Jo Siffert and Derek Bell 1971 #17 Porsche 917LH
Porsche’s 917LH is a beautiful car, that has a really streamlined look. The Gulf colors make a return, and merge seamlessly with the contours of the 917LH. Add in a nice looking stripe across the sides, and you have an all around beautiful car. This is an A look.
Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood 1970 #23 Porsche 917K
The Porsche 917K is a decent looking car, not as polished as the 917L. It has a decent look, but I’m not a fan of the tail design. The shade of red used is not too dark, and not too light, which doesn’t work, since darker would have worked much better. The stripes are decent, maybe a bit over done. I’ll take everything into consideration and give it a B-
Teddy Pilette and Gustave Gosselin 1970 #4 Lola T70 Mk. IIIB
The Lola T70 Mk. IIIB is a nice looking automobile, with really nice dimensions. This is a nice shade of red. The blue and white stripe which is across the whole center of the car works well. The only issue is the door numbers. If you have a white circle for the numbers, why is the number on a white square in front of the circle? It adds nothing, and makes the car look odd. The car would be a solid A, but with the door, it’s down to an A-
Gérard Larrousse and Willi Kauhsen 1970 #3 Porsche 917L
Ugh! Who thought this was a good idea? Let’s take an amazing looking automobile, the Porsche 917L, give it a great shade of blue, and then paint gaudy red-yellowish flames on the sides and top. Add in one of the worst looking numbers I’ve seen on the side of a race car, and you have an awful look. I can’t give this anything more than a D-, the shade of blue keeping this car from failing.
Rolf Stommelen and Kurt Ahrens, Jr. 1969 #14 Porsche 917L
The 1969 Porsche 917L is an amazingly beautiful automobile, yet Porsche System Engineering was trying to go for a signature look, which failed. I’m trying to understand the logic of having a white car with a dull yellow front and tail. I will say that the door numbers look better on the car, instead of on a circle. I like the shade of yellow, but if the whole car were painted with this shade of yellow it would get a grade higher than a B+.
Vic Elford and Richard Attwood 1969 #12 Porsche 917L
The 1969 Porsche 917L is an amazingly beautiful automobile. The shade of white works very well here. The way the blue was used doesn’t work at all. I like the shade of blue, but it would work a whole lot better if the whole car was colored with the shade of blue, instead of using it only on the front end and tail. I do like the vintage logos, but I also think that door numbers should have been sized to fit the door, rather than a standard size, that looks odd on the sides. I’ll give it a B+, considering the sum of all parts.
Jochen Neerpasch and Rolf Stommelen 1968 #33 Porsche 908
While a lighter green doesn’t always work, with this Porsche 908. The car itself has a streamlined look, and the white works well across the whole car. The green front and green tail are a nice touch, and the colors work well together. I also have a soft spot for the vintage logos visible on the sides. It’s a beautiful car, and I’ll give it an A.
Johnny Servoz-Gavin and Henri Pescarolo 1968 #24 Matra MS630
The Matra MS630 is a car that looks a lot like current Daytona Prototypes, and that’s not a bad thing. It does look a little odd without a tail, but that’s forgivable. While I like the shade of blue used here, the green stripe on the front is a different story. Green is a difficult color to use in auto racing, and this shade of green is a little too light. The green is reminiscent of the Seattle Seahawks original uniforms, which worked, but the blue is too dark. All things considered, I’ll give it a C-
Pedro Rodriguez and Lucien Bianchi 1968 #9 Ford GT40 Mk. I
If the 1960’s Le Mans had a signature look, it is this sky blue Ford GT40 Mk. I. The dark red front, and stripe across the car is an amazing look, and add a great number design, and iconic Gulf logos, and some cool looking horseshoes, and you have a look that will transcend the race, and is ingrained in the minds of vintage car lovers everywhere. This look can’t get anything lower than an A.
Mario Andretti and Lucien Bianchi 1967 #3 Ford GT40 Mk. IV
While I like the overall look of the GT40 Mk.IV, this is not a great color. The hood stripe is interrupted, which is visually distracting. The side design has an odd curved stripe, which is also visually distracting, even though it follows the contour of the car. Gone is the great, simple Ford GT40 stripe, and in is a series of stripes that don’t look good. Add in the bad shade of red, and you have a C+ look.
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