It was all about the branding. For motorsport enthusiasts the world over, the images of our favourite cars remain all the more vivid thanks to the sponsorship deals struck by their makers – and, of course, the artistic flair with which a backer’s brand identity was applied to their body panels.
Salon Privé has run with this theme and gathered some of the world’s most important competition cars, each of which is identifiable alone by its title-sponsor’s graphics. The Legendary Liveries Class includes epic racers from the Group C era, like the Silk Cut Jaguar XJR-8/9 and Rothmans Porsche 962. But Salon Privé’s two works rally giants – one from the 1970s, the other from the ‘90s – are equally famous for the company names that adorned their flanks.
Lancia Stratos HF works rally car, chassis #829ARO*001637* – ‘Alitalia’ livery
Needing to replace the long-lived Fulvia 1.6 HF works rally car, Lancia commissioned Bertone to design a successor. The new car was to be first and foremost for competition, with (at the time) a mandatory 400 ‘Stradale’ road cars produced to satisfy Group 4 homologation requirements. Bertone’s Marcello Gandini penned the Stratos’s radical wedge-shaped, two-seat body, basing it on his 1970 Stratos Zero concept. The car was then officially launched at the Turin Motor Show in 1971, powered by Ferrari’s 2418cc Dino V6 engine, mid-mounted transversely behind the cabin.
But while most Stratos were prepared for gravel or tarmac events, 1637 was to be the first test car for the 1975 Safari Rally. As such, it received large metal guards front and rear to protect it from errant wildlife, a redesigned air-filtration system for Africa’s dusty tracks, and longer-travel Bilstein dampers to cater for the rocky roads the teams would encounter.
Surprising everyone, Preston Jnr, with co-driver John Lyall, drove 1637 to an 11th overall finish in the 6,500km event, with Sandro Munari and Björn Waldegard coming in second and third in their Alitalia cars. Frustratingly, Preston and Lyall had missed 10th spot by a mere three minutes.
Lancia dealer Graham Warner from The Chequered Flag was hatching a plan to take a Stratos rallying, branded with his garage’s name. His first car – ‘Stratos 1’ – was crashed early on, so when Warner heard of 1637 being for sale, he flew to Kenya to secure a deal, and brought it back to the UK in 1976, re-registering it OYU 353R.
The now well-used Stratos was campaigned in The Chequered Flag colours in WRC events through the rest of 1976, ’77 and ’78, mainly with Billy Coleman at the wheel. But for the 1979 Donegal International Rally, Cathal Curley was driving and crashed the car, which ended up on its roof. Even though no serious damage had been done, Warner switched to a reserve Stratos, and 1637 was sold. It remained in the UK for a few more years, before then being sold to Japanese collector Masanori Yokoyama. Its new owner commissioned a full restoration of the car by ex-Works Stratos engineer Claudio Maglioli, who upgraded the engine to 24-valve-specification, for an output of 320bhp. The rebuild was topped with a complete repaint in Lancia Works’ Alitalia colours, matching those of the two cars it had supported ahead of the 1975 Safari Rally.
1996 Subaru Impreza WRC97, chassis #PRO/WRC/97001 – ‘555’ livery
Even though the sponsorship deal which Subaru forged with British American Tobacco brand ‘State Express 555’ in 1993 eventually petered out, the Japanese car maker continued to use the ‘555’ design on its cars, recognising the strong association it had created with its former sponsor’s blue and yellow logo.
Salon Privé’s car – chassis #97001 – not only still carries its distinctive ‘555’ graphic, but is notable in being the first of type, used by Colin McRae for testing, and effectively laying the foundations for Subaru’s 1997 WRC team victory.
Subaru’s UK-based partner, Prodrive, had developed the Impreza WRC97 in response to a major change in regulations for the 1997 season, which saw Group A being dropped completely. The new car was based around a two-door GC8 shell, re-styled by designer Peter Stevens, with a CAD-penned integrated roll-cage to increase structural rigidity, and fixing points for the car’s MacPherson struts changed to allow for greater damper movement. Subaru’s turbocharged 1994cc flat-four engine was tuned to deliver 310bhp and 367lb ft of torque, and, for the last time, it was mated to a manual H-pattern gearbox (paddles were used from the 1998 season).
Early testing in 97001 paved the way for a bumper 1997 season, with its sister cars winning eight out of 14 WRC rounds, including a total of 119 stage wins. As well as Subaru clinching the manufacturers’ championship, Colin McRae came tantalisingly close to taking top driver honours, too, narrowly pipped to the post by Mitsubishi’s Tommi Mäkinen.
Meanwhile, 97001 went into private hands and continued to be campaigned, winning 11 rallies outright, as well as providing nine-times motorcycle champion Valentino Rossi with his first rally success, when he finished seventh in the Rally di Monza. In 2009, the Impreza was returned to Prodrive and restored to its original specification. The car now resides in Suffolk, and is looked after by an engineer who maintained it when it was new.
Group C titans to join Salon Privé’s Legendary Liveries Class
1. Shell Dunlop Works Porsche 962
2. taka-Q Works Toyota 88C
3. Silk Cut Jaguar XJR-8/9
4. Rothmans Works Porsche 962
wow!! 57Classic Sponsorship liveries.