Delving Into the Redness of Red Sports Cars
It’s one of the undisputed colors of speed, but how did red become such a symbolic hue?
Red is a color we know and love, but what exactly ties its history to cars of superior performance? Well, Donut Media did some investigating, and found that it comes from the earliest days of motorsport. For Italy, red became an obvious choice in the early 1900’s due to a motorsport achievement. After an Itala Mod was entered, and won a 9000 mile race, the car’s color was forever immortalized. Nolan Sykes, hosting the video, explains that “to honor their achievement, Italy adopted Rosso Corsa Red as their national motorsport color.”
As a result, Ferraris, Alfa Romeos, and Maseratis were all red, especially the Grand Prix cars. Red even saw its way onto Lancia rally cars and Fiat land speed record cars. Red isn’t just limited to the Italians though. Corvette’s most popular color is Torch Red and Mustangs, AMGs, Porsches, Nissans and many more all use red. As Sykes says, “All the Italian sports cars use this color. But red doesn’t just mean Italian to me. My Viper is red and it’s not Italian.”
Well, it’s because red, as a color, makes you feel things. That’s not an opinion either. “Countless studies have shown that red has a measurable effect on the human brain,” says Sykes. Red brings out all of the same reactions in a car as it does in other situations: A warning of danger, feelings of love, attractiveness, and more. Scientifically speaking then, red is the most appropriate color to have on a fast car.
