cuengineer

Been watching Le Mans today and got to wondering -- why are most Corvette race cars like the ones at Le Mans typically yellow? I know that in Formula 1 and many other international racing events that countries have typical colors, like silver for Germany, red for Italy, BRG for English. I assume that the Vettes want to stand out but avoid confusion with the Ferrarris and also don't want to do the usual U.S. blue and white which reminds of the Ford GT's, especially in endurance racing like Le Mans.

Anyone know anything else about why? I have looked a few places but am not sure where to go for a definitive answer????

c4sailor

Good Question:

Wonder if the Museum can offer some insight?


Well the vettes that raced in the 60's (C2's) were white with the blue stripes.

Red never would work because of Ferrari. He beat them to "Rosa".

Mercedes was always silver.

Brits are BRG.

cuengineer

Yes, the red, silver and BRG were typical country colors in F1 going way back. Then Ford GT and Shelby Cobras with blue and white which seemed to be the U.S. color for a while. Seems a bit confused now since blue and white was used by Honda and then BMW in F1 before they left the sport. Renault used to be blue and yellow but went to black and yellow (gold). Probably more emphasis now on sponsor colors, too. Kind of like NASCAR which got into this early with Richard Petty's car going from blue to blue and red with STP sponsorship. Now they change from race to race to advertise!

lite blue

List_of_international_auto_racing_colors

Joe C

not sure, but i think corvette racing adopted yellow as the team colors in 1998. as i recall, the C5-R prototype was white with red and blue striping, the 97 version C5-R was silver with black striping, and the 2004 C5-R was the lemans blue/commemorative edition paint scheme. if i'm not mistaken, all other "corvette racing" years are yellow, with various stripping schemes.

bac22

The first Vette in 1953 was white...personally I never got the "all corvettes are red" thing???

The yellow in the series was done to help the car stand out in a mix class field.

81fastvette

Damn artist formerly known as Prince

pologreen1

Yellow is better, and looks sportier IMO. Plus it's fitting on the car. I'd be bored watch red corvettes race.

C4R corvette?