Origin of the Lotus Green and Yellow Paint scheme?
- Thread starter KiM3Ce
- Start date
Gazdatronik
Super Member
Knowing how broke Lotus was, it probably came down what two cans of paint they had left in the shed.
The British Racing Green or BRG, is the British international racing color which originated in the 1903 Gordon Bennett Cup held in Ireland. Since motor racing was illegal in Great Britain at the time, the Napier British team cars were painted the shamrock green color as a tribute to their Irish hosts. Similar color choices were made by other countries for dissimilar reasons. As an example, the Italian teams didn't adopt the now famous "Racing Red" until 1907 when a red Italia won the Peking to Paris race in 1907.
These color choices became a standard under the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) rules for motor racing during the 20's and FIA, with some allowance given to various shades used, regulated the color of the cars along with, eventually, the rules each competitor and car were subjected to in order to qualify for participation in any FIA regulated event.
Lotus had adopted the green and yellow, aka Gold Leaf, livery for their Lotus 49 designed and built by Colin Chapman in the mid 1960's. It's been said the colors were chosen to differentiate Lotus from the rest of the car makers. This was the first indication that competition livery would not remain a requirement for specific country of origin teams. Rather, it was being proposed to evolve into a manufacturer's livery.
Under pressure from a number of teams, most famously the Lotus team who wished to use the Gold Leaf livery on the Lotus 49, in 1968 sponsorship regulations were relaxed in F1. In 1970 the FIA formally gave Formula One an exemption from the national colours ruling and the previously common green colour soon disappeared, being replaced by various sponsor liveries.
This exemption has since been extended to all race series although it is important to note that many manufacturer's have stayed true to the initial color first assigned to their respective country.
These color choices became a standard under the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) rules for motor racing during the 20's and FIA, with some allowance given to various shades used, regulated the color of the cars along with, eventually, the rules each competitor and car were subjected to in order to qualify for participation in any FIA regulated event.
Lotus had adopted the green and yellow, aka Gold Leaf, livery for their Lotus 49 designed and built by Colin Chapman in the mid 1960's. It's been said the colors were chosen to differentiate Lotus from the rest of the car makers. This was the first indication that competition livery would not remain a requirement for specific country of origin teams. Rather, it was being proposed to evolve into a manufacturer's livery.
Under pressure from a number of teams, most famously the Lotus team who wished to use the Gold Leaf livery on the Lotus 49, in 1968 sponsorship regulations were relaxed in F1. In 1970 the FIA formally gave Formula One an exemption from the national colours ruling and the previously common green colour soon disappeared, being replaced by various sponsor liveries.
This exemption has since been extended to all race series although it is important to note that many manufacturer's have stayed true to the initial color first assigned to their respective country.
http://www.f1colours.com/articles/livery-histories-1-lotus/
This says the yellow came from the Lotus badge.
This says the yellow came from the Lotus badge.
Marine0811
I love it loud!
They were big fans of Sevenup?
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