40 replies to this topic

[BRG]

Looking out of a rain-stained British summer window, I noticed a Ford Fiesta ST (the previous model) in white with two broad blue stripes fore and aft. The recent new Ford GT (son of GT40) also came with these stripes.

We take these for granted, but where did this style of automotive decoration originate? I recall the Renault Gordini R8 of the 1960s came in French racing blue with two white fore and aft stripes. There were, I think, some of the original GT40s that featured the stripes - or they do today and perhaps did in period? So this takes us back to mid-1960s.

So where & when did this fashion start? Any ideas?

[David Wright]

Cunningham used parallel stripes at Le Mans from 1951 on. Seems it was perhaps an American invention?

[David McKinney]

We used to call them "GT stripes". Was there a time when the stripes were used to distinguish GT cars from sports/racing cars? Perhaps in the USA?

[D-Type]

The official US racing colours, which dated back to the days when racing cars had visible chassis, were a white body and bonnet with a blue chassis. The first Cunningham entries in 1950 simply had a very broad blue stripe, almost being a blue body with white wings. Then in 1951 they featured the now familiar twin blue stripes down the body. I have seen this stated to be " to symbolise the chassis underneath" but as they didn't have them in 1950 it could be an urban myth. The twin stripes are so associated with Cunningham that I have seen them described as "Cunningham stripes". Carrol Shelby copied them for his Aston Martin and also on some Cobras. And they have since been copied by others simply because they "look good"

The fashion, if you can call it that, does seem to have originated in the USA. Remember that Team Lotus sported their yellow stripe after Chapman saw them at Indianapolis. Is there perhaps an Indianapolis connection? Or is it part of the US tradition of motor racing being a show or an entertainment and they were simply to help spectators identify different cars?

I am 95% certain that they were never intended for distinguishing GT and sports cars and I think they have only ever been for decoration.

I've never seen them described as "GT Stripes" but I have seen the term "Go faster stripes" used in a derogatory way when describing "boy racers".

Edit: Typos

Edited by D-Type, 17 August 2012 - 22:04.

[wolf sun]

Funnily enough, in Germany they're called 'Rallye-Stripes', no GT connection at all...

[Wirra]

In Oz they have always been known as "GT Stripes" as well as "Go faster stripes".

The most famous car to have them was the Holden of the humorous Warren Weldon, in the early 1960s

http://www.autopics....ibiznez?id=6859

(edit) Ray - I trust that's not you at the flag point!

Edited by Wirra, 17 August 2012 - 00:17.

[wenoopy]

From a brief search of my library, the oldest competition car found, with stripes, was the De Vere/Mangin (?Mongin?) Chrysler which finished 2nd in the 1928 Spa 24 Hours. The stripe runs along or parallel to the side hinge of the bonnet, continues horizontally across the door and then follows the curve of the tail. These cars also ran at Le Mans I understand. Similar contrasting-colour pinstripes were not uncommon on US saloons of the 30's

David's "GT stripes" sounds familiar to another NZ enthusiast, and I wonder if this is from the Cortina GT model which had stripes as standard decor as I recall. Stick-on stripes were an "after-market" add-on in the 1960's at least. Perhaps a Les Leston catalogue of the era might suggest a starting date.

Stu

[David Birchall]

My understanding has always been that the American racing cars would be white with blue chassis rails in international competition, when the chassis became concealed (after WW2) the practice continued but with stripes replacing the chassis rails themselves. It just kinda grew from that...
Canadian colours were white with green stripes.

[Daren W]

Dad called them ape tape when I was a kid early 70's Sydney Australia Regards Daren

[elansprint72]

............

David's "GT stripes" sounds familiar to another NZ enthusiast, and I wonder if this is from the Cortina GT model which had stripes as standard decor as I recall. Stick-on stripes were an "after-market" add-on in the 1960's at least. Perhaps a Les Leston catalogue of the era might suggest a starting date.

Stu

Cortina GTs did not have stripes in the UK; Lotus Cortina and Cortina Lotus cars did though!

[wenoopy]

The Works Cooper F1 cars had two white stripes from 1959 onwards, not parallel, but stripes nevertheless. And didn't the works-entered Mini-Coopers have the same not very much later.

Stu

[BRG]

I too felt that this was something of US origins, and the Cunningham connection certainly suggests this and takes us back to the early 1950s. The 1928 Chrysler at Le Mans is intriguing - does anyone have an image of this so that we can judge if that was an earlier antecedent? I can't find anything online.

[GeoffR]

And didn't the works-entered Mini-Coopers have the same not very much later.

