What's the official Ferrari colour?

I thought the original colour was a more maroon red

 

I may be wrong but I think the current racing color is called Scuderia Rosso. A bit more orange/red than Rosso Corsa.

 

I believe that for street cars there is no such thing as an "official" Ferrari color.

As you correctly mention, red is the Italian racing color, used extensively, and before Ferrari existed, by Alfa Romeo and others.

Personaly, I think red does not generally favor our F cars, particularly the big ones (2+2's, big luxury GT's), or the 50's cars.

The smaller the car, the better it looks in red. I saw a red 612 last week, and it looked to me like a bleeding whale. The crisp shape was destroyed. David Letterman also painted his 212 Inter "Ferrari red", and to me it looks completely artificial.

Color statistics would be interesting. When did most Ferraris become red? Was it started in the U.S.?

I am very interested in other opinions!

Cheers,

Julio

 

The current official Ferrari racing color is Rosso Scuderia.
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I read somewhere that it used to be a darker red than RC. And based from pictures of yesteryear's racers, it was as the poster above said, slightly marron-ish...Rosso Barchetta kind of. Rosso Corsa is relatively new methinks because in the old days, to make red 'pigments' are difficult since they have to use organic based pigments, therefore the darkish hue. Only with modern techno can they have the brighter tones. I was also told by ppl in the paint industry that reds are STILL organic based but with better stabilizing agents nowadays.

 

The question was official not original.

 

The color that looks most like a pack of Marlboros on TV.

 

The color of the race cars changed when Marlboro became a title sponsor of the F1 team, the old color was darker than Marlboro red so it was changed. If the color can change at the whim of a sponsor, then talk of an "official" color is a bit silly, IMO.

Not that I think there's anything wrong with that. Paint 'em pink with purple polka-dots if someone is willing to pay enough.

 

Rosso Corsa has changed in time from the blood red of the early cars to the lighter red used today.........Rosso Corsa used to be the colour of the race cars however as has already been said it's been superseded by Rosso Scuderia, or Marlboro red......although contrary to popular belief it was changed to improve how the car displayed on TV rather than to please marlboro

 

This is not easy to answer. Currently you can order your Ferrari and choose from Rosso Corsa, Rosso Barchetta and Rosso Scuderia... Then we also had Rosso Dino (nearing orange), Amaranto (dark red), Rosso Chiaro, Rosso Italia, Rosso Bordeaux. And then we have the metallic: .... .

In F1 today we see Schumacher race in a very fluo kind of red. A color that is stable now, but used to be very-very fluorized in the 1997 season as the ciggie sponsorship from Ferrari had become more important. In 1998 they dimmed that color as it had appeared not so Ferrari like. The varied a little from 1997 until 2000.

Over the years in racing Ferrari used quite some different paints for Ferrari red. I recall that in the last sports cars days the 612P and 512S had been painted Peugeot Red Cina which at that time resembled Rosso Corsa and was a commercially good available paint.

Marroon or darker red is possibly mistaken from the Scuderia Ferrari days before the WWII when Ferrari raced Alfa's.

Ferrari red at least is what EF saw as the color with which he could represent Italy in international racing. Quite red!!

Fly Yellow is the official color of the city of Modena and applied on many modenese racing product. This includes Ferrari of course ;-) The back ground of the Ferrari badges should be in that color. For the cars it is simply a possible color.

In Belgium it is the "REAL" Ferrari color as it is the color of the great Ecurie Franchorchamps!!!

 

I don't believe that Rosso Corsa as we know it today came into existence prior to approximately 1980. Prior to that time the Ferrari popular red was Rosso Chiaro, which has a bit more orange in it. I have Keith Bluemels books "Original Ferrari V12 1965 - 1973" and "Original Ferrari V8" which lists all the paint colors and codes. According to his book Rosso Corsa was not listed as an option on the V12s of that period. According to his V8 book, Rosso Corsa (code FER 300) became available starting with the 1980 model year. Prior to that Rosso Chiaro (code 20.3.90) was the "traditional racing red."

 

The 1967 paint code Rossa Corsa is still listed and mixable. PPG provided it for me and IMO it is correct. FER 300 is quite different.
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Wasn't Rosso Chiaro only intended for the street cars? Rosso Corsa was formalized beginning 80's and available for street cars.

Nice picture Napolis!!

 

1950 Ferrari F1 driven by MS
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Oh Andrew, you really are gullible aren't you! So colour TV was invented in 1996 just co-incidentally at the same time as Marlboro started pumping huge amounts of money into Ferrari (as opposed to just large amounts). Don't believe everything a Ferrari press release says!!!

Jonathan

 

DavkeG

You must be getting a bit frustrated at the direction the responses are going in. As I read it, your query is as much about 'Yellow' wrt ferrari history.

Others will I'm sure correct me if I'm wrong but on a recent factory visit I was told that yellow has special significance for the region of Modena, rather than specifically Ferrari. Just so happens the Ferrari owned factorys are in the region of Modena, so can often be associated with Yellow as well as the racing colour of red (be it Rosso, Corsa, 'Marlboro' or whatever other shade/name thats been used over the years).

It was interesting during the factory tour a couple of months back to hear how red is now becoming far less popular for new orders compared to the hugely popular Silverstone, particularly in the US market.

 

Something that was denied during a conversation I had a couple of years ago with one of the guys looking after the Ferrari sponsorship deal at Phillip Morris.......... it was also the same time as BE was investing millions in subscription based TV coverage..........

 

Please read post #12 on this thread

Please watch out!! What I wanted to tell is: One real Ferrari red doesn't exist. But today we can make a distinction as Ferrari has standardized her colors more. If you have a chance try to have a look in a car paint sample catalogue or visit a Ferrari dealer!

In the 1997 F1 season Ferrari used a dayglo red close to what McLaren had used from 1976. This looks on TV rather bright red. But in real it is painful to the eye (and disgusting on a Ferrari if I may say so).

Which is a good sign!! Many Ferraris are so pretty in colors other than red. If you have a look at Ferrari's history you can see that Ferrari offered street cars (1948-1965) in very different, fashionable colors.

 

I know they deny it. The timing was pure co-incidence.....

Jonathan

 

It is my understing Rosso Scuderia was developed so that although in person it has a orange tint it appears as Rosso Corso on the TV through the lens of the TV camera.

 

The original ferrari racing colour was Rosso Barchetta, wasnt it used on the old Alpha/ferraris by Enzo.

 

Please! Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automibili, Alfa