Any great race car can’t just go fast it has to look fast too! Over the years motorsport has gifted us with many memorable livery’s including Mclaren’s Malboro F1 cars, Subaru’s 555 Impreza’s and Ford’s Gulf GT40 to name only a few.
What makes a livery memorable? Eye-catching design, race success, a unique colour scheme and timelessness. It’s safe to say then that Falken’s famous blue and teal livery ticks all those boxes. To celebrate our latest partnership with Falken Tyres as the Re:Fuel venue sponsor lets take a look at some of the most iconic cars to wear their colours.
1. BMW E92 ‘Eurofighter’
Image credit – Goodwood Road & Racing
We think you’ll agree that there was no other way to start off this list then with James Dean’s infamous BMW E92 ‘Eurofighter’ drift car. If you don’t know James’ E92 then you must have been living under a rock (or at least not been watching YouTube), it has been tearing up drift championships for a number of years as well as being a true crowd pleaser at events like the Goodwood FOS.
Featuring a single turbo Toyota 2JZ 3.0 litre six-cylinder making over 900bhp, a full Carbon Kevlar wide body kit and Falken RT615K+ semi-slick tyres the E92 was built to win championships. That’s exactly what it achieved with James piloting the E92 to win both the 2019 and 2020 European Drift Championships. In case you were wondering this is not a wrap, James’ E92 is in fact painted in the Falken Teal and Blue!
2. Nissan Skyline R34 GTR
Image credit: Falken Motorsport
For a design to be iconic it must stand the test of time, the Falken livery looked just as good in 2001 on the Nissan Skyline R34 GTR as it does today 22 years later. Competing in the Nürburgring 24-hour from 2001-2005 and Super Taikyu the Falken Motorsport R34 GTR is arguably most recognisable from its appearances in the Gran Turismo series.
With multiple iterations of and updates to the Falken R34 the car pictured above is from the 2003 Nürburgring 24-hours. Driven by Dirk Schoysman, Takayuki Kinoshita, Roland Asch and Tetsuya Tanaka, the R34 featured a new chassis for the 2003 race weighing 50kg lighter than the 2002 version which the same drivers secured the highest place of any Japanese car with. The 2003 version featured new bodywork manufactured by SHIFT with Nismo providing technical support. It wasn’t only the looks that got a refresh for 2003, the engine was also improved, a bored and stroked RB28DETT Z1. Unfortunately 2003 failed to prove as successful as 2002 with the R34 finishing 53rd overall and 3rd in class.
3. Porsche 911 GT3 R (997)
Image credit: Falken Motorsport
No list of iconic race cars is complete without a Porsche. Over the last 12 years the 911 GT3 R has been a regular Falken race car appearing in three generations, the 992, 991 and the one that started the Falken and Porsche partnership, the 997. First appearing in 2011 the car featured a 4.0 litre, naturally aspirated six cylinder pushing 480 horsepower to the rear axle via a six-speed sequential dog-type gearbox.
The 997 GT3 RS is not only memorable for motorsport fans but also for Falken motorsport as a whole, in 2015 it finished 3rd overall in the Nürburgring 24-hours, securing Falken Motorsport their first ever podium at the event. Used by Falken from 2011-2015 ultimately the 997 GT3 R was replaced by the newer 991 version in 2016.
4. Ford Escort RS Cosworth
Image credit: Falken Motorsport
Introducing a legend amongst Falken race cars, the Ford Escort RS Cosworth. Unfortunately the Falken N24 team’s RS Cosworth was short lived making its one and only appearance at the 1999 Nurburgring 24-hours. Driven in the A5 class the Escort was piloted by Arthur Atkinson, Gregory Atkinson, Timothy Atkinson and Christoph Unterhuber to finish in a successful 19th position overall. With very little known about the Falken Escort RS Cosworth it has alluded many motorsport historians for years and remains to be a car of legends. It’s hard not to love a whale tail spoiler in Falken colours!
5. Nissan Fairlady Z Z33
Image credit: Falken Motorsport
A front engine, rear wheel drive coupe is a classic race car recipe. The predecessor to Falken’s R34 GTR Nürburgring entries the Fairlady Z Z33 (350Z) was used for the 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 Nürburgring 24-hours. Driven by Peter Dumbreck, Dirk Schoysma, Tetsuya Tanaka and Kazuki Hoshina across all four years, the cars two best performances came in 2009 when it finished 11th overall and 4th in class and in 2010 finishing in 12th overall and 3rd in class. In its final outing in 2010 the Fairlady Z was taking the fight to an increased number of manufacturer entries including a Porsche 911 GT3 Hybrid. Running on Falken Azenis tyres the Nissan stood strong and survived its final Nürburgring outing with no major mechanical issues which is more than could be said for its competitors.
6. Nissan Silvia ‘S14.9’
Image credit: James Deane
James Deane is just getting greedy now, but his ‘S14.9’ Nissan Silvia has to also make an appearance on this list. Competing in the 2022 Drift Masters European Championship the S14.9 helped push James Deane to a highly respectable 4th place in the championship.
The ‘S14.9’ has truly been built from the ground up, it is powered by a DeaneMSPORT stock-stroke 3.0-litre 2JZ-GTE with a BorgWarner EFR 9274. Fitted with BC Racing ER series coilovers with external reservoirs and the Wisefab front and rear kit this car was built to go sideways. You can’t deny this car doesn’t look great with its Mspek Performance carbon-Kevlar S15 conversion kit and of course the S14.9 runs on a set of Falken RT615k+. It’s hard to believe this car started out as a humble S14 shell before James got his hands on it.
If we included every iconic Falken Motorsport car then we would have been here for days, its hard to top a race car in the distinctive blue and teal Falken colours. Who knows if you keep your eyes peeled maybe you’ll see a Falken motorsport car in the Re:Fuel paddock!