I can remember back in the day the "in" thing was to have a Mini, preferably red (Cooper S) with white roof, and two X 3 inch black 'racing stripes'.

[nicanary]

I can remember back in the day the "in" thing was to have a Mini, preferably red (Cooper S) with white roof, and two X 3 inch black 'racing stripes'.

White stripes, surely?

Go-faster equipment: stripes, wider wheels, no hub-caps, Peco exhaust, dinner plate steering wheel, aftermarket rev counter stuck on the dash. Extra lights (not necessarily wired up) and whiplash aerials if you were puerile enough.

None of this "chipping" nonsense. All the above guaranteed to increase max speed by 10mph.

[David Lawson]

There were quite a few cars that raced at Brooklands in the 1920s that had stripes or flashes and others that had painted chassis rails.

David

[uechtel]

White stripes, surely?

Go-faster equipment: stripes, wider wheels, no hub-caps, Peco exhaust, dinner plate steering wheel, aftermarket rev counter stuck on the dash. Extra lights (not necessarily wired up) and whiplash aerials if you were puerile enough.

None of this "chipping" nonsense. All the above guaranteed to increase max speed by 10mph.

And removed front and rear bumpers and "rallye" mirrors on the front fenders and those little bars to keep the bonnet open if it was an Abarth, Simca or NSU...

[Sharman]

The reason for stripes is plain and simple. For identification on a circuit. Taken up by the general public copying race cars, advertised as:-

"Guaranteed to increase the stationary speed of any car by 10mph"

[Glengavel]

The reason for stripes is plain and simple. For identification on a circuit.

Like the Ecurie Ecosse D-Type Jaguars with their striped noses. OK, those are lateral stripes rather than longitudinal stripes, but a stripe is a stripe.

[Tim Murray]

This rather ancient thread discussed the stripes used on the works Alfas at Monaco in 1932, and also those used by the short-lived Scuderia CC in 1933, where Caracciola's car was white with blue stripes and Chiron's blue with white stripes. Sadly the photos are no longer available:

Alfa Corse at Monaco in 1932

[gkennedy]

In Australia in the '60s and '70s, they were usually known as 'GT Stripes' as Wirra said, and the fad became so fashionable (even the Mini Clubman GT came with them), that ordering your new Holden Monaro GTS or Ford Falcon GT without stripes, in some instances became a 'delete option'. That is, it cost more to order your new car without the stripes than with them.

Edited by gkennedy, 17 August 2012 - 21:58.

[kayemod]

In Australia in the '60s and '70s, they were usually known as 'GT Stripes' as Wirra said, and the fad became so fashionable (even the Mini Clubman GT came with them), that ordering your new Holden Monaro GTS or Ford Falcon GT without stripes, in some instances became a 'delete option'. That is, it cost more to order your new car without the stripes than with them.

That's a bit unusual isn't it? In my experience, delete options are free, my current car came without an ashtray, but if I'd ticked a delete option box, they'd have fitted one at no extra charge. That's from a manufacturer not exactly renowned for giving anything away, you can have badges removed at no cost, but there wasn't a stripe/no stripe option.

[wenoopy]

White stripes, surely?

Go-faster equipment: stripes, wider wheels, no hub-caps, Peco exhaust, dinner plate steering wheel, aftermarket rev counter stuck on the dash. Extra lights (not necessarily wired up) and whiplash aerials if you were puerile enough.

None of this "chipping" nonsense. All the above guaranteed to increase max speed by 10mph.

But it all pales into insignificance when you can get Twin Overhead Foxtails!

Stu

[gkennedy]

Maybe it's time for a separate thread about the history of 'go faster'(?) stuff - such as the current fad (in Australia anyway) for spoilers (apt word), like huge rear wings on Hyundai Excels. Seriously, what kind of idiot buys one of the cheapest (and least performing) cars available, and spends money dreaming he needs massive rear downforce to maintain traction to his little front wheels?

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Wirra
.....Ray - I trust that's not you at the flag point!

I think I can nominate four reasons that prove it's not...

1. Wrong flag point. We were at Point M, where the circuit began to follow the edge of the lake around. After us came M1, then N and this one would have been Point O.

2. It was taken in 1964, my first stint on a flag point was late in 1965.

3. I would have been wearing white overalls during the first couple of years of my flagging, anyway.

4. I would not have been sitting on the sleepers.

And on-topic... nobody's mentioned the Total stripes. They were a great fad from about mid-1953 for a couple of years.

