Go-faster Stripe

Racing stripes, also called Le Mans stripes or rally stripes, were originally applied to racecars to help identify them in the field during races. The term "racing stripe" is also used to refer to diagonal lines painted on watercraft hulls, usually on vessels belonging to a country's coast guard.

Racing cars

Racing stripes were applied to the Cunningham team's racecars beginning in 1951. Usually two parallel blue stripes running from front to rear in the centre of the white body, they helped spectators identify the cars during races. These evolved from the traditional FIA-registered American racing colours of a white body and blue chassis, which dated from when racing cars had the chassis exposed. The two blue stripes were a symbolic echo of the chassis colours.

In 1964, the Shelby Daytona Coupe would use the converse blue with white stripes and would compete in the 1964 and 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Road cars and "go-faster stripes"

The first road car to implement racing stripes was the 1965 Ford Mustang GT350. From the 1960s, stripes have sometimes been applied to road cars as well as racing cars. Such cars as the Renault 8 Gordini had stripes fitted as standard. They are sometimes referred to as "go-faster stripes" on road cars.

An alternative style features stripes which wrap around the car sideways instead of running down the center of the vehicle, called " bumblebee stripes". These stripes were featured prominently on the Dodge Charger Daytona racecar. Dodge's "Scat Pack" performance package for 1968-1971 muscle cars featured the bumblebee stripe as a signature.

In 1996, a pair of 8-inch wide stripes were used on the Dodge Viper GTS, starting a revival of the fashion.Fast Car magazine, June 1998 Since then, they have often been referred to as "Viper Stripes".

File:Ford Shelby Mustang GT350 (Centropolis Laval '10).jpg, 1965 Mustang GT350, the first road car to feature racing stripes
File:SAAB96V4-front.jpg, Saab 96 with "go-faster stripes"
File:1969 Dodge Charger Daytona (13420094943).jpg, 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona with a "bumblebee stripe"
File:Draginline waiting.jpg, Dodge Viper GTS with "Viper Stripes"
File:Fifth generation Camaro SS, Transformers edition.jpg, Chevrolet Camaro with " Bumblebee Stripes"

Use on watercraft

Many coast guard-type organizations have diagonally-slanted lines on their vessels' hulls, which are referred to as "racing stripes". An example is the service mark of the United States Coast Guard.

File:Albanian Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, Albania
File:Logo de la Prefectura Naval Argentina.svg, Argentina
File:Bangladesh Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, Bangladesh
File:Canadian Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, Canada
File:China Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, China
File:Croatian Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, Croatia
File:Cyprus Port and Marine Police racing stripe.svg, Cyprus
File:Egyptian Coast Guard Racing Stripe.svg, Egypt
File:European Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, European Union
File:Finnish Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, Finland
File:French Maritime Gendarmerie racing stripe.svg, France
File:Georgian Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, Georgia
File:German Federal Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, Germany
File:Hellenic Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, Greece
File:Icelandic Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, Iceland
File:Indian Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, India
File:BAKAMLA Racing Stripe.svg, Indonesia
File:Guardia Costiera.svg, Italy
File:Japan Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, Japan
File:Libyan Coast Guard Racing Stripe.svg, Libya
File:Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency Racing Stripe.svg, Malaysia
File:Maldives Coast Guard Racing Stripe.svg, Maldives
File:MarcaBuquesSEMAR.png, Mexico
File:Myanmar Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, Myanmar
File:Netherlands Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, Netherlands
File:Norwegian Coast Guard Racing Stripe.svg, Norway
File:Peruvian Coast Guard racing stripe.png, Peru
File:Philippine Coast Guard Racing Stripe.svg, Philippines
File:Romanian Border Police racing stripe.svg, Romania
File:Russian Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, Russia
File:Singapore Police Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, Singapore
File:Korea Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, South Korea
File:Sri Lanka Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, Sri Lanka
File:Swedish Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, Sweden
File:Taiwan Coast Guard Administration racing stripe.svg, Taiwan
File:Turkish Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, Turkey
File:Ukrainian Sea Guard racing stripe.svg, Ukraine
File:UK Border Force racing stripe.svg, United Kingdom
File:CGMark W.svg, United States (Coast Guard)
File:U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Mark.svg, United States (civilian)
File:United States Customs and Border Protection racing stripe.svg, United States (police)
File:Vietnam Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, Vietnam
File:Yemen Coast Guard racing stripe.svg, Yemen

See also

* Fin flash
* List of international auto racing colours

References

{{reflist

External links

Cover of ''Time'' magazine dated, April 26, 1954
��the links at the bottom of the page lead to various years of production

��with link to views
* ttp://www.briggscunningham.com/BSC%20Drivers.pdf Full list of Team Cunningham drivers��presented on site along with many other informative pages
Road Racing Drivers Club
��see deceased members list for the biography

��tribute 2003

Vehicle modifications
Automotive styling features