The colour red has been
used to identify Italian cars and drivers since the very
earliest days of motor racing. After sponsor-inspired
liveries were introduced to Formula 1 in the 1960s,
Ferrari remained the only constructor to stick with
tradition and continue to clothe its single-seaters
exclusively in the classic red. Consequently, its
production cars and sports cars were identified with
that colour for quite some time thereafter. In fact,
there was a saying around Modena that went cinc sghei
püssè ma russ (a few liras more so long as it’s
red). For a long while, red was seen as the almost
obligatory colour choice for Ferrari owners. In fact,
during the early 1990s, 85 per cent of all Ferraris
built sported red liveries.
That dynamic has now changed radically, and clients can
choose from a vast range of colours and types.
Purchasing a Ferrari is an exclusive experience, the
first step of which is, of course, choosing the bodywork
colour. This is one of the personalisation areas that
has developed rapidly in the last few years, not merely
in terms of the number of colours available but also the
technologies used.
Of late, there has been something of a surge in the
popularity of two-tone liveries – as the name implies,
these usually involve two contrasting colours being
used, one for the roof and the other for the bodywork.
Two-tone liveries were extremely fashionable in the past
too, the most notable example being the 1957 250 GT.
This beautiful sports car has a white body and a green
roof, and won the 2009 Villa d’Este and the 2010 Palm
Beach Cavallino Classic Concours d’Elegance amongst
other high-profile classic car plaudits. Ferrari has
been offering its clients the option of two-tone
liveries for several years now, a choice that
underscores both the elegance of its GTs and the power
and aggression of its extreme sports cars.
Ferrari doesn’t just use technology to build cars that
are increasingly powerful and exciting to drive. It also
applies its high tech skills to “clothing” them. The
Prancing Horse recently developed and introduced an
advanced painting technique that lends its cars an even
glossier sheen than ever. In the so-called “three-layer”
technique, the paint is applied in three separate coats
to give the bodywork a deeper, more vibrant colour than
a traditional metallic one could achieve. The paintwork
also has an iridescent finish that comes to the fore
when sunlight catches it from various angles. When this
three-layer technique is used with a two-tone livery,
the result is extremely striking and adds even more
character to any Ferrari.
That is still not the end of the livery story, however,
as Maranello’s personalisation programmes also ensure
clients have yet another option available to them: the
possibility of providing a colour sample from which
their car’s paintwork will be copied. This colour sample
can be taken from any item the client owns or is very
much attached to. It’s a very popular option indeed now
and really does mean that the colour choices for
Ferraris are truly unlimited.
Since 2004, the Ferrari complex in Maranello has been
home to a sophisticated water-based paint facility which
allowed the Prancing Horse to comply with new EU
emissions and energy reduction requirements three years
in advance of their introduction. Ferrari also
simultaneously launched a special research project
focused on extending the colour range to meet the
increasingly sophisticated and diverse requests of its
clients. By combining leading-edge application
techniques with invaluable materials retrieved from the
company archives, Ferrari can now also offer a unique
catalogue of 10 sophisticated and exclusive “historic”
colours inspired by the classic cars of the 1950s and
60s. That list includes evocative names of the likes of
Blu Scozia, a chic dark pastel blue typically sported by
cars competing in the Tourist Trophy, Avio Met, a
bright, ultra-sporty blue, and Vinaccia, a colour that
brims with character and personality.
Contemporaneously, Ferrari also began making what it
calls its “Challenge” liveries. These mimic the
paintwork stripes sported by covered-wheel racing cars.
First launched as a signature look for the 430 Scuderia,
the Challenge liveries were an instant hit for all the
mid-rear-engined sports cars, and now encompass
everything from the stripes inspired by classic racing
cars used to help identify the various drivers
competing, to the Italian tricolour. The latter
solution, in fact, has captured the imaginations of our
clients abroad who choose it to underscore the Italian
character and quality of their cars.
Ferrari created its personalisation programme to offer
clients all over the world a vast array of options that
would ensure their cars were truly unique. Thanks to the
tens of thousands of possible combinations it affords,
it is now genuinely is the case that no two Ferraris are
identical.
As a result of these developments, the cars constructed
by Ferrari now come in an unprecedented variety of
colours. Needless to say, traditional red continues to
predominate, accounting for about 45 per cent of all
cars built over the last few years. That aside, however,
the colour choices being made by owners have diversified
radically in that same period. Special order finishes,
for instance, went from just 1 per cent of output in the
early 2000s, to over 10 per cent in 2010. The message
being, of course, that it doesn’t have to be red to be a
Ferrari anymore.
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