When was the last time you saw a truly good racing livery? Think about it for a minute. A great stand-alone livery that will be looked back on as iconic in fifty years time, one that isn’t a throwback or homage, one that isn’t just a mishmash of black, white, and red — that’s a true rarity these days. I will say that it’s good of Ford to add some bright colors to the IMSA grid this summer, but it would have been a lot cooler if the new Mustang racer had been given a proper racing livery that isn’t just a reminder of all the times Mustang racers had good liveries. This is lame, and if you look deep in your heart, you’ll know it to be true, too.
Ford isn’t the only one to have done this recently, as Porsche did a similar “remember when?” throwback for its then-new 963 prototype at Le Mans. It was lame then, and it’s lame now. Stop half-assing your designs and make a new livery that fans can connect to. This grab bag of colors is muddled faux nostalgia, and it won’t be recognizable on merch or models. Why are the Motorcraft livery or the yellow and black hockey-stick-striped Bud Moore Trans Am Mustangs remembered? Not only were they successful race cars, but the liveries were simple, iconic, and definable.
The Mustang GT3 is a truly cool car, if not exactly up to speed yet. Ford should absolutely honor this new extension of Mustang racing history by giving it a look all its own, something that can stand the test of time.
Ford, in contrast, wants you to remember all the times that it built winning Mustangs in the past. This car wears the coats of its forebears like elite socialites donning the skins of animals as evening outerwear.
Ford says the red is representative of the Alan Mann Racing 1-2 finish at the 1964 Tour de France. The Wimbledon White and Guardsman Blue of the iconic original Shelby GT350 are present, of course, showing Jerry Titus’ 1965 to 1967 SCCA B-Prod championship sweep. The “School Bus Yellow” Boss 302 Mustangs of Parnelli Jones and George Follmer dominated the 1970 Trans-Am season, and get the left front fender of this car. The 1981 Motorcraft Zakspeed car represented a new era of Mustang in motorsport, while the 1997 Roush-entered All Sport green and black monster won 11 consecutive Trans-Am victories with Tommy Kendall at the wheel.
Ford’s pair of IMSA Mustang GT3s will wear this livery at the Laguna Seca and Detroit rounds of the championship this summer. It’ll be nice to see some color in the field, but I can’t see this hanging out in the history books. It just feels disingenuous. Maybe you disagree. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong. Who knows?