The 9 best Ferrari liveries that aren’t red | GRR
There was a rumour circulating that Ferrari would be ditching its traditional red colour scheme in F1 for 2023, going way back to the early years and going green. Yes indeed, not all Ferraris throughout history have raced in a Rosso hue. In fact, some of the best-looking, most memorable and even most successful Ferrari racing cars have done their business under alternate garbs. Let’s list them.
1. Ferrari 375 Thin Wall special
We alluded to this above but indeed, some of Ferrari’s earliest F1 machinery was green, as worn by its first F1 car, the 125 F1 and Mike Hawthorn’s ‘Thinwall Special’ 375 F1 from 1953. The latter was a privateer car owned and run by Tony Vandervell, who would later go on to found Vanwall and race in the very same green colours. The Thinwall special famously saw action here at Goodwood with Mike Hawthorn piloting in the Formule Libre event that year.
2. Rob Walker Racing 250 SWB
Surely one of the all-time great ‘non red’ Ferraris is the Rob Walker racing Ferrari 250 SWB, which Sir Stirling Moss raced to victory at no less than two Goodwood TTs, in 1960 and 1961. That deep dark blue paired with white roundels, a number seven and a width-spanning white stripe is one of the most evocative Ferrari racing liveries of all time, to the point that if you spec your limited-run track special up in that scheme today, it’ll command a premium on the used market.
3. Ecurie Francorchamps 250LM
There’s a healthy history of privateers doing the business in privateer-entered Maranello-built machinery. One of the most famous privateers in Ferrari’s history is Ecurie Francorchamps, which as it turns out, came very close to beoing the last outright Le Mans win for a Cavallino-badged car. The Giallo-coloured 250 LM was only just beaten to victory by Jochen Rindt, Masten Gregory and Ed Hugus in the red NART car and it was far from the first time the team came close to victory laurels at the world's greatest motor race. The Scuderia returns to La Sarthe in search of victory with its new 499P…
4. Sunoco 512M
Another famous privateer racer is of course Penske. Their most famous blue sportscar is of course the 917/30 but beloved to us, is the Ferrari 512S, bought as a second-hand open-top Can-Am car, converted to closed-cab 512M spec, painted in blue and yellow with Sunoco sponsorship and raced at Le Mans, Sebring and Daytona. Penske, ever the competitive racers, prepared this thing properly too. A unique car, it was modified with a new spoiler for improved downforce. Save for the issues the team faced, this was a seriously quick car, beating out the competition on lap-for-lap pace. It was so quick, it qualified in first for Daytona, some nine seconds quicker than Mario Andretti had managed in a 512S a year earlier.
5. Sheila Wong Chong 512BB LM
This car is the stuff of legend in the Goodwood office because of how much time we’ve spent trying to work out the origin of the curious sponsor. This BBLM in a distinctive white, wears ‘Sheila Wong Chong’ on its nose. Theories as to the origin include it being the name of a Chinese restaurant, partners of the car’s owner in period and more. Truthfully, no one knows, not even Google, but it’s so damn memorable. Especially to those who were in the Goodwood office for 76MM in 2018…
6. Ferrari F40 LM
Some Ferrari racing cars were run by privateers. Some were built by privateers. We’re getting into the era of the latter, with the Ferrari F40 LM, developed for racing by Michelotto. The most recognisable example raced not in red, but the stunning French Racing Blue of the Pilot-Aldix team. At Le Mans 1995 it was encouragingly fifth-fastest in pre-qualifying, with the team getting 7th overall for the race itself. Not as ideally suited to wet conditions as the McLarens, it finished 12th. That was still the highest-ever finish for an F40 at Le Mans.
7. Ferrari 333 SP
Following our trend of Ferraris not built by Ferrari, the 333 SP technically isn’t even a Ferrari. With a chassis and body designed and built by Dallara (and latterly by Michelotto), this is technically a Dallara-Ferrari. Far from the prettiest, it was devastatingly effective, scoring a full 56 wins out of the 144 races it entered, resulting in five teams’, three constructors’ and five drivers’ championships spanning IMSA an FIA. Like Ferrari’s GT racers of old, though, not every SP was the typical Ferrari red, with a Pilot French racing blue car, a yellow car and often seen at Goodwood, green cars, including the JB Giesse Team – the latter an International Sports Racing Series champion, scoring six wins out of eight rounds.
8. Ferrari 550 GTS
Once again, Ferrari never intended the 550 Maranello to go racing. Coming off some sensational performances in touring cars, rallying and much more, Prodrive developed the 550 GTS, for participation in the the FIA GT Championship, which it won in 2003. It also took a class win at Le Mans, though it’s not that red winning car that’s our favourite. It is of course the baby blue and grey car of Care Racing, driven during its 2002 Le Mans debut by Rickard Rydell, Tomas Enge and Alain Menu. The car would end up racing at Le Mans no less than four times, with its final entry being 2006’s edition.
9. Ferrari 458 GT2
Happily, by the arrival of the Ferrari 458 GT2, the marque was well and truly back in the game of developing its own seriously competitive GT machinery. The F430 GTC that preceded it had a proven track record, one that the 458 went on to add to. With over a hundred race wins to its name, our pick of the liveries could strictly speaking be called red, although the majority of the car is a number of colours. It is of course Jamas Calado’s number 71 SMP racing second-place GTE finisher from Le Mans 2015 – such a dramatic livery with a mix of blue, green, red and yellow striping.
Are there any more non-red racing Ferraris you think we should have included? Let us know…
Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.