Finally got back to work after a three-week stop for finals. And I can say I am quite done with this livery. It was supposed to be a quick-and-dirty job to get back to painting, but… Freedom is slavery, they say, and oh boy how much it rings true now. All the options we have now mean that you are pushed to try new things… Only to find out you have no idea how to do that. Also, research work took me a lot of time - the AJTCC is probably one of the least documented of the Group A era, and most Japanese manufacturers of car parts back then have gone the way of the dodo or have changed logo/name/both.
So, here it is. The 1987 #81 Keihin CR-X Mugen Pro, as (never) raced in the All-Japan Touring Car Championship. To be released at some point with a tune by punny72, so it’s going to ride better than it looks.
And now that we are done with this, let’s move to some real painting. There’s a couple of idea I’d like to work on, and a lot of replicas that need to be made.
How could I not paint the Brabham BT24 added with the 'ring Booster?
Here’s a replica of the car raced in the 1969 South African GP by Sam Tingle for Team Gunston. The story behind this car is one that should be quite explicative of the spirit behind F1 back then. The BT24 was Brabham’s weapon for the 1967 season; however, it was also used in the first race of the 1968 championship, which was raced at Kyalami, in South Africa. But with the new and improved BT26 being ready in time for the next race, BRO decided to leave the cars in South Africa (transportation was expensive, and back then F1 wasn’t as much of a well-funded sport as it is nowadays). One car was acquired by Team Gunston, and after scoring a third place in the South African F1 Championship, it was raced in the 1969 South African GP, where with Tingle at the wheel, it managed to finish in 8th place.
Team Gunston was the name used by Rhodesian driver John Love to enter his own cars in F1, Touring and Sports Car racing between 1962 and 1975. One of the team’s drivers was Ian Scheckter, the elder (and far less successful) brother of 1979 F1 Champion Jody Scheckter. Team Gunston was the first to enter a car in F1 with non-automotive sponsorship in the 1968 South African GP - Team Lotus would enter their 49 with the now-famous Golden Leaf liveries only in the following race, the Spanish GP.
I always loved the Gunston livery, so when they added the Brabham I had to paint it. And now there’s also the Lotus 49 that begs for some liveries! So far I haven’t seen a replica paint that’s precise enough to sit on my car. The 250 GTO has surprisingly received little love too. And generally speaking, there are lots of awesome vintage racing cars, and not enough paints for them, and I plan to solve this problem over time.
But in the meanwhile, I started working on a new project. I don’t feel confident to post pictures of the whole car yet, but… Here’s a sneak peak!
Here’s the (probably final) base for my next livery; as you can see, I’ve changed the design of the shark mouth considerably, and IMO it looks way better now. Logo work for the car is well underway, and I can safely say that this is my most ambitious project so far.
Thank you all for the C&C, I promise an update on the Shelby Mustang will be coming soon, with lots of military-themed goodness (#bomberstyleFTW).
But in the meanwhile, here’s the first step on a mighty quest I decided to embark on: to reproduce as accurately as possible all of the liveries that adorned the 39 250 GTOs at least in the 1962-1964 biennium. There aren’t, after all, many accurate historic replicas on the Sharefront.
So, without further ado, here is the #24 Mecom Racing Team 250 GT (s.n 3987GT), as raced to a brilliant 1st place in the GT 3.0 class (and 4th overall) in the 1963 12h of Sebring by Roger Penske and Augie Pabst (of Pabst Brewing Company fame).
The car was originally sold to NART and was painted in red; she was then re-sold to someone involved with the Mecom Racing Team soon after her only race with NART, the 1962 1000km of Paris, and repainted in a (probably non-Ferrari) shade of blue. She went on to have two successful seasons in the American continent, received the engine from a 250 LM, was bought by Alan De Cadenet in 1971, sold again the year after and after a decade and a half spent mostly sitting in various garages, was bought in 1985 by fashion designer Ralph Lauren, who soon reunited her with the original engine and got her painted red.
Foglight is (sadly) not included. Also notice that the original car had three vents, and mine (ours) has two. A side quest of sorts if to find out which chassis we got in game.
The livery is on my Sharefront, ready to make your 250 GTO look the part as you shred the tires coming out of the Hairpin. Tags: Mecom, Sebring, 3987GT.
I wholeheartedly agree. I mean, painting modern liveries is definitely more fun (and, if you don’t factor in the research that replicating a vintage livery entails, more challenging), but… Come on, this game has it all! Cobras, GTOs, Giulias, 2002s, vintage GP and sports cars - it seems so wrong that the Sharefront isn’t flooded with replicas of their most iconic liveries. It feels like so much potential is left going to waste. But not if I have a say in that, ha!
But back to business now!
I’ve made available on the Sharefront two other liveries for the GTO. Both are replicas of paint schemes used on chassis #3223GT: the first car built as a Ferrari 250 GTO (althought not the first to wear the body - that honor goes to prototype 0523GT, which was born as a 250 GT Boano and received the Bizzarrini treatment). After serving as a test mule in the end of 1961 and as a press car at the presentation of Ferrari’s new GT weapon in 1962, the car was sold via Luigi Chinetti’s NY dealership to Scuderia Bear, which campaigned it until the second half of 1963. Originally repainted in metallic blue with a white stripe, at some point it received a third coat of paint, this time red, with an off-set white stripe. In September 1963, the car was sold to privateer Robert Grossman for the modest sum of 5,500$ (the car, new, costed 13k more!). It was with the livery left by the previous owner that the car raced in the 1963 Canadian GP Mosport.
It would only finish in 14th place, and Grossman would eventually sell the car to Larry Perkins.
That’s where things take an interesting turn: due to a disagreement with Luigi Chinetti regarding sponsorship of the car (but that’s a story for another day, and another livery) Perkins received an embargo on spare parts. But despite that, 3223GT would enjoy a moderately successful career and,it would be the last of her kind to grab an international victory, winning the Sport 3.0 class at the 1966 Daytona 24h, with Perkins and Jack Slottag alternating behind the wheel. This is the car that is represented here.
To find the #30 1963 Mosport GP car, search “Mosport”, and for the #30 1966 Daytona 24h car, search “Daytona”. Both can also be found by looking up “3223GT”.
Now that history lesson is over… I am also proud to announce that the #81 Keihin CRX is finally available on the Sharefront, together with a D-400 setup by punny72. It is a very effective tune, capable of making even the worst driver a 1 percenter!
Just search “Keihin” for this livery. The tune can be found on punny’s Sharefront.
And finally, a quick update on the Shelby. I’ve slightly changed the design of the mouth to something that fits better and started the logo work on the sides of the car. I’ve still got a bit over 1000 layers left, which is more than enough for what I plan to add.
