Written by:
Marshall Pruett
Blackmore's Gulf livery on the 1996 McLaren F1 GT racer stands out as one of the iconic paint schemes of the nineties. (Photo: Courtesy ABD)
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Part of the allure of auto racing is found with the visual presentation of the cars themselves – the better looking ones stick with us forever. Certain colors have even been associated directly with the automobile; British Racing Green, Ferrari Red and Mercedes Silver are some of the most famed marriages of car and color, but a brilliant racing livery has an even more timeless appeal.
For as much as we celebrate the drivers, owners, and designers that bring sportscar racing to life, I’ve always been intrigued by the men we never see or hear of – the people responsible for making those racing cars come to life visually, and spoke with Andy Blackmore whose free ALMS Spotter Guides were first brought to my attention by John Hindhaugh of Radio Le Mans. Blackmore, as it turned out, was someone whose work I’d unknowingly admired for almost fifteen years.
Andy grew up with the same appreciation for the finer examples of automotive dress – enough so that he’s been on a path to design paint schemes for the biggest forms of international motorsports since his youth in England.
“That journey started a long time ago! I was always interested in cars and used to draw cars when I was small, winning a couple of competitions in the process. I was interested in art as well, so my interest grew and grew. When I was about 13, I wrote a letter to lots of car design studios. I only received two replies, one from Rover and one from a company in South England called IAD, who helped engineer the original Mazda Miata.”
Andy's work first extended into the ALMS series with the Panoz Esperante. (Photo: Courtesy ABD)
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Both firms recommended for the teenage Blackmore to consider formal training to add to the artistic potential he demonstrated. “I went through the normal UK system, a comprehensive 'secondary' school, then onto a technical college, where I did my B/Tec National Diploma in Graphic Design. From there, I went to Coventry University in 1990, graduating in 1994, which included a placement with Yamaha's UK R&D facilities where I worked on the Yamaha OX99-11 supercar. I think I learned more there than I ever did at University!
“Liveries took a back seat until after I graduated and finished the Yamaha design project. I was asked to design some race-car liveries for McLaren Cars when I was working for 'Grand Prix Design', a sister company to Arena International Motorsport BTCC team.”
Andy’s efforts straight out of college were typical of what most young artists are required to do: take any job that comes along – even ones that don’t pay – to build a portfolio and establish his name. “I ended up doing a few liveries for small teams, or charity events as a favor, just to help them get a start. Even today, small teams in the lower formulae, don't always recognize that a good livery will give you and your team a professional look, which then helps sell your product to potential sponsors.
“My first couple of better known liveries were for BTCC teams. My first was actually a competition entry for Toyota, to design a livery for their BTCC team. I decided to do a asymmetric livery for their race car and was surprised to win. The final design changed a little, but the concept remained. My next project was smaller, for the BMW UK/Schnitzer team, but it was still very useful to have in the portfolio!”
With a growing list of impressive liveries, Blackmore received higher profile jobs. “The most recognizable liveries are probably the McLaren F1 GTR Gulf liveries and in North America, the original Panoz livery.
Designing McLaren's pit structures were one of Blackmore's most recognizable works. (Photo: Courtesy ABD)
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The Panoz liveries were probably the hardest design to crack. The brief was to use the Panoz badge colors (white, with red, green and blue flashes). I had one photo of the car to work with and a line drawing. Its important, when working on a livery that you understand how it will work in 3 dimensions and this was a great example where you have multiple air intakes and air outlets. I had explored some designs where the main body was Black, but the team, David Price Racing, were asked to keep to the 'house' colors. A few months later, DAMS would show the car in black…you take the rough with the smooth…”
Blackmore was still working for Grand Prix Design, focusing on projects for Yamaha and McLaren primarily before he was asked by one of those clients to interview for an in-house graphic design job. “I started working on some McLaren F1 (FIA GT) liveries and also some McLaren F1 bodywork derivatives. Ironically, one of those designs was a new long front end for the F1. I was influenced by the old Can-Am McLarens, a couple of years later, the nose appeared, almost identical on the F1 GT.
“I was then offered a job at McLaren. My interview was with Ron Dennis himself, which was a bit stressful! It went well though! Ron has a fantastic eye for detail so it was great working so closely with him on many projects.”
Dennis brought Blackmore along slowly at first, concentrating Andy’s efforts on a wide variety of projects to gain familiarity with McLaren’s diverse activities. “Early on my work was split between styling Race Transporters, VIP units, the McLaren FIA GT F1 GTR liveries and various graphics projects for the F1 side of things. As time went on, I became more involved in Pit equipment and with the help of team engineer Mike Grubb, we set about re-designing the entire pit garage. Two of the biggest projects were the Overhead lighting modules which sit above the cars in the Formula 1 pits and the pit crew helmets.”
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For fans of Formula One, Blackmore’s famous ‘Darth Vader’ McLaren pit crew safety helmets are instantly recognizable. His futuristic pit and garage equipment revolutionized how the rest of the teams presented themselves; all have since copied or emulated Andy’s structures.
“The overhead modules supply air, light, power and telemetry from above – this was a brand new concept. They are actually telescopic, so can fit in a standard flight case, and then expand at the circuit. They cost a fortune to build, but they’ve easily paid for themselves as 11 years on, they are still in service. The previous design lasted 3 years on the race team…
“I didn't expect McLaren to be using these items so many years on. Pit equipment for the top F1 teams normally last 2-3 years as each tries to out do the other. However, I have heard from a rival team, that McLaren will have new helmets for next year. Still, I can't complain.”
But his 'Darth Vader' pit crew helmets are one of the most creative designs to come from his hands. (Photo: Courtesy ABD)
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The story behind the Darth Vader helmets typify the ‘I need this yesterday’ timelines a designer must react to. “My pit crew helmets were one of my favorite projects at McLaren. I had a call from Ron, just before Christmas to look at some new pit crew helmets, based loosely on Carrera ski helmet internals. I had 2-3 days to design them so we could get them made, ready for the first race. The chin cover has dummy air vents, but inside houses a microphone. The helmets are made of carbon and much lighter than a traditional drivers helmet, which is important when the mechanics have to wear these for up to two hours in a hot pit garage. The removable goggles provide a wider field of vision as well. We worked with Carrera, Oakley and Kenwood on the design and it was great how all the companies came together at such short notice. I look back on that fondly.”
