Tag Archives: Gulf Racing

Oiled Pig

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There are many famous racing liveries that have arisen from decades of motorsport sponsorship, most of which were for things so bad for you that their advertisement is now banned (like this, and this, and this, and this, and this).

But fast cars seem to attract dodgy businesses, and thus these days the cigarette sponsorship has been replaced by energy drinks (which we’re pretty sure will, one day, been seen like cigarettes) and the biggest scam of modern times; crypto currency. Thankfully however, one sponsorship mainstay from motorsport’s past clings on; oil companies.

For how much longer though we’re not sure, as there is a movement on the fringes to ban the advertising of things related to the fossil fuel industry, and what starts on the fringes has a tendency to gather momentum and become mainstream, where lots of people shout and post things on ‘X’ and get upset.

Which would be a shame, because oil company liveries have been some of the best, particularly this one, the iconic orange-and-blue of Gulf Racing.

Adorning Fuku Saku‘s wonderful (and incredibly intricate) Porsche 911 GT3 RS, the Gulf orange-and-blue livery looks fabulous, and there’s more of the build to see of Fuku’s Flickr album. Click the link above to take a look, or here to peruse the other Gulf Racing vehicles from our Archives.

Anglo-American

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Despite a politically strained relationship at present, the United Kingdom and the United States of America can achieve great things when they work together. Here are two of the greatest, the magnificent Ford GT40 and AC Cobra.

Both cars were designed in the UK, but powered (and funded by) Ford USA, and both dominated racing in the 1960s. These two brilliant Speed Champions style models of the Gulf Racing GT40 and Cobra 289 are the work of previous bloggee Jonathan Elliott who has captured each car beautifully.

There’s more to see of each build at Jonathan’s photostream – click the links above to take a look at the complete image galleries for both cars.

Glorious Gulf

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Lego Porsche 917K Gulf Racing

Is there a cooler racing livery than Gulf? Probably not, and thanks to the fact that LEGO’s colour palette is ever expanding (just like your Mom), it’s one that is now buildable from our favourite Danish bricks.

Previous bloggee Greg998 has done just that, with this gorgeous 1970 Gulf-Racing Porsche 917K, resplendent in the oil company’s famous blue and orange livery (with a few custom decals too), under which is a wonderfully detailed flat-12 engine.

The Gulf Racing Porsche 917Ks didn’t actually win Le Mans in 1970 (that honour went to the sister Porsche-Salzburg team), but we know which car looked the coolest…

See more of Greg’s brilliant Porsche 917K on Flickr via the link above.

1970 Porsche 917K | Picture Special

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Lego Technic Porsche 917K Le Mans 1970

The year is 1970, and Porsche need to win some races. Their new 917 endurance racer proved hugely unstable in 1969, with downforce still a relatively new phenomenon harnessing it was still largely experimental.

Cue chief engineer John Horsman, and an unlikely revelation caused by the splattering of bugs on the Porsche’s bodywork. John noticed that the 917’s tail was clean from insects, meaning that air wasn’t reaching it. A hasty modification with some aluminium sheets was made to the cars, and the 917 was transformed.

Lego Porsche 917 Gulf Racing

The newly modified 917K won all but one race in the 1970 endurance championship, taking first and second at Le Mans and, along with the Porcshe 908, relegating Ferrari to fourth place.

The 917 was run by serval works and part-works teams in the early 1970s, and it dominated sports car racing. The most famous of these are perhaps the Gulf Racing cars, thanks largely to Steve McQueen and his 1971 film ‘Le Mans’.

It’s this car that Technic building legend Sariel has chosen to recreate in Lego form, and he’s done so brilliantly.

Lego Porsche 917 Gulf Racing

Underneath the incredible bodywork (which includes wonderful period-correct decals) are no less than four LEGO RC Buggy Motors, with two third-party BuWizz 2.0 bricks controlling a pair each. This gives Sariel’s Porsche 917K both amazing speed and the ability to be controlled remotely via a bluetooth device.

Sariel’s 917 also features fully-independent double-wishbone suspension both front and rear, dihedral opening doors, and remote control steering that turns the steering wheel in the authentically detailed cockpit too.

Lego Porsche 917K Gulf Racing

It’s one of the finest Technic supercars of 2018 and one that is definitely worth a closer look. An extensive gallery of images is available to view at Sariel’s Porsche 917K Flickr album and you watch a video of the model in action and join the discussion courtesy of the Eurobricks forum.

See more of Sariel’s astonishing Technic recreation of the greatest endurance racer of the 1970s via the links above, and you can watch the original trailer for the 1971 movie ‘Le Mans’ by clicking here.

Lego Porsche 917 Sariel

 

Gulf-Porsche Racing

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Lego Gulf-Porsche 917One of our favourite racing car builders- bobalexander!– is back, with this simply magnificent 1970 Gulf-Porsche 917. Powered by a monstrous flat-12 engine the 917 was capable of over 240mph, but with limited aerodynamic knowledge (this was the early ’70s) it was also notoriously difficult to drive. Despite the handling issues the 917 has become one of the most legendary racing cars ever built, and in the most famous Gulf Racing livery it might be the best looking one too. See more of Bob’s incredible Model Team version on Flickr.