What started as a discussion with a respected automotive writer over legislation barring people from marrying inanimate objects worked its way toward how incredibly awesome the Porsche 917 in Gulf Oil livery looks.
It just so happens one of those 917s (No. 2) resides at Canepa Design two blocks from where I work. I drop by now and again during lunch to see how it’s doing.
A Google search for “Why is the Gulf color scheme so freaking awesome” led me to my new friend Wade Johnston, a designer out of Kansas City or thereabouts who addressed just this subject, brought to his attention by a friend who probably shares my passion for the Gulf.
Wade, who lives in an awesome house, distilled it down to the phenomenon called “Equiluminant Colors”.
Wade turned me on to “Go Faster: The Graphic Design of Racing Cars” by Sven Voelker, which I promptly ordered.
The good news is this is likely the first book to look at graphic design for race cars. The less good news is it says, for the most part, teams just winged it. Unless you’re BMW. And most of the imagery in the book is recreated with model cars instead of using photos of the actual vehicles.
Regardless, it’s inspirational in thinking about a new color scheme for 1107. Things are in the works.
Lastly, Steve McQueen was a bad ass.