[nicanary]

The reason for stripes is plain and simple. For identification on a circuit. Taken up by the general public copying race cars, advertised as:-

"Guaranteed to increase the stationary speed of any car by 10mph"

I wouldn't have thought that Briggs Cunningham used the stripes for identification if all his team cars had the same format and size of stripe. My guess is that it was purely an aesthetic thing - although BC was East Coast "old money" he would surely have noticed the often high-quality preparation and presentation of the sports cars in the Californian arena, which were themselves influenced by the burgeoning Custom Car and Hot-Rod scene. It looked nice, and at the same time it was a way of displaying the US racing colours.

Just thinking back to other US teams - the Scarabs and AAR Eagles were predominantly blue, but the Sciroccos were white with a broad blue band approximately where a chassis rail would have been, had the car had one. And Masten Gregory's Maserati 250F run by Centro-Sud was white with two narrow blue bands. Why? Was Temple Buell involved at this stage? The early Ford GT40 had the bonnet painted a very dark blue (almost black), with blue stripes over the roof and along the sides below the door.

Cars competing at Le Mans appear to have made notional attempts at national colours for some time into the 60s - I have no idea whether this was one of the ACdel'Ouest's regulations, or simply acts of patriotism. (By the way, something in the back of my diminishing brain tells me that the US was originally allocated red as their national colour, but this hue ended up with Italy. Am I bonkers?)

[David McKinney]

And Masten Gregory's Maserati 250F run by Centro-Sud was white with two narrow blue bands. Why? Was Temple Buell involved at this stage?

Nothing to do with team ownership. Centro-Sud tended to respray their cars in the colours of that weekend's driver, hence silver when Seidel was on the team, white, blue and yellow for Bonnier and so on. Gregory (and Shelby) also raced blue Centro-Sud 250Fs with white stripes

[nicanary]

Nothing to do with team ownership. Centro-Sud tended to respray their cars in the colours of that weekend's driver, hence silver when Seidel was on the team, white, blue and yellow for Bonnier and so on. Gregory (and Shelby) also raced blue Centro-Sud 250Fs with white stripes

A lot of work for the bodyshop when the cars were trundling round in midfield.

[Repco22]

And Masten Gregory's Maserati 250F run by Centro-Sud was white with two narrow blue bands.

Sorry to nit-pick but in some '57 GPs Gregory's Centro Sud 250F was white with one broad blue stripe down the middle and one stripe lower down each side, which I thought looked very smart. BTW, as a boy racer with a Peugeot 203, I was very proud to sport what I believed to be the first 'GT stripes in Perth. But my ego was suitably deflated by the local garage man who was obviously ignorant of top flight European GT racing, TDF Ferraris etc. He asked if I was selling toothpaste. [A brand called 'Stripe' was being hammered on TV at the time.]

[Rob G]

The earliest striped race car I found in my brief search was Ira Vail's car driven by Frank Elliott in the 1922 Indy 500. The car was green with a wide white or yeelow stripe on each side of the car, at about the car's shoulder level, where the flat sides started to curve toward the top of the centerline.

[Bjorn Kjer]

Post 26 : Weren't the Seidel cars white ?

[David McKinney]

I haven't gone through every available picture, but recall Seidel racing Centro-Sud 250F in silver, and Herrmann a white one

[Bjorn Kjer]

Thanks , Hermann got me confused !.

[Bloggsworth]

Leonardo Da Vinci had stripes on several of his creations...

[Bloggsworth]

A lot of work for the bodyshop when the cars were trundling round in midfield.

Costs more to polish a car nowadays...

[wenoopy]

In 1952, Tony Gaze's HWM, which he ran in the Belgian, German and British GP's was painted BRG with a gold band around the body just ahead of the cockpit, a bit like a ribbon around an Easter Egg. According to his biography, they claimed to Belgian organisers that spilt methanol had taken off some paint, and as they couldn't match the colour, they used a contrasting colour, gold (which coincidentally resulted in the traditional Australian green and gold). Their story was apparently accepted though not necessarily believed.

Stu

[arttidesco]

We take these for granted, but where did this style of automotive decoration originate?

Given the number of traditions & terms that were carried forward from the world of racing gee gees I'd be surprised if an owner of both racing horses and cars did not run with the same colours including stripes on his jockey and car. That said the earliest example I could find of a car with stripes and then not even running the length of the car is Nanette which dates no further back than 1926.

[nicanary]

Further to my post #25, apparently the US were allocated red for the 1900 Gordon Bennett Trophy, Italy not having entered a team. When Italy professed an interest they were allocated black. In 1903 the Italians were given red, and the US white with red chassis, but this was changed again when Switzerland entered the ring, and the Americans then agreed to have white with a blue chassis. (Interesting that the Renault that won the '06 GP was also red - Gordon Bennett's influence didn't stretch that far).

We've talked about the history of stripes, but to push a point what about the dazzle-painted Straker-Squire of Bertie Kensington-Moir (?) which raced at Brooklands? This was an attempt to emulate the camouflage paintwork of Great War ships of the line. Odd.

I'm still convinced it's just an "aesthetics" thing - with the Ford Fiesta it's a marketing ploy harking back to the 60s Ford "Total Performance" image, when such stripes were used on all manner of cars running for Ford in racing and rallying. (By the way, last night I saw similar stripes on a Suzuki Swift and a Citroen C1, and also chequerboard roof on the Swift, just like the old Cooper S and Abarth 850TC racers).

[Lee Nicolle]

That's a bit unusual isn't it? In my experience, delete options are free, my current car came without an ashtray, but if I'd ticked a delete option box, they'd have fitted one at no extra charge. That's from a manufacturer not exactly renowned for giving anything away, you can have badges removed at no cost, but there wasn't a stripe/no stripe option.

Late 60s early 70s brought lots of stripes and gargoyles. The 'civilised' punter bought their Falcon GT,Monaro GTS without the stripes and some of the blackouts too sometimes.
It might not have been an option as such but it showed on the order. A mate had a GT with no bonnet blackouts or stripes and my HQ GTS came with that on the order too. The same as some dealers ordered the cars with blackout bonnets and window frames to sell as 'Dealer Specials' Cheaper and better to be done in the factory than after. And then added their own stick on stripes. This is really the origin of both the Sandman Van and the SS HQ Belmont, or John Goss Specials etc from Ford. So many dealers did specials as such the manufacturers copied them.
Back in the day when dealers were interested in selling cars more than finance and insurance. And winow tint!

[David Lawson]

I haven't gone through every available picture, but recall Seidel racing Centro-Sud 250F in silver, and Herrmann a white one

A colour photograph on page 171 in "Maserati, A Racing History" by Anthony Pritchard depicts Seidel racing a silver Centro-Sud 250F.

David

[Frank S]

Among the Mustang owners I know and know about, especially those with Shelby models, the longitudinal two-wide-stripes-narrowly-separated-by-body-color are called "Le Mans" stripes, and their width, spacing, color, and beginning and terminus points are very carefully specified for each model and generation of the cars. Current or recent Window Stickers refer to them as Over The Top stripes, with which I agree. It's a rare Shelby Mustang (or tribute vehicle) that has the "OTT stripe delete" option.

I bought white, four-inch-wide vinyl tape expecting to put a pair on my dark blue Healey 3000 Mk 1, but discovered thinking and doing were two different things; after some frustrating on-the-job experience with long stripes I settled for one across the front as in Ecosse-land. One of the frustrations was that I had carefully mapped the location the offset longitudinals were to disappear over the curve of the bonnet, as a reference point for the right front corner* in slalom/autocross/parking-lot time-trials. Thinking and doing, different animals.

* I believe I read a reference to this concept as an explanation for the stripes, in a periodical of the day. Or maybe I thought it up. Thinking. Gets you in trouble every time.

[WDH74]

I wouldn't have thought that Briggs Cunningham used the stripes for identification if all his team cars had the same format and size of stripe. My guess is that it was purely an aesthetic thing - although BC was East Coast "old money" he would surely have noticed the often high-quality preparation and presentation of the sports cars in the Californian arena, which were themselves influenced by the burgeoning Custom Car and Hot-Rod scene. It looked nice, and at the same time it was a way of displaying the US racing colours.

I always figured that there was some influence coming from the hot rod and custom scene, particularly postwar but even in the later 30's. A look at Indy roadsters shows a lot of similarities in paint schemes-lots of scallops and stripes. And it's not that surprising, since a lot of the same guys worked both sides of the aisle, and of course painted a lot of SoCal sports cars too.

Something that occurs to me-sponsorship was more common on this side of the Atlantic than in Europe, correct? I know just from looking at old racing cars that they sometimes got painted up in sponsor colors-could this have been an influence on stripey style? Just a theory.

Given the number of traditions & terms that were carried forward from the world of racing gee gees I'd be surprised if an owner of both racing horses and cars did not run with the same colours including stripes on his jockey and car. That said the earliest example I could find of a car with stripes and then not even running the length of the car is Nanette which dates no further back than 1926.

Wasn't this common in the early years at Brooklands? I recall reading in Bill Boddy's history of the Track that early drivers wore colors similar to jockey silks, and in my mind cars were painted similarly. I may be imagining that last bit, though, and I don't have the book to hand to check.

-WDH