Spark Models just released a doozy of a race car, the Lemans Porsche 911 RSR 19 from German Team Project 1 – AO. The livery is crazy, painted a bright green with a giant, toothy grin around the grill. It would probably look menacing in the rearview mirror. It got us thinking about other toothy, fleshy race cars, some of which are available in miniature.
For 1983, Red Lobster sponsored a March 83G and they really took advantage of the contours of the car. From the claws on the front fenders, the body draped over the cockpit, to the legs down the sides, it might be one of the most intimidating liveries of all time.
There have been many versions of the Green Monster jet car, and a few of Art Arfon’s dragsters had dragon faces. The cars didnt fit into any particular class, so they were for exhibition. There were a few land speed record versions as well.
For the 1997 Formula 1 season, teams sponsored by tobacco companies had to figure out how to redecorate their cars for countries where that wasn’t allowed. The Benson & Hedges Jordan became Bitten & Hisses, complete with a snake face and a loooong forked tongue running down the cowl.
In 2019, NASCAR Corey LaJoie ran a Ford with his entire head as the design. Not content with the front clip of the car covered in his face, the rest of the car was decorated with his spectacular mullet.
This one is a bit of a stretch, but it’s a meaty design. The Pink Pig raced in the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans, driven by Reinhold Joest and Willi Kauhsen. The livery has even been revived for more recent Pork… er Porsches.
Spark is going all in on this model. The first version is 1/43 scale but they plan on several other scales as well.
Ron Ruelle is a cartoonist, writer, and illustrator who also writes about model cars. You can see his work at www.ronruelle.com
