20 Favourite Looking Racing Cars

 Motor racing has given us a variety of fantastic looking race cars over the years, from the days of Fangio and Monte Carlo Minis through JPS Lotus', Skylines and Gulf McLarens to now. Some cars are beautiful simply because that's the way they look, other cars are beautiful through the pursuit of speed that won races and championships and some are just weird and quirky. This isn't a definitive list of the top 20 best ever, merely a selection of my favourites.

Audi 90 IMSA GTO

Hard to believe that this was an Audi 90 saloon, but that's IMSA for you. The 90 GTO has several nice design touches like the huge side exhaust, the solid alloy wheels, rear wing and it's livery full of slashes of black, grey and red. It's livery was so iconic Audi recreated it for the RS6 GT. All in all a menacing yet handsome fire spitting race car.

Cadillac V-Series.R 

Cadillac's endurance racer is iconic not only for it's ferocious 5.5 litre V8 but also it's stunning new Hertz Team Jota livery that decks the beautiful body in gold and white with a neat red strip at the front. It may not be as dominant a racer as Ferrari and co, but it certainly packs the best livery complimented by Cadillac's unique light structure to make it stand out from the other hypercars.

Chevrolet Corvette C6.R 

The C6 Corvette is already a fine looking car and in this pure yellow livery it certainly stood out from the red Ferraris, green Astons and blue Maserati's in the GT1 field. It's also a surprisingly clean livery, with little in the way of sponsorships getting in the way of the striking yellow paint job. By adding a spoiler, splitter and dropped suspension you take a good looking coupe into dare I say one of the best looking GT racers ever, simple yet effective. 

Ferrari 641

It would be sacrilege to not include a red Ferrari, and the 641 of 1990 wore the scarlet coat best. The shape is so elegant and yet so small by todays standards, the Ferrari badges on the sidepods are a fun touch, to remind you there is only one true red team in F1, and even if you can't see it, the V12 engine is an incredible screamer, a work of art in of itself. This is a car that defines form following function.

Ford GT40 MK1 

The Gulf blue and orange livery has been seen on many cars: Porsche 917, McLaren F1 GTR & Aston DBR9, but the original Ford GT40 wore it best. It's certainly one of the most recognisable car/livery combos and the already beautiful car helps flatter the bright and bold paint. Then there's the car itself, it's an iconic and timeless shape that just continues to age better as the years go by. Honourable mention to the Gulf McLaren F1 GTR.

Jaguar XJR-9 LM

Purple is colour rarely seen in racing so it always stands out when its seen. The half white and purple livery with the yellow stripes in the centre and across the bonnet are in perfect symmetry, the yellow stripes on the side flicking up at the end like the air flow is a nice touch, and the purple Silk Cut and Castrol names stand out perfectly on the white paint same vice versa for the white Jaguar names on the purple. And of cause, you have the snazzy enclosed rear wheels to improve aerodynamics. 

Jaguar XJ-S Group A 

The XJ-S' green livery is a nice throwback to the days of both British Racing Green but also the Jaguar D & E Types that raced in those colours, the white stripes on the side help brake up the livery and the big Jaguar decals on the sides and front complete the livery, a lot of people said the XJ-S was an ugly car, but I think this one proves otherwise.

Jordan 191 

Sticking with the green theme, Jordan's debut F1 car featured this striking green livery, a rarity in F1 prior to Aston Martin. The blue sides blend well with the deep green paint and the logos for 7UP stand out really well, all of which are complimented by the elegance of the early 90s F1 car proportions.

Jordan 199 'Buzzin Hornets'

Jordan's title challenging car from '99 wasn't the first to feature the World War 2 esque Hornet on the nose cone but it was the best looking, the hornet adds some personality to the car, fitting as Eddie Jordan was a colourful character, the yellow paint and black Benson & Hedges stickers compliment the hornet theme and gives it an aggressive yet striking livery.

