Racing stripes are a kind of automobile painting that customarily has lines painted across the length of the automobile. They’re most frequently seen on high-spec autos capable of driving at fast speeds, but are are also infrequently seen on standard autos to make them appear fast. The stripes are most ordinarily seen as 2 parallel stripes across the length of the automobile and down the hood, excluding the windows, spaced just inches apart.
What started as a practical car detail on a bunch of auto racers in the 1950s developed into a flashy design for automobile racing fans and those with a sense for skill. The stripes that are now known as today’s racing stripes were first seen on the Cunningham team of racing vehicles in the 1950s. They were an American vehicle racing team who raced in both the US and in Europe, and was set up and ran by Briggs Cunningham. Cunningham decorated each of his cars with racing stripes the team’s traditional white stripes on blue so that fans and squad could identify them in the field in a race. They also authorized a spun-out driver to align his vehicle with the road or the circuit. Following the utilisation of racing stripes by Cunningham, called Le Mans stripes after a favored French race of the day, they came into common use by other groups.
By the 1960s and early 1970s they may be seen around the planet by diverse racing teams as well as on road vehicles. Carroll Shelby was the following to generally use the racing stripe on his Cobra sports automobile that came to be called the Shelby. shortly after Cunningham and Shelby, auto manufacturers commenced making autos with racing stripes standard straight out of the factory. Most significantly many compact sport autos started introducing the new style statement, and latterly the Viper has gain fame with racing stripes, causing many to call them Rattlesnake Stripes. The custom of racing stripes has faded out of and into acclaim as far back as the early 1970s.
What had once been used just for changed performance vehicles has since then the 1970s also been applied to standard vehicles, to give them the outward appearance of road racers. The stripes have for that reason gained the comic nickname go-faster stripes, an insult leveled at those wanting to seem to have customised automobiles, without them. Some even add numbers to the hood, doors, or windows to fortify this image commenced by racing stripes.
