Which was more prevalent on the track 62 to 65: Racing Stipe, Team Stripe, No Stripe?

[skullandbones]

My curiosity got the best of me. I have always thought the Racing Stripe or Ralley Stripe as they are also called was the standard for the track. When I look at a lot of the vintage photos and pics in some of the historical accounts of the Shelby Cobra days, I see a lot of Team Stripes and No Stripe cars. Now I'm wondering which was the most predominant during that time. Not that it made any difference in race results but as a question of authenticity and frequency, it is interesting. I've read a little about the history and original purpose of the ralley stripe and the team stripes. The racing stripe is said to have given a driver a way to maintain a reference point in a smokey or dusty crash and the team stripe was used by the pit crew to recognize their team members at a glance. I have also heard that drivers would use the stripe as a way of seeing their team member in the mirror without having to see the whole car (haven't found a reference for that explanation since I first saw it).

I've noticed more cars with no stripes popping up but the racing stripe seems to be the overwhelming favorite. Also, I don't think I have seen a single roadster with a team stripe since I have been on the this forum (could have missed a few). No telling on FFcars.com. So is the popularity of the racing or ralley stripe something that just caught on in the first place and stuck with the replica builders? And why didn't the team stripe become popular? I've seen some beautiful no stripe cars so that is pretty much self explanitory. So I thought I would do a Team Stripe on my primered roadster to be a little different and see if I might want to have one with a real paint job. Any ideas out there why things went the way they did?:cool::cool:

Thanks, WEK.

[Gumball]

The original (early) Shelby team cars did not have the two stripes that have become associated with these cars, but as you pointed out, often had some sort of identifier on the nose that would allow the pit crew(s) differentiate between drivers when they were fielding a team of cars painted the same color. Eventually, though, Shelby moved to the darker blue (the original race cars were "Princess Blue," which we Americans called "Viking Blue" because it sounded more macho) with white stripes.

The historical reason for two longitudinal stripes on a race car come from the very early days of motor racing. Initially, cars racing on the international stage (i.e., Le Mans, etc...) were painted in national colors... red = Italy, green = England, silver = Germany, etc... Once the primary colors were taken, some countries were assigned a body color and a frame color - back then the frame rails on the cars were exposed. The United States was assigned the colors of white with blue frame rails. As car design and construction advanced, the frame rails were no longer visible, so the colors for the frame rails were moved to the top of the body in the form of two reasonably thin stripes... hence cars like the Cunningham team, which raced on the international stage in the '50, with their parallel blue stripes on white bodies. Eventually, the use of national colors fell from favor (for the most part) and racers began experimenting with other color combinations. Somewhere along the line, those twin stripes picked-up the name of "Shelby stripes," at least when painted on anything with Ford power.

Personally, I like some of the scalloped versions of two-tone paint jobs that were found on race cars from the late '50... something like the Reventlow Scarabs. As for Cobras, I like them with no stripes or something more unique... not to say that a pair of stripes on these cars isn't nice, too, though.

[OCCPete]

Here's enough vintage pics by the Shelby team photog, Dave Friedman to waste an entire day: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thehenryford/collections/72157628488413505/

The blue with white stripes paint scheme was mostly used by the Shelby team in europe. Stateside it was mostly boring black.

Pete

[tirod]

All the Daytona Coupes eventually wound up with Shelby Stripes. One explanation I read was that in the day, it made it easy for the pit crew and corner observers timing it to pick it out in traffic and at night. Which implies the body shapes of cars on the track were similar enough to require something distinctive. The closest competitor was the Ferrari 250 GTs, yup, they look alike in profile, at least compared to the others in the day. Some pics even show Coupes with the same half moon cut outs in the nose. Gotta wonder if the boys were tweaking Enzo a bit. It was bad enough the AC Roadster was a copy of the 1954 Barchettas.

Once all the photos, the FIA Championship, and then,Shelby playing off that with the 427 S/C, which often came with stripes, it became a significant visual feature in the public's eyes.

Track Mustangs picked up on them, and team stripes across the nose, which came down to a decal applied on the production line on the Boss models. One period photo of a '66 era Mustang is a white car with a red and blue set of Shelby stripes. Lots of ways to do things.

One disadvantage now it that only wannabe street cars seem to have them . . . hence the jokes about them adding 10 mph to the top end, "because race car," etc.

[Gumball]

I built a '65 Mustang a few years ago and added the "Le Mans" stripes. I always have said that if you're going to paint stripes on a car... it'd better be able to back them up. That car, which is now with a new owner in Copenhagen, Denmark, sure could back them up.

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/65MustangatCobraAutomotive5_41408.jpg (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/CCRsAC/media/65MustangatCobraAutomotive5_41408.jpg.html)

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/IMG_2457.jpg (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/CCRsAC/media/IMG_2457.jpg.html)

[Avalanche325]

Gumball,

That is a nice looking coupe. I love the vintage race look.

That engine bay is increadable.

[Gumball]

Gumball,

That is a nice looking coupe. I love the vintage race look.

That engine bay is increadable.

Thanks - the best compliment I've received on my FFR build was from my wife who said "it's become the old Mustang." If the FFR turns out half as nice, I'll be happy. But, no stripes for my FFR... been there, done that.