Gear: Your Favorite Race Cars Artfully Defined

Your Favorite Race Cars Artfully Defined

By Petrolicious
August 24, 2015

A life-long obsession for cars and a sharp eye for design means that it was probably a matter of time before the folks at 8380 Laboratories pinged our radar, but the firm got its start as a side project in 2004, designing Volkswagen t-shirts. The ad agency day job gave way to 8380 Laboratories in 2009, quickly earning praise among the Volkswagen and import communities.

There’s something about boiling down a vehicle to its most basic styling elements and draping it in (often) flat, bold colors that can bring a design to life, and from countless t-shirt, event poster, and graphic designs, 8380 have become masters at the craft.

Translating the style to art pieces, tees, mugs, and other accessories has led to a few of us to start visualizing where some of the prints could hang in our office. One of our favorites is “Le Mans ’95”, a simple poster with beautifully-illustrated examples of every car in the GT1 class from that race. For fans of the Porsche 908/3, the 8380 poster of the car drops it onto a brilliant bright blue backdrop—something that will draw your eye every time you’re in the room.

See something you love? Use the code PETRO10-15 at checkout to receive a 10% discount.

 

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LAPJM
LAPJM
9 years ago

You had the Ford Sierra XR4i : two wheel drive V6 2.8 no turbo.
There was a Ford Sierra XR 4×4 = 4-wheel drive 2.8 v6 4-door saloon or estate
No v6’s with Cosworth treatment.
Sierra Cosworth XR4i ?
The correct moniker in Europe :
Ford Sierra RS Cosworth (1986) = based on 3-door hatchback Sierra shell with whale tail spoiler on the hatch, 2 litre inline 4 (+/- 204 din hp) and only 2 wheel drive.
Used in DTM and other European touring car races (p.e. 24 hrs Spa).
Ford Sierra RS 500 (1987) : 3-door hatchback withe whale tail and a second spoiler under the whale tail (500 build) and also used in racing.
1988 Ford Sierra ‘Saphire’ Cosworth : based on 4 door shell Sierra. 2 litre inline 4 with turbo (engine cfr 3-door) and 2 wheel drive.
1990 Ford Sierra ‘Saphire’ Cosworth 4×4 : same car withe 4-wheel drive (used in rallying with not much succes).
This car you could buy from the shelf and was no ‘homologation special’ as you stated.
Sierra RS Cosworth / Saphire Cosworth was folowed bij Ford Escort Cosworth : 2 litre turbo, 4-wheel drive. Based on humble hatchback (Ford Escort) and very succesfull in rallying.

K Thomas
K Thomas
9 years ago

I’m very interested in the Porsche 24-hrs of Le Mans poster, but I can’t find it at the 8380 e-commerce website. Am I missing something?

HSW
HSW
9 years ago

Never knew/noticed the x4rti was in DTM. To me, the glory days of DTM has always been BMW vs Merc.

Love the M3 liveries print. Wonder if there is one of the Mercs.

Guitar Slinger
Guitar Slinger
9 years ago
Reply to  HSW

xR4ti ( Cosworth Sierra xR4i is the correct moniker over in the EU/UK ) – Alfa Romeo – Opel – Ford Capri – Porsche etc … they were all involved at one time or another . My two favorite eras being the 70’s when ZakSpeed Turbo Capri’s and Porsche K935RSR’s were banging heads and the gloriously insane verging on F1 performance all wheel drive Alfa Romeo vs Opel madness of the 90’s era … especially when Sandro Nannini was behind the wheel . Good god those 90’s DTM cars were outrageous . Today ? Like all motorsports the DTM’s pretty much de-evolved from genuine innovation into an over homogenized script with barely the pretense of racing . Or as we [ discerning ] Yanks call todays DTM . German NASCAR … and thats no compliment … believe me

And yeah … the M3 liveries is the best of this bunch .. and I wonder about a Mercedes DTM liveries print as well

Francois Bozonnet
Francois Bozonnet
9 years ago
Reply to  Guitar Slinger

there was no xr4 in dtm. the cosworth is a different car with a 4 cilinder engine, the xr4 has a v6.

Guitar Slinger
Guitar Slinger
9 years ago

Ahem good sir . The correct [ and complete ] moniker for the car was as I stated . The Cosworth Sierra xR4i . And the Sierra Cosworth xR4i most certainly was in the DTM .

Guitar Slinger
Guitar Slinger
9 years ago
Reply to  Guitar Slinger

PS; The Sierra xR4i in the EU/UK came with either a V6 , turbo inline 4 , the ubiquitous Cosworth variation or for those a bit short in the pocket a normally aspirated inline 4 …. not to mention the Sierra RS Cosworth 4 x 4 rally car / homologation special . Here in the US all we got was the turbo inline DOHC 4 .

De Dion
De Dion
8 years ago
Reply to  Guitar Slinger

Europe:
Sierra xR4i = V6 2.8 RWD
Sierra xR4x4 = V6 2.9 4WD
Sierra RS Cosworth = i4 DOHC 2.0 Turbo RWD
Sierra RS 500 Cosworth = i4 DOHC 2.0 Turbo RWD
Sierra (Sapphire) RS Cosworth = i4 DOHC 2.0 Turbo RWD
Sierra (Sapphