We all know of the classic liveries which were sported for many years, but what about the ones that didn’t last so long? These ten designs lasted very little time at all, most of them for just a single race.
Click below for the ten best one-off liveries. Enjoy.
10. Red Bull Racing – Silverstone 2007
In support of the ‘Wings for Life’ charity, Red Bull Racing ran a campaign giving fans the chance to have their pictures on the car for the British Grand Prix. The car was covered almost completely covered in fan photos and all profits were donated to the charity.
9. McLaren – Portugal 1986
Don’t go playing with your contrast, this really is a yellow McLaren. The car ran this special livery at the 1986 Portuguese Grand Prix to promote the title sponsors new product ‘Malboro Lights’ back before cigarette sponsoring was all subliminal.
8. Ferrari – USA/Mexico 1964
OK, now you must be really confused. This is a Ferrari… and it’s Blue. This car raced in the final two rounds of the 1964 World Championship, as they were not entered by the Italian factory themselves but a US-based team. This was due to a protest at the time between Ferrari and the Italian Racing Authorities.
7. Red Bull Racing – Monaco 2006
Is it a bird, is it a plane… urgh, what a lame joke. Anyway here’s another one-off Red Bull Racing livery, this time promoting ‘Superman Returns’. The car ran the livery in Monaco, 2006. Before the race Christian Horner said if the team got their first podium he’d jump into the swimming pool naked and guess what, they only went and did just that.
6. Ferrari – Italy 2001
The 2001 Italian Grand Prix was the held just 5 days after the September 11th terrorist attacks. The Ferrari team ran without any sponsorship and had a matte black nose-cone as a mark of respect.
5. Lola – Australia 1997
This was the not-so-infamous 1997 Lola, it wasn’t a special one-off livery but instead a livery sported by a one-off team. The car could have made the HRT look like an RB6, turning up to the first race a lousy 13 seconds off the pace. Sponsorship deals went down the pan and they never raced again.
4. Spyker – Pre Season 2007
When Dutch car company Spyker took over the Midland team they unsurprisingly went for an orange livery, the countries national colour. However the orange was so bright that it showed up a weird red colour when photographed on track in natural light. You can see what I mean here
2 and 3. BAR – Pre Season 1999
After bagging two big-money cigarette sponsors, BAR unveiled separate liveries for their cars; Villeneuve’s car painted in a Lucky Strike livery and Zonta’s carrying a blue and yellow 555 livery, both of which looked fantastic. FIA deemed their ‘dual livery’ idea illegal and instead the team ran a rather comedic half-and-half design for the 1999 season.
1. Red Bull Racing – Monaco 2005
Was I really going to choose anything else? Another Movie-themed Red Bull Racing livery but this time featuring the sixth and final (hopefully) Star Wars film. The team went all out with the Star Wars theme and even had their pit crew dressed as Clone Troopers. AMAZING!
Thanks to stephfarnsworth for the help!
Got an idea for a Top Ten or want to write your own? Let me know via comments, Twitter or Facebook.
via