We have to admit to having an almost unhealthy fascination with Martini Racing stripes. The livery is both classic and dynamic, and has adorned some of the world’s most memorable racing cars.
From Lancia and Ford rally cars to Porsche prototypes and today’s Williams F1 cars, there’s been no shortage of competition machinery decked out over the years in those iconic blue and red stripes. But a Ferrari 458 Speciale?
Though hardly the first to come to mind, Maranello’s finest are no strangers to the vermouth distillery’s sponsorship. The Scuderia brought Martini back into the fold in 2006 (albeit sans the stripes) on its F1 cars, and provided the engines for those legendary Lancia sports racers. And the Speciale already came bestriped as it is. Yet somehow this looks out of place to these eyes. Could just be me, though.
This isn’t the first time we’ve actually seen this particular 458 – but it is with this aesthetic treatment. It belongs to the owner of R3 Wheels, who’s been known to have it re-wrapped and fitted with a fresh set of shoes every year.
A couple of years ago it was decked out in a white and red livery reminiscent of Marlboro’s classic color scheme. After that it was wrapped in purple. That was what it was wearing, at least, when YouTube supercar videographer Marchettino had a bit of a mishap with it. Apparently the front hood wasn’t properly secured and it flipped up while he was driving it.
Fortunately the damage was repairable, and the owner didn’t seem too miffed, because he gave it back to Marchetinno to drive again around Monaco while in town (we’re guessing) for the Top Marques show. Pretty forgiving, if you ask us, and you can check out the vlogger’s impressions in the video below.
Whether you like the Martini treatment or not, you can bet it’ll be replaced by something else next year. Have thoughts on how it looks now, or how it should be wrapped next time around? Share them in the comments section below.