Category: throwback thursday

Mike Mosley poses with his #48 1981 Pepsi Challenger Eagle Chevrolet

Apparently Pepsi didn’t get the piss yellow memo, and here we have another example of why it’s a terrible color for a race car. It’s not just IndyCar, NASCAR and the NHRA also fell victim to the Pepsi Challenger design. Did Pepsi not realize that they have a great color scheme? Red, white, and blue is a color scheme that rarely misses, but for some unknown reason, Pepsi thought that piss yellow was the way to go…which it wasn’t. I’m giving this scheme an F.

Mario Andretti proudly sits on his 1981 #40 STP Wildcat Cosworth

It’s a great color scheme with a good color scheme except for the logo placement. Who in their right mind thought it would be a good idea to place a red STP logo on a red STP background? It makes no sense, and doesn’t look good. The logo does have a white oval around the red, but even in the closeup picture it’s hard to see. If the color scheme were flipped, I’d like it more. Still, it’s worth an B+

Scott Brayton smiles on his 1981 #37 Forsythe Industries Penske Cosworth

Another instance where I don’t like the shade of yellow being used, but since it isn’t the primary color of the car I can tolerate it. I like the vertical rainbow fade motif on the sides, as well as the lettering on the car numbers. All things considered, I’ll give it a B-

Bob Lazier smiles while sitting in his 1981 #35 Montgomery Ward Penske Cosworth

Yellow can hit or miss, and this just misses. The design scheme is good, but I don’t like the shade of yellow. If the car was red with yellow lettering, I could live with it, but there has to be a better shade than piss yellow to paint a race car. I’ll give it a D+ only because I like the design scheme.

AJ Foyt’s iconic #14 races at Indy, this time in the form of a Valvoline/Gilmore Coyote / Cosworth

Valvoline has a great shade of blue, which isn’t present in this scheme. Amazingly, that doesn’t really matter, since this is a damn good scheme! The shade of red is as perfect as you could ask for, and the white stripes look great up the sides. Giving this scheme anything less than an A would be a crime, and I’m no criminal!

Rick Mears sits on his 1981 #6 Gould Charge Penske/Cosworth

Penske ran a template back then, and I have to say, it’s not bad at all. I like the red, white and blue color scheme over white, yellow, and blue. It’s a solid scheme with a solid design, and a solid color scheme, and it earns an A

1981 saw Bobby Unser won the Indy 500, in this 1981 #3 The Norton Spirit Penske Cosworth

Blue, yellow, and white can be iffy, but the shades are all good, and the scheme as a whole is good. I like the yellow and white design by the windshield. My one complaint is that the front wing and rear wing would look better blue than white. Still, it’s a good solid A- scheme.

Johnny Rutherford, defending Indy 500 and Series Champion is seen with his 1981 #1 Pennzoil Chaparral Cosworth

For the 2017 edition of Throwback Thursday, we are going to spend the first 13 editions focusing on entries to the 1981 Indy 500. Our first edition is this Pennzoil Chaparral Cosworth. I’m not a huge fan of yellow on race cars in this day in age, because many of the sponsors insist on highlighter yellow shades which will “stand out” to the fans. Pennzoil is one of two companies besides Kodak that has a great shade of yellow, and this is the perfect example. Add in a great shade of red, and you have a great paint scheme. I give this an A

By David G. Firestone

Sterling Marlin returns in 1999, driving his Coors Light Chevy Monte Carlo, for our final paint scheme of 2016.

Who in the world designed this car, and how drunk were they? I’d really like to know. Coors Light was using the all-silver can design in 1999, so why not paint the car as such? Seriously? Why in the world is this car the mess that it is? I could sit here and type everything that I hate about the car, but I’ll sum it up in one word-nothing. This car has no redeeming design qualities at all. It’s the worst scheme of the year, and that says a lot.

By David G. Firestone

Robert Pressley is back with his 1997 Jasper Engines Ford Thunderbird.

This requires a bit of an explanation. When the Taurus was introduced in 1998 to replace the Thunderbird, NASCAR gave Ford teams the option of running the Thunderbird for some of 1998. As Jasper Motorsports was a low rent, self-sponsored team, they chose to run the Thunderbird. That said, let’s discuss the scheme. This almost looks like a reverse Jeff Gordon scheme. The rainbow stripes look like a reverse of Jeff Gordon’s rainbow stripes. It’s not a bad look. The Jasper Engines logos are well placed on the car as well, and they look good. The scheme as a whole looks good.