23 replies to this topic

[BRG]

Whilst getting ready to leave home this morning, I noticed a new (BMW) Mini passing by, adorned with black ‘Cooper’ stripes down each side of the bonnet (or hood, if you must). I toyed with the idea of how easy it would be to remove them (they are probably stick-on vinyl) and how much better it would look without them. Then I wondered why none of the modern Minis come with matt-black bonnets as favoured by the BMC works rally Cooper S cars in the 1960s.

Which made me wonder (he wrote, eventually getting to the point) why that whole matt-black bonnet fad arose in the mid-60s only to disappear by the mid-70s - except amongst clubmen rallyists and boy-racers! It was, I think, introduced first on the works Minis and taken up by Boreham on the works Cortinas and Escorts. And IIRC, the later works Lancia Fulvia HFs sported black bonnets, as did the works FIAT 124 Spyders.

What was it supposed to do? Reduce glare for the driver? Radiate more heat from the engine? Look racy? And if it did have some practical application, why did it fall out of use?

[jcbc3]

As always Germany only "got it" later. I seem to remember a number of Opels (Ascona, Kadett and Manta) likewise adorned.

[Paul Rochdale]

BRG,
You got it with the "Reduce the glare for drivers" explanation.

[BRG]

Yes, although the bonnet of a Mini is barely if at all in the driver's line of sight!

And why did this suddenly cease to be important by around 1975? Perhaps the value of that area for sponsors' signwriting was found to exceed driver comfort considerations.

[Bumblyari]

From a UK perspective at least, I think it must have been after 1976 that they went out of fashion.

That was the last time we had a decent Summer.

[RS2000]

Very few (if any?) works Minis had black bonnets? I think it started as a Safari Rally thing with Cortinas. Cant recall it on works Escorts after 1971. As stated, it was an anti-glare thing. The most ridiculous aspect was a lot of people painting the bonnet black and leaving the wings in body colour! Sometimes it was not about glare but about it being easier to paint poor quality fibreglass bonnets matt black than with a poor paint finish in body colour.

[David Beard]

Originally posted by RS2000
Very few (if any?) works Minis had black bonnets? I think it started as a Safari Rally thing with Cortinas. Cant recall it on works Escorts after 1971. As stated, it was an anti-glare thing. The most ridiculous aspect was a lot of people painting the bonnet black and leaving the wings in body colour! Sometimes it was not about glare but about it being easier to paint poor quality fibreglass bonnets matt black than with a poor paint finish in body colour.

I think the black bonnet goes back to the appearance of the Ford GT (before it was called the GT40), in 1964.

[David Birchall]

My 1970 rally Datsun 240Z has a mat black bonnet (well, there are a few rust patches) and it has had it all it's rallying life-about 15 years. I would think that the long bonnet of the 240 would reflect quite badly and this car did the Panama/Alaska Rally. The works 240Zs had black bonnets for that reason.
David B

[RS2000]

Originally posted by David Beard


I think the black bonnet goes back to the appearance of the Ford GT (before it was called the GT40), in 1964.

Cortina GTs, East African Safari Rally, Easter 1964 - but probably on other rally cars earlier.

[Roger Clark]

Originally posted by David Beard


I think the black bonnet goes back to the appearance of the Ford GT (before it was called the GT40), in 1964.

Wasn't it blue?

[ray b]

my 89 volvo has one [black hood] on a gray car
part of the turbo package on the 745t ic

[D-Type]

Matt black bonnets were common but not universal in the Safari in the late fifties / early sixties. The idea was to cut glare. I believe it was common on WW2 aircraft fo the same reason. However, some people felt that it heated the engine compartment up so it wasn't universal. A compromise was to paint just the tops of the front wings.

The earliest picture I can find is of a Chevrolet in the 1956 event. Among the first works teams were Peugeot and Holden to be followed by Ford and later Mercedes. VW entrants never seemed to bother. Saab, Volvo, Lincoln and the Japanese featured black bonnets from the outset.

A photo of a 1957 Holden clearly showed a black bonnet so the idea might have come from Australia. Ray???

The fashion seems to have gradually died out, possibly as sunglasses improved. Naturally corporate sponsor's liveries tended to be sacrosanct.

Another Safari innovation was when the chairman of the Safari committee, Eric Cecil, persuaded the RAC to allow to allow cars to carry sponsors' decals and signwriting to encourage sponsorship to defray costs. That was around 1957-58, obviously later than the Carrera Panamericana but probably a rallying first.

[WDH74]

I always wondered why front engined GP cars didn't have some sort of anti-glare finish on the hoods. You'd think it'd be more visible rather like the already mentioned WW2 fighter aircraft. Course, most GP cars aren't in bare aloominum, either!

I'm not altogether surprised that matte black hoods and striping fell out of favor eventually, on road cars at least. Ever tried to get dried wax off that stuff?

-William

[Frank S]

In 1965 I borrowed a pale metallic blue Olds Cutlass for a trip to Mexico. I couldn't paint the bonnet flat black, and the important glare problem was dancing lights at night. So I used a good car finish wax and didn't buff it out. Flat gray-blue worked fine to eliminate distracting reflections.

Somewhere between then and now I learned to focus beyond the bonnet. Can't remember the last time I noticed a glare or reflection from that quarter.

--
Frank S

[David Beard]

Originally posted by Roger Clark

Wasn't it blue?

It was black on my TV and in my Motoring News :

[eldougo]

;)

Was't that a B&W TV.

[T54]

I think the black bonnet goes back to the appearance of the Ford GT (before it was called the GT40), in 1964.

Dark blue of course...



I remember flat black bonnets as early as 1958 on cars that raced at Montlhery.

[Ruairidh]

Originally posted by D-Type
I believe it was common on WW2 aircraft fo the same reason.

If you look at many of the USAF bombers of WW2, especially the B-17's, when they were left in silver, it was common for the metal just in front of the pilot to be painted matt black. I'd assumed the rally/race practice continued this line of thought.

[RS2000]

Originally posted by Ruairidh


If you look at many of the USAF bombers of WW2, especially the B-17's, when they were left in silver, it was common for the metal just in front of the pilot to be painted matt black. I'd assumed the rally/race practice continued this line of thought.

No doubt some were black but the norm for that panel on bare aluminium aircraft (for fighters as well - P51 Mustang etc) was matt olive green.

[Macca]

In 1966 the Graham Hill/Brian Muir Ford GT MkII at Le Mans was originally silver with a stripe; but the glare was a problem, so for the race the top of the nose was painted flat black.

Airliners and warplanes in mainly polished alloy often had a coloured panel in front of the windscreen; not necessarily black (or camouflage colour), I remember BEA Viscount airliners had it in red, which was the livery colour in the '50s and early '60s.


Paul M

[ggnagy]

Originally posted by RS2000
Very few (if any?) works Minis had black bonnets? I think it started as a Safari Rally thing with Cortinas. Cant recall it on works Escorts after 1971. As stated, it was an anti-glare thing. The most ridiculous aspect was a lot of people painting the bonnet black and leaving the wings in body colour! Sometimes it was not about glare but about it being easier to paint poor quality fibreglass bonnets matt black than with a poor paint finish in body colour.

I have to admit I did just that this summer. I hit a deer in my MGB-GT (or, given the relative size, the deer hit me) and crumpled the ali bonnet. I picked up a fiberglass race bonnet with a week left for a rally and not only sprayed it matte black, but attached it with boy-racer hood pins.
There was no way I was going to have time to match the faded approximation of sunburst orange the car was sprayed with 15 years ago.

[Twin Window]

Originally posted by Bumblyari

From a UK perspective at least, I think it must have been after 1976 that they went out of fashion.

That was the last time we had a decent Summer.

Mind you, 1990 ran it close...!

[Ruairidh]

Originally posted by RS2000


No doubt some were black but the norm for that panel on bare aluminium aircraft (for fighters as well - P51 Mustang etc) was matt olive green.

Interesting. D'you think that would have been because they had lots of matt olive green paint around for use in camoflauge paint schemes? Or was green better for other reasons?

[RS2000]

Originally posted by Ruairidh


Interesting. D'you think that would have been because they had lots of matt olive green paint around for use in camoflauge paint schemes? Or was green better for other reasons?

Most likely using up what paint was to hand when cammo upper surfaces became unnecessary? Could have been other reasons though - matt black was found to be unsuitable for nightfighters and a satin finish replaced it. Being "too black" made it stand out against a normal night background. A bit like the way quiet submarines are now detected by their "noise shadow" - the total absence of ambient sea noise rather than any actual noise they generate.