The most beautiful F1 cars of each decade

[HondaF1]

I got into Renaults scheme halfway through the year too.

[DaShowstoppa]

Originally Posted by pfrocker

No.

I have to admit, I preferred the Renault as blue and yellow.

Here's a beautiful car for ya

The Jaguar F1 - Class on wheels (shame the car didn't live up to it)

[starfox07]

+ YouTube Video

That to me, is THE F1 shape.

[AnGuRuSO]

Looks like its made of plywood.

[HondaF1]

Oh the Jaguar F1 car. I personally think the R5 was the best looking one.

[DaShowstoppa]

Originally Posted by HondaF1

Oh the Jaguar F1 car. I personally think the R5 was the best looking one.

I'll concede that one. The Jaguar colour scheme was really classy on all the cars though.

[Adunaphel]

Originally Posted by DaShowstoppa

I'll concede that one. The Jaguar colour scheme was really classy on all the cars though.

At least when the Jaguar was white.... In pink it's a whole different story.....

[HondaF1]

I quite liked Stewart's colour scheme. I wish he was still running a team.



Actually, he and Paul were meant to run Jaguar, but Paul got ill and they pulled out, so if that hadnt happened, Jaguar could have been winners.

[DaShowstoppa]

Originally Posted by Adunaphel

At least when the Jaguar was white.... In pink it's a whole different story.....

That was the "Monaco" version wasn't it? Something to commemorate a pink diamond.

As for the Stewart car, I knew a Scotsman would pick the car with tartan on it Did look nice though.

[HondaF1]

Originally Posted by DaShowstoppa

That was the "Monaco" version wasn't it? Something to commemorate a pink diamond.

As for the Stewart car, I knew a Scotsman would pick the car with tartan on it Did look nice though.

Haha, except Im not a Scotsman

[kekekeke]

Found this in another forum


HOLY SHIT THAT IS AWESOME. Looks like a war machine. Just looks at the size of the rears.

[Gman333-X-ferrari]

Originally Posted by kekekeke

Found this in another forum


HOLY SHIT THAT IS AWESOME. Looks like a war machine. Just looks at the size of the rears.

WTF! IT'S A TANK!

[HondaF1]

Its an Arrows isnt it!

[teletubby-warrior]

Originally Posted by HondaF1

Its an Arrows isnt it!

Arrows A2: great idea, poor execution.

[Totski]

I think im in love !

[teletubby-warrior]

Originally Posted by Totski

I think im in love !

I recently found some more amazing pics of Schumi's debut; enjoy:

[KaJuN]

That rear wing makes me laugh. "Three blades for an even closer shave downforce!"

[HondaF1]

The 191 was stunning in just plain carbon fibre black that it had at it's launch. If anyone has a better photo then please post.

[Ironlord]

Right, here we go:

1950s: MASERATI 250F (1954-60)



Honourable mentions go to the Ferrari 375, and the Lancia D50 which would have one had it not been for those huge fuel tanks on the side...


1960s: FERRARI 156 (1961-62)



An honorouable mention goes to the BRM P261. Dishonourable mentions go to any car running the huge wings mounted on the suspension rods, at the end of the sixties, which led not-very-neatly into the horror-of-horrors black hole of Formula 1 car design that was the seventies. Still, I did come up with one fine example:


1970s: RENAULT RS10 (1979)



This is, I reckon, Renault's finest design of the turbo era; fortunate that it was a 1979 car, because otherwise I'd have been truly stumped for a seventies design. Winning cars the Lotus 72, 78, 79 and the various Ferrari 312Ts may have been, but I'd find it hard to argue they were good looking... the only car I can think of that comes even remotely close to an honourable mention is the Wolf WR1.
The eighties also had its fair share of clunkers but at least managed to shake off the square-sidedness that made most cars of the seventies a horrific eyesore. Which brings us neatly onto:


1980s: BRABHAM BT52 (1983)



I'll admit this one took a bit of agonising over because it could just have easily been the 1984 BT53 instead. However, I'm going with the BT52 because this revolutionary dart-shape was the point where the awful slab-sided designs of the seventies were consigned to the dustbin of history once and for all. Other teams made a hash of this design (Tyrrell, I'm looking in your direction - more about that in the "ugly F1 cars" thread), but Brabham did it best.
Honourable mentions go to the Lotus 97T and the McLaren MP4/4 - the McL getting a particular mention due to its massive break from its shovel-nosed predecessors of 1981-87. And the driver in these two shots was quite handy, so I'm told. Finally, I'll mention the Benetton B188 for its mad colour scheme (repeated on the B189 and B190 but this one wins for the twin airboxes on the sidepods, and the B189's were too flat).


1990s: JORDAN 191 (1991)



So it's the same picture as above but may I be struck blind if I ever get bored of looking at this car. 1991 was the first full F1 season I watched, and my mum used to watch it with me that season - not that she had any interest in anything automotive, it was just to see the Jordans. This is my all-time favourite design from all the seasons I've watched F1 (1990 to the present). And it launched the career of someone who was to be particularly famous...
Honourable mentions from the nineties can only be described as curve balls. The Lola T97/30 had a cracking colour scheme (thanks and no thanks to Mastercard who never coughed up the cash) and if it had performed as well as it looked, it would never have marmalised Vincenzo Sospiri's F1 career before it had even started. And the same could be said for Lola's equally ill-fated marriage with Scuderia Italia, the T93/30 four years before.
The picture of the T93/30 came from a Portuguese blog called Pinturas Bizarras - I'll leave you all to work out what that means, though it should be obvious - and contains the more interesting colour schemes of recent years. I remember seeing that Ligier briefly when it races, and wondered what had happened to it...

...now onto the current decade, in which rules and regulations have stifled the designers so much that cynics who say "if all the decals were removed from modern F1 cars it would be impossible to tell them apart" might just have a point. So, I'm going purely on the colour scheme for this one...


2000s: WILLIAMS FW23 (2001)



The original Williams-BMW, the FW22, hinted at it, its successor did it. My first thought on seeing the FW23 was how much it reminded me of the BMW-powered Brabhams of the early eighties... such as the one highlighted above. As long as we don't mention the FW26, everything will be fine here... the honourable mention goes to Arrows. I've never been sure why I like the orange-and-black colour schemes of Arrows' final years, such as this A23 from their final season. But I do. Still, marks have to be taken off for THAT Monaco contraption.

So, there you have it. If anyone wonders why I haven't mentioned any modern-day Ferraris or McLarens, for instance, it's because I tend not to notice them unless they have done something wrong - otherwise it's just another red or silver car. Mistakes includes the far-too-narrow nose of the McL MP4/19 and the all-round wrongability of the Ferrari F310, which I mentioned on the ugly cars thread. This post has taken me two and a half hours to write. Hope you all appreciate it...

[Red_Bull]

I have a scale model of the Arrows A23 sitting on a shelf to remind me just what a fantastic looking car it was. Actually, speaking of sexy looking Arrows (the A2 posted above included, despite appearing in the ugly cars thread), the 1998 John Barnard designed Arrows A19 should definitely be considered as a suberb looking grand prix car. I alluded to this car back in my post on the first page. Stunning in a petite black dress, this nimble and curvy design is sort of being you'd offer a few drinks to in the hope that later in the night you'd get to take her (with those curves, definitely a 'she'...) home. If, of course, you would ever get that far. With the A19, most likely you would've been forced to pull over so she could throw up all over the pavement again, and again, and again...

Heres the pics, enjoy!