Ferrari, and swap it with the Subaru. While Formula 1 had Michael Schumacher, WRC had Colin McRae. Colin has the fifth-highest number of victories in Rally in such a short career. His weapon of choice? The Subaru WRX in one and only ‘Mica Blue’ color.
Add the yellow 555 Cigarette sponsorship decals, and voilà! You now have possibly the most recognizable livery on any car. Every WRX road car has this color as an option. The Blue and Yellow color scheme will stay in the books of history forever.