Paint your wagon

The art of rallycross colour schemes and liveries

by Rallycross World | 8th January 2021

What colour should that racecar be painted? For the amateur racer this can be a question of painting the car the same colour that they have had all their cars, ever. Or just choosing something that other racers are not using.

Rallycross World | rallycross liveries, colour schemes, John Welch, Ken Block, Will Gollop, Martin Schanche — *Pierre Llorach drove Citroen Financement’s striing 2004 Rallycross France entry.*

At the other end of the scale for the professional race team with corporate partners to oblige, getting that colour scheme right is now a task that involves designers, approvals, contractual considerations and managing the brand guidelines of each partner. And within all of that, there is the obvious need to create a livery that is eye-catching, that stands out from the crowd and wins the heart and minds of fans.

We’ve dipped into the archive to find some memorable examples of liveries we like, and those we think get the commercial job done.

Rallycross World | rallycross liveries, colour schemes, John Welch, Ken Block, Will Gollop, Martin Schanche_LC1_1120 — *Paul Kumpen’s CarGlass team ran cars in different colours for its single backer.*

Rallycross World | rallycross liveries, colour schemes, John Welch, Ken Block, Will Gollop, Martin Schanche_Schanche_Sweden_1991 — *Did Martin Schanche’s RS200 ever look better than in 1991, a wide range of backers featured.*

FIA European Rallycross Championship, 1/10, Lydden (GB) 11-13.04.09 — *Olsbergs MSE broke new ground with the 2009 Fiesta, which had a great commercial livery.*

Rallycross World | rallycross liveries, colour schemes, John Welch, Ken Block, Will Gollop, Martin Schanche_WillGollop_Valkenswaard_1992 — *…Will Gollop adding other backers to the underlying master colour scheme.*

For what it’s worth we think that John Welch was a pacesetter in this field; he always needed commercial backing to go racing and became supremely adept at finding and retaining partners. A relatively simple red, white and blue colour scheme evolved over a number of years to accommodate different brands and new cars.

Rallycross World | rallycross liveries, colour schemes, John Welch, Ken Block, Will Gollop, Martin Schanche_Welch_Gibson_Hathaway_Brands_271283 — *John Welch understood the commercial imperative and evolved a strong basic livery.*

Rallycross World | rallycross liveries, colour schemes, John Welch, Ken Block, Will Gollop, Martin Schanche_Welch_EscortZakspeed_1984 — *The basic red, white, blue, developed to accommodate different partners.*

*Pristine at the start of the 1984 title season.*

In the 21st century there can be few better at this balancing act between commercial necessity and creative desire than Ken Block. His Hoonigan Racing cars tick all the boxes; they are striking, standout and yet still deliver on the corporate front.

Through his long and successful career, Kenneth Hansen was able to maintain a long relationship with Citroen, and his Supercar featured a gentle evolution of the livery.

Rallycross World | rallycross liveries, colour schemes, John Welch, Ken Block, Will Gollop, Martin Schanche, Kenneth Hansen_2 — *Before Citroen, Kenneth Hansen was led by sponsors.*

*From the 1993 switch to Citroen, the evolution of livery was gently progressive.*

Subaru’s classic blue and yellow livery is iconic and was interpreted perfectly in rallycross by Subaru USA.

Rallycross World | rallycross liveries, colour schemes, John Welch, Ken Block, Will Gollop, Martin Schanche_Subaru — *Subaru blue and yellow, an all time classic.*

Occasionally there is also the opportunity to play fast and loose with colours and partnerships. In the 2019 ARX season Steve Arpin had a different livery on his Loenbro Racing Fiesta at each event.

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