VOTE: Best Looking 1980s F1 Car Semi-Final #1

[Liquid]

1986 Lotus 98T vs 1989 Ferrari 640

1986 Lotus 98T

Engine: 1.5L turbocharged Renault V6
Drivers: Ayrton Senna, Johnny Dumfries

1989 Ferrari 640

Engine: 3.5L Ferrari V12
Drivers: Nigel Mansell, Gerhard Berger

Note: The Ferrari 640 began the season with a visible rollhoop above the driver and air intakes either side of the driver (first image). From the fourth race onwards, an airbox was installed instead (second image).

 

[Ettick]

Ferrari looks a lot more streamlined. And I've always liked red...


(98T probably only got this far because of Senna and GT6 anyways )

 

[[Nor]MclarenF1]

Even with the iconic combination of the classic JPS livery, and Senna at the wheel in his signature bright yellow helmet - I can't ignore the sleek and beautiful lines of the 640. My vote goes to Scuderia Ferrari.

 

[Liquid]

(98T probably only got this far because of Senna and GT6 anyways )

I thought it was the 1985 97T which was featured in GT6?

 

[Ettick]

I thought it was the 1985 97T which was featured in GT6?

Close enough

 

[Ryk]

This isn't a slam dunk. The Lotus has a classic livery - very neat and tidy, the Ferrari has a bit of a shotgun blast of logos blasted onto it.

Shape? The Ferrari has a more elegant stance, the Lotus looks a bit plump in comparison.

Memories of the car. Always remember Piquet driving around the outside of Senna (Lotus98T) into turn 1 at Budapest. Amazing for some, just another Sunday drive for Nelson.

Hungary 1989 had Senna (McLaren) again getting a win snatched away this time when Mansell (Ferrari 640) didn't flinch when lapping a car.

And on that logic... The winner for me is the Ferrari 640

 

[[Nor]MclarenF1]

the Ferrari has a bit of a shotgun blast of logos blasted onto it.

Agreed. It's as if Ferrari told each of the sponsors to send a man with some stickers, and they all got together and just put them on wherever they wanted.

 

[Pupik]

The 640 was a design change from the rest of the grid, but it wasn't terribly elegant. The 98T isn't really beautiful, but other than the MP4/2-series, and the simplicity of the FW11, they're the nicest designs on the grid at the time.

Agreed. It's as if Ferrari told each of the sponsors to send a man with some stickers, and they all got together and just put them on wherever they wanted.

Having all the sponsors with the same color scheme was a Lotus and McLaren thing, and it really wasn't until the mid-1990s that the whole grid really designed their liveries around their sponsors' colors. Some (Williams) were just better at a cohesive and complementary design with multiple sponsor colors and logos.

 

[Liquid]

The Ferrari is such a transitional car. It's weird how something as innocuous as swapping the bare rollhoop for an integrated airbox makes such a difference.

The rollhoop makes the car look ridiculously 80s and the airbox makes it look so... 90s.

 

[Dolph Drago]

That Ferrari is beautiful... Normally I like the air box look over the roll hoop, but even the roll hoop Ferrari looks sexy. I do like the Lotus. But compared to the Ferrari, it looks like a blob.

 

[Liquid]

Bump. Day and a half left.

 

[Liquid]

Apologies for the delay. The Ferrari 640 will go through to the final.

Thanks for voting. 👍