40 years ago, Pirelli assembled a bunch of cars in a giant P logo on the straight at Monza. The photoshoot yielded a television commercial. And it was the first to spawn a “making of” video to follow.
Now four decades later, Pirelli’s done it again. Only now they didn’t use run-of-the-mill road cars like they did in 1978. This time the Italian rubber company did it with GT3 racing cars.
That’s 22,000 Horsepower Right There
Pirelli brought out a total of 41 cars for the recreation. Together they stretched some 80 meters (over 260 feet) long and 18 meters (nearly 60 feet) tall. Among them were racers from Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Lexus, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, Nissan and Porsche. And between them, they had some 22,000 horsepower.
The event took place this past weekend at the end of a long day of competition at Monza. Each car was pushed into place by hand at sunset, and they all assembled on the legendary straight, where they typically reach speeds of 280 kilometers (174 miles) per hour.
The track on the outskirts of Milan is the home of Italian motorsports and the oldest circuit in continuous use in Europe. It’s also one of the oldest anywhere in the world, second only to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Autodromo Nazionale serves as home to the Italian Grand Prix (both in F1 and MotoGP) as well as the 1,000 km of Monza endurance race, among others. The Blancpain GT Series (where this photoshoot was completed) races there as well, with Pirelli serving as its exclusive tire provider.
Looking at the original video and the new photos below, we can’t help but wonder what it’d look like in another 40 years from now.
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