Lancia Delta Integrale HF EVO

The Martini livery along with Gulf is one of the most iconic liveries in racing. The red and blue contrast well with the pure white paint and the way the blue and red flows over the wheel arches is a nice touch managing to add curves to a very square shape. The colours all work really together, complimented by the Delta's small boxy shape.

Lotus 98T

The iconic JPS livery was so good when Lotus briefly came back into F1 in 2011 with Renault the team livery was based on this. The bold gold writing stands out perfectly and on the 98T it looks even better thanks to the lower, sleeker profile, and with that explosive Renault turbo engine, on the move it becomes even more striking.

March 82G GTP Red Lobster

Not the sort of thing you want in your rear view mirror. But what a way to promote your restaurant chain, the 82G's body perfectly suits the way the lobsters claws cover the front wings, with it's head staring straight ahead from the bonnet. Quirky, memorable and clever.

Mitsubishi EVO VI WRC

The red Mitsubishi's contrasted well with the blue Subaru's of the time. But the dashes of white and black help complete the livery. Whilst the EVO's puffy cheeks look like it has mumps but it's clear this has been designed to scream speed, the supercar design ques like the double rear wing give it some uniqueness as well. Overall, it just works, nothing more to say.

Nissan R390 GT1 '97

Styled by Ian Callum, the R390 was an odd yet satisfying looking supercar, and the '97 cars with the black and red livery have a whiff of evil about them, you could almost call it seductive. Like the JPS Lotus' of the 80s, the low profile compliments the livery with the red running through the centre from bonnet to tail means it wouldn't have blended in with the night on track, though it most certainly looks like a creature of the night. 

Nissan Skyline NISMO GT-R LM

Fans of Japanese racing cars might have expected the Calsonic R32 or Pennzoil R33/4 but instead it's Nissan Le Mans challenger that looks best, the tweaked bodywork helps it stand out from a regular Skyline GT-R and the 'Keep the Dream Alive' livery is fantastic with it's white, red and blue colour scheme, complimented by the bird behind the rear wheel arch, nice.

Porsche 917 LH

Purple and green is an unusual colour combo, but here it works great. The long tail design of the 917 which is primarily designed for high speed stability allows the colours to flow across the body in their almost psychedelic way, it's kinda loopy and flowy, but then again this was the 70s. Either way it's an unforgettable design.

Sintura S99 GT1

The one-off Judd V10 powered Sintura sports a mysterious and intriguing black livery complete with green slashes across the body with the murky eyes staring back at you. It's almost spooky, especially with the 0 on the sides. All of which is complimented by the fantastic styling mixing elements of Group C and LM GTP, to strangely create one of the best looking GT1 cars.

Subaru Impreza WRC

There's nothing quite like a blue Subaru on gold wheels. It's almost cliché, but it works so well. The huge rear wing, front air scoop, they all suit the car perfectly, you simply wouldn't have it any other way. The yellow decals on the sides and bonnet help break up the livery (though on some cars, they had the 555 logo instead) and the STI badges on the front lamps are a neat touch as well. An icon if I ever saw one. 

Toyota GT-ONE TS020 

Toyota's GT1 racer (later LM GTP) wasn't the success it could have been on track but the car is a striking shape, crazy to think Toyota made a road legal version. It's red livery with white streaks really gives a sense of speed, almost mimicking the airflow over the body, as it should on a car capable of 200+MPH. The sleek shape is fantastic, no wonder it influenced the future of closed cockpit prototypes going forward, but at the time it looked like nothing else around. Looks the business and does the business, until the gearbox breaks.

Volvo S40 BTCC

Volvo's BTCC days were a great time for the brand and the half silver and blue livery of the S40 is fantastic, the colours really compliment each other. On the styling front, Volvo's have an inoffensive image, and the S40 is no different, but with all the racing mods it becomes a smart and sophisticated looking racer, a peg above the Nissans, Vauxhalls and Peugeots etc it raced against. It is a very satisfying looking car indeed.