Category: throwback thursday

By David G. Firestone

Davey Allison’s first all-black Texaco Havoline Ford Thunderbird waits to get going in 1990.

For the most part, the scheme is good. The metallic gold works well on the door numbers, but the stripe, and side logos look a little odd. I do not like that white outline. It’s not needed, and makes the car look cluttered. Black is a really good background color for a race car. The color scheme is good, though I would make the metallic gold a tad lighter, so the white outline can be eliminated. All things considered, it is a really good scheme.

By David G. Firestone

Mike Alexander getting ready to run in his 1990 Raybestos Buick.

The red on this car looks odd. It’s a bit to light to be red, but too dark to be pink. The scheme as a whole looks good, but I can’t get past that shade of red. Also, I hate that black outline on the door numbers, and I think they would look better without it. I’m also wondering what is going on with the silver on the headlights going down the side. It doesn’t look bad, it looks odd though. Like I said, it’s a good scheme, but it just has a few oddities.

By David G. Firestone

Kyle Petty returns, this time driving his Peak Pontiac Grand Prix in 1989.

Peak was using a much darker shade of blue back then, and the red, while a good shade, it looks out of place. The design is very odd too. If it were plain blue, I could accept it, but the needless design makes the scheme horrible. The scheme is an unattractive mess.

By David G. Firestone

Hut Stricken is running with his needle in the red in his 1989 Heinz Pontiac Grand Prix.

Red, white, and gold is a good color scheme, and I like the gold stripe up the side. The diagonal Heinz logo on the side looks decent. The second Heinz Ketchup logo is a bit unnecessary, but it does look good. The gold wheels look a bit odd, and out of place on a red car. Red wheels would work much better.

By David G. Firestone

Dick Trickle is racing around in his 1989 Miller High Life Buick.

Metallic gold is an attractive and underused color when it comes to race cars. The lettering loosk really good, and the red Miller Logo works well on the wheel well. The overall design looks good. The gold wheels look good with the car. I don’t like the yellow rookie stripe on the back bumper, but I understand why it’s there.

By David G. Firestone

Dale Jarrett’s 1989 Hardee’s Pontiac Grand Prix is tasting the track this week.

Red and white, simple color scheme, but very attractive. The Hardee’s logo looks good, but I don’t like that part of it got cut off of the scheme. The number 29 looks really good, and is designed to match the sponsor. I like the non-linear red stripe on the hood. I do think the back of the car looks quite cluttered with all the small logos. I also noticed that the spoiler looks much higher. NASCAR must have been tweaking the rule.

By David G. Firestone

Ken Schrader takes his 1987 Red Baron Ford Thunderbird out for a Sunday Drive.

Red, white, and black is a good color scheme. The door numbers would work much better rounded than square. The Red Baron logo curving over the wheel well looks really good. The white under the door numbers looks decent, though the black stripe behind the door number really isn’t needed. The white hood and roof look decent, but would look a lot better with the red, rather than the white.

By David G. Firestone

3^rd Generation driver Kyle Petty takes his 1987 Ford Thunderbird out for a Sunday Drive.

Red, white, and blue is a good color scheme, but the design scheme leaves a lot to be desired. They tried to do too much. The red front might work if the whole car is red, but this just doesn’t. The interrupted stripe design on the side, where the door number interrupts the racing stripe looks like a cop out. The diagonal stripe and logo would work, if the designer was commuted to the racing stripe. The blue hood with a logo works, but the non-commitment to the blue just looks awkward. Citgo should be embarrassed, and they are a sponsor who has had a lot of bad schemes over the years.

By David G. Firestone

Hall of Famer Bobby Allison racing in his 1987 Miller Buick is our subject:

Red and white is a great color scheme, and the design looks decent. I don’t like the star motif on the stripe across the back of the car. The yellow Pennzoil logo is an issue, as it needlessly added to the sides, where it sticks out like a sore thumb. It’s visually distracting, and clashes with the color and design scheme.

When it comes to the car itself…how many bars does one need on the windshield? There is no way that isn’t distracting to the driver. I do like the chrome wheels, the color appropriate window net, and I’m still fascinated by the low angled spoiler. I’m also wondering why that green dot is on the top of the windshield.

By David G. Firestone

Bob Howard tried to make the 1987 Winston Western 500 in this 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass.

While Kodak has my favorite shade of yellow, Pennzoil has a good shade of yellow too. Bright, but not too bright, it works very well as a base color. The red numbers work well on the yellow background. The rear logo cuts off around the wheel well, and I really don’t like that.

I noticed at the front of the car that the contingency decals start by the number, and appear to be in good order, and they seem to get more and more clumsily applied toward the front. I don’t understand why the team didn’t move some towards the back, where there is a lot of empty space. It would look just as good. I also hate Oldsmobile, in terms of NASCAR, because their cars just don’t look good.