The 50 Best Looking Formula One Cars: No. 50 – No. 46
Formula One cars have become ugly!
It’s a statement which has been thrown around quite regularly for the past three years, spurred on by the appearance of the ‘platypus’ and ‘anteater’ noses of the 2012-14 seasons. As such, opinions regarding the ‘look’ of the modern formula are mostly dim. Yet should they be?
The only way to know for certain if it is really that bad, is to compare the old to the new.
Compiling a list of the ‘best’ looking Formula One cars of all time, and observing where our modern stallions stack up, would be the most efficient (and fun) way of doing so.
A top twenty list was a reasonable number to aim for, but after rifling through the decades of Formula One history, I soon realized that the list would have to bigger… a lot bigger.
50. Arrows A23
This list is going to show repeatedly that a car can still look good despite being a lemon on track, the A23 being our first example.
The Arrows A23 stood out from the pack with its bright orange livery, courtesy of its primary sponsor, the French telecommunications company, Orange.
Despite financial issues plaguing the Arrows team, and the A23’s lack of competitive pace, the car scored a respectable two points. However, the A23 was never given the chance to build upon its earlier ‘successes’, as Arrows would unfortunately be forced to pull out of Formula One 12 races into the 2002 season.
It would seem that if Orange had been as liberal with its monetary handouts as it had been with its paint brushes, Arrows may have lived to race another day.
49. Benetton B195
The B195 not only looked good, it was quick as well. Driven by Michael Schumacher and Johnny Herbert, the B195 won 11 of the 17 races in the 1995 season, giving Benetton their first Constructor’s Championship and allowing Schumacher to take his second Driver’s Championship in as many years.
48. Lotus 95T
It had been six years since Lotus had won the 1978 championship, and the 95T represented Lotus’ best chance to regain its former glory. The team had dominated 78, winning half the number of races run, yet in the five seasons between then and 1984, they had only managed a single race victory.
As history tells us, the 95T wouldn’t win them a championship either, but it was good enough to place the Lotus team third overall that year. It was a result they would repeat in 86, and 87, yet the championship would never be theirs again, the classic Lotus team disbanding at the conclusion of the 1994 season. Though the team would leave Formula One on a low, Lotus left an impressive legacy and a host of beautiful machines, the 95T being one.
47. Arrows A5
More of a development car than an actual race car, the A5 only entered the final three races of 1982. Much of the technical knowledge gained by the Arrows team after running the A5 was put into the development of its successor the A6. However, the A5’s solid and good looking shape were left off of the 1983 Arrows contender.
46. Shadow DN8
Over the course of its lifetime, Shadow Racing Team had a number of distinctive liveries for its cars. Yet, ironically, the plainest of them would stand out most of all. The DN8 had very little sponsorship decals attached to it, and, except for its elegant red and blue racing stripes, and not to be forgotten shined to perfection chrome wheels, it was bone white.
This love child of minimalism and pure racing mechanics gave Shadow their first and only race victory at the 1977 Austrian Grand Prix. Though Shadow were never to win another race, that victory in ’77 would be the first of many for Shadow’s driver at the time, Alan Jones.