Best & Worst Race Car Designs: Beauty and the Beast
▼ Summary
– The author believes race cars are inherently appealing because their functional, purpose-built design transcends conventional styling.
– They note that while all race cars look cool, some are objectively better looking than others based on personal taste.
– The author consulted a stylist and F1 fan for opinions on appealing competition cars, highlighting subjective preferences.
– Personal favorites include the 1960s “wheeled cigar” aesthetic, exemplified by models like the Lotus Type 49 and Honda RA272.
– The author also finds a unique appeal in “so ugly, they’re beautiful” designs, such as the delta-wing cars from Panoz and Nissan.
The world of motorsport is filled with machines engineered for pure performance, where every line, vent, and curve serves a definitive purpose. This functional beauty often transcends conventional styling, creating icons that are celebrated for their engineering as much as their appearance. While some designs achieve a timeless elegance, others push the boundaries of aesthetics in the relentless pursuit of speed, resulting in vehicles that are as controversial as they are fast. The debate over what constitutes a beautiful or a beastly race car is a passionate one among enthusiasts, highlighting how form follows function in the most extreme ways.
I generally find all competition vehicles compelling, even those deemed unattractive. Their singular focus—whether on drag strips, oval tracks, or desert rallies—creates an authenticity that production cars rarely match. Every element on a race car has a job, from intakes and fins to aerodynamic vents, each positioned precisely according to the laws of physics and, occasionally, the rulebook. There’s a brutal honesty to that design philosophy.
Nevertheless, certain models stand out as more visually successful than others. I consulted our in-house designer and Formula 1 aficionado, Adrian Clarke, for his curated list of aesthetically pleasing competition cars. His impeccable taste led him to highlight several classics: the Alfa Romeo 158/159 Alfetta, the Ferrari 312T, the Lotus 72, and the Porsche 917K. Each of these machines represents a high-water mark in the marriage of speed and style.
For my own part, I have a particular fondness for the sleek, minimalist profiles of 1960s Grand Prix cars. The elegant, cigar-shaped bodies of machines like the Lotus 49 and the Honda RA272 captivate me. There’s a purity to their form that modern designs, laden with complex aerodynamic appendages, often lack. I’m even tempted to build the scale models, as they are such lovely representations of that era.
On the other end of the spectrum lie designs that challenge traditional notions of beauty. The delta-wing cars campaigned by Panoz and Nissan, for instance, fall into a category one might call “so ugly, they’re beautiful.” Their radical, almost alien shapes were born from a specific set of regulations and a bold vision for aerodynamic efficiency. In an open-cockpit configuration and a vibrant red livery, the Panoz Esperante GTR-1 can look strikingly futuristic and aggressive.
However, the same fundamental design with a roof added creates a vastly different impression. The enclosed version presents a much more challenging, perhaps even grim, silhouette that divides opinion. It serves as a perfect example of how a single engineering concept can be interpreted in wildly different visual ways. This subjectivity is what makes discussing race car design so engaging. Everyone has a unique perspective. What vehicles do you consider the most beautiful, the most awkward, or the most outright bizarre to ever grace a starting grid? The conversation is always open.
(Source: The Autopian)