Did the Gulf GT40s usher in the era of rolling billboards?

[Mark Worthington]

Charliebsa's post in the thread about decals and transfers got me thinking about the Wyer/Gulf cars, and that they must've been among the first to really start loading the sponsor decals on. One of the things I appreciate about vintage race cars is the fact that, up until the late 1960s, they were pretty much unadorned with advertising, which is in stark contrast to today's rolling billboards, especially in NASCAR, where every square inch of the damn car is covered with advertising.

It seems to me that the Gulf/Wyer cars were among the most heavily ad-festooned of the original GT40s, and that maybe their success gave some momentum to the unfortunate trend of hiding race cars behind advertisements. While it may be considered blasphemy amongst GT40 disciples to heap anything other than praise on the Gulf/Wyer cars, the stickers are one aspect of the car that I personally don't care for (aside from the powder blue paint, but that's another discussion ).

Your thoughts?

[Mike Dozier]

I assume that's a direct result of John Wyer having to raise
private funds to keep his operation going once sugar daddy Ford pulled the plug. As the cost of professional racing
escalated at a quantum rate, everyone was forced to
seek multiple corporate sponsorships.

Another example, is I can recall not that long ago when part time drag racers actually had a chance
to qualify and finish respectably in NHRA professional
categories. The annual budgets of most NHRA pro teams are now all in the millions, and that's cheap compared to ALMS,
CART, F1, NASCAR, etc.

MikeD

[BenL]

> Charliebsa's post in the thread about decals and transfers got me thinking about
> the Wyer/Gulf cars, and that they must've been among the first to really start
> loading the sponsor decals on.


I think Team Lotus was the first team to significantly decorate their cars with sponsor ads.

Once again, Colin Chapman was an innovator in racing.

[Grandpa]

There were two things that I am aware of that contributed to the growth of advertising. In 1963 Dick Lang of Xenia Ohio, USA painted the name of his father's Chevy dealership on the side of his Sting Ray which he raced in the SCCA. He claimed his racing expenses as advertising and the Internal Revenue Service took him to court. The courts ruled that it was a legitimate expense. This opened up corporate sponsorship in the US.

The second point is that the organizers at Le Mans dropped their no sponsor advertising rule for 1969. Look at the difference between the 1968 and 1969 Gulf cars for comparison.

Gary

[Grandpa]

My mistake, that should have read LeMans organizers dropped the no advertising rule in 1968, compare the 1967 Mirages with the 1968 GT40s. The Mirages only had the horseshoes to connect them to Gulf. The 1967 Ford MI IVs only had the inner circle from the Autolite decal, no lettering on the decal. Somehow the organizers did let Marchal and Ferrodo slip their decals on though.

Gary

[barrya]

Also the B.R.Ms. With the Yardley colour scheme, not sure if they were before Lotus