The 14 weirdest one‑off motorsport liveries of all time

1964 Blue Ferrari 158

This was the result of bad blood between Ferrari, the FIA and Italy's national motorsport body the ACI. In a fit of rage in 1964, Enzo Ferrari saw red (or was that blue) and reportedly abandoned the Ferrari red, swearing that his team would never again race in Italy's national colours. His resolve only lasted for two races – the season-ending United States and Mexico Grand Prix – in which John Surtees and Lorenzo Bandini entered as the North American Racing Team, racing in blue Ferrari 158s. The colour swap must have worked, as Surtees went on to win that year’s championship. 

1970 Porsche 917 LH “Hippie Car”

It appears that even the staunch Germans at Porsche couldn’t escape the flower power sweeping the globe in the ‘60s and ‘70s. First seen in a delightful purple and green, and later in red and yellow, 917 LH was a departure from the otherwise bland racing cars of the era. 

1971 Porsche 917/20 “Pink Pig”

In an attempt to improve aerodynamics, Porsche gave the 1970 Le Mans 917/20 model a host of weird body mouldings. However, instead of making it any easier to drive (it crashed a few laps in), these additions just made the curvy car look like a pig. And determined not to miss a ‘porca’ pun, the German manufacturer appeared to have grabbed a sharpie and scrawled cuts of pork across the bodywork… 

1986 McLaren MP4/2C

At the 1986 Portuguese GP, Keke Rosberg’s TAG Porsche-powered McLaren swapped from its traditional white-and-red Marlboro colours to a white-and-yellow livery representing the Marlboro Lights brand.

While the reasoning behind the switch isn’t exactly clear, the faded looking car was far from a hit.

1992 March Canada Grand Prix

You can’t help but feel sorry for team March, which was forced to sell bargain body space to local sponsors for the 1992 Canada Grand Prix in order to be able to afford to race.

The baby blue car was awkwardly emblazoned with dozens of mismatched logos, from Rizla+ to Sport Rack and a number of other unidentifiables. 

1999 BAR 01 zip car 

When British American Racing was slapped on the wrist for entering two separate tobacco brand liveries into the 1999 Formula 1 season, it did what any self-respecting team would do and combined the two – with a zip down the middle…

Unfortunately, the zip didn’t boast any aerodynamic properties and the team finished last in the constructor’s championship after suffering reliability issues. 

2000 Audi R8 “Crocodile”

Another (slightly disturbing) animal-inspired automobile followed the Pink Pig almost three decades later, when Audi entered the R8 Crocodile in a round of the American Le Mans Series held in Adelaide, Australia. Mimicking the local wildlife, the Crocodile proved surprising successful, winning the 5 hour 45 minute race by a margin of 21 laps. 

2001 Ferrari ‘Racing against Terrorism’

The saddest of all special liveries, Ferrari debadged its cars for the 2001 Italian Grand Prix, as a tribute to the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks, which had happened just days previously.

The red cars wore a black nosecone as a sign of mourning, while drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello also wore plain overalls and sombre expressions. 

2007 Red Bull RB3 Face Car 

Back in 2007, Red Bull decided to plaster its RB3s with thousands of tiny fan mugshots. While ‘Faces for Charity’ was certainly an admirable idea, the mismatched colours caused the cars to look rather awkward. When the team announced they would be reviving the idea for 2012 fans worldwide internally groaned, but this time they remembered to colour match the selfies, making for an entirely more pleasant picture. 

2007 Honda F1 RA107 Earth Car

Red Bull wasn’t the only manufacturer to take on an altruistic motive in 2007. Honda ran its RA107 car with a livery depicting the planet Earth against the black background of space, in order to promote environmental awareness. Fans were able to donate in order to have their name integrated in the car’s paintwork, although it was only visible under a microscope. 

2019 NASCAR Ford Mustang millennial car

Nothing annoys a millennial more than an adult attempting to be ‘down with the kids’, and so we’d imagine 43-year-old Kevin Harvick’s Busch Beer millennial Mustang was met with great disdain by the yute. The forfeit of a bet that Harvick would win the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series championship (he didn’t), the car is emblazoned with phrases including ‘yeet yeet’, ‘busch is bae’, and the dog face emoji on a can of Busch. Oucch... 

2019 NASCAR Ford Mustang Face car

Instead of thousands of tiny faces, this one featured one, rather large, vinyl mug detail. Revealed and raced earlier this year, it has to be the creepiest of all the weird liveries to make our list. Monster Energy NASCAR Cup driver Corey LaJoie’s face was plastered on to his Go Fas Racing Ford Mustang for the series’ biggest event, the Daytona 500, back in January. 

1976 John Surtees Durex

If rumour has it, this car is solely responsible for the entire UK television audience missing out on one of the most exciting F1 seasons ever…

While the rest of the 1976 grid were busy promoting unhealthy smoking habits, John Surtees’ team went the other way, and advertised safe sex, emblazoning the Durex logo across its white cars. 

Unfortunately, the prudish BBC reportedly took offence, and refused to broadcast any F1 races in which the branding was visible. 

1977 Hesketh 308E Ford

Another controversial car was Rupert Keegan’s 1977 Hesketh 308E Ford, which  was sponsored by adult magazine Penthouse and featured a skimpily-dressed lady on the side.

Photography courtesy of Motorsport Images and Porsche.