Aston Martin Unveils Crowd-Sourced Gulf Racing Livery

It used to be that racecars were painted based on the their team’s home country. Over time, teams figured out that plastering brand names of companies on the sides of their cars and charging money for the privilege was a good way of funding racing activities. This was the birth of modern racing liveries.

 

Over the years, some liveries have grown more popular than others based on their record of success. The John Player Lotus F1 cars, Martini’s sponsorships of Porsche and a few other F1 teams, and Marlboro’s signature brand on a spate of F1 cars all come to mind when we’re talking about paint jobs. The poster child for liveries, though, comes from Gulf Oil.

 

Pioneered by the Ford GT40s that dominated Le Mans in the mid 1960s, Gulf’s trademark light blue and orange paint scheme has become synonymous with racing cars over the years.

 

Gulf has been allied with Aston Martin for the past five years, with the blue and orange adorning the svelte GT cars on tracks around the world. For this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, Aston Martin and Gulf opened up the livery design to the public.

 

Jonathan Wesley, from Kettering, UK, had his design chosen by the drivers of the #97 Aston Martin Vantage. Jonathan will be treated to a VIP experience at this weekend’s race, courtesy of Gulf, and will get to see his design take to the iconic French track.

 

Inspired by the way the race changes from day to night, Wesley’s Vantage design is actually different colors on each side of the car, with the Gulf Oil colors creating a “daylight to dusk” effect.

 

The #97 Aston Martin Vantage will run in the GTE class, with drivers Darren Turner, Stefan Mücke, and Peter Dumbreck at the wheel.