Here we are, probably my favorite livery from the heyday of Formula 1: John Player Special. As Lotus’s title sponsor for much of the 70’s and 80’s, these beautiful black and gold machines spent alot of time in the winners circle. Emerson Fittipaldi, Jochen Rindt, Mario Andretti, and Ayrton Senna, to name a few, all drove JPS sponsored Lotus machines.
JPS was also active in touring cars and motorcycle racing, the black & gold scheme so iconic that many manufacturer’s road-going variants usually had a complimentary paint option – albiet without the lucrative cigarette advertisements.
The colors have proved so nostalgic that Lotus has donned them once again (without any association to the extinct cigarette brand) in their Formula 1 and Le Mans prototype cars, and I must say that it’s a hero’s return for most.
What I’m really looking forward to is checking out the Historic GP at this year’s inaugural F1 race in Austin, a little birdie told me that Mario’s old Lotus 79 will be buzzing around the new track.
a real classic ! works best on a lotus 🙂
this one : http://www.glv88.dial.pipex.com/jps.1.jpg
aw man i was going to throw a pic of the JPS espirit in but couldn’t find a high res one, now i see this :-/ http://www.autobelle.it/annunci/public0001/1img-1291923771.jpg
My vote goes to the Mini Cooper – Never seen that one before!
I don’t believe I was into Forumla 1 when Lotus dawned the John Player’s colours. I grew up watching a lot of F1 during the Schumacher, Hill, and Villeneuve era because of Villeneuve being Canadian and all.
I really dig the research and examination you do here, Rory. The retrospective is inspiring.
JPS espirit, the only street car that looks cool with golden rims
Plus you forgot the bikes. I used to got to the races with my folks late 80’s to early 90’s and the JSP Norton always looked so awesome. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u6ydMFIxhZI/TxnNBh4SviI/AAAAAAAADTA/cOKbOaPHdus/s1600/Norton+F1+Sport.jpg
They used to win a fair bit too, but weren’t eligible for the championship due to the Wankel rotary engine that the other teams complained against
That Mini Cooper is actually a 3D rendering by an enthusiast, and never existed in the metal. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. In fact, in kind of proves how excellent the JPS livery is.
he spent 4 months making a fake mini cooper? if you worked for 4 months you could afford a real one.
Really? I want your salary then.
No you don’t.
But honestly, i know a guy who sells original Coopers for around $7,000. Which is around 4 months of my salary.
To do what this guy dreamed up would require at least 4 to 5 times that amount. Given the quality of his modeling, texture-mapping, lighting skills, I have a feeling he won’t have any trouble earning enough to build this little beast one of these days.