Racing stripes were first used by the Cunningham racing team in the 1950s to identify their cars during races. They have since become a popular design for performance cars and are now even produced by automakers as a standard feature. The stripes have also been used on standard cars to give them a sporty look.
Racing stripes are a type of car paint job that usually has lines painted across the length of the car. They are most often seen on performance cars capable of driving at high speeds, but are also sometimes seen on standard cars to make them appear fast. The stripes are most commonly seen as two parallel stripes running the length of the car and down the hood, excluding the windows, spaced just inches apart. What started as a practical detail car on a racing team in the 1950s has evolved into an eye-catching design for auto racing enthusiasts and those with a sense of talent.
The stripes now known as today’s racing stripes were first seen on the Cunningham racing team in the 1950s. They were an American motorsport team that raced in both the United States and Europe, and was founded and directed by Briggs Cunningham. Cunningham decorated each of his cars with racing stripes, the team’s traditional white-on-blue stripes, so fans and teammates could identify them on the field during a race. They also allowed an extended driver to line up their car with the road or circuit.
Following Cunningham’s use of racing stripes, named “Le Mans stripes” after a popular French race of the day, they were used by other teams. By the 1960s and early 1970s, they could be seen around the world by various racing teams, as well as on road cars. Carroll Shel was the next to popularly use the racing stripe on his Cobra sports car which became known as the “Shelby”.
Soon after Cunningham and Shelby, automakers began producing cars with standard racing stripes, direct from the factory. In particular, many compact sports cars began to feature the new fashion statement, and recently the Dodge Viper has gained notoriety with racing stripes, prompting many to call them “Viper Stripes.”
The tradition of racing stripes has faded in and out of popularity since the early 1970s. What was once used only for performance modified vehicles, since the 1970s has also been applied to standard cars. , to give them the look of road racers. For this reason, the stripes have earned the comic nickname “fast stripes,” a slur directed at those who want to appear to have custom cars, without them. Some even add numbers to the hood, doors or windows to reinforce this image that started with racing stripes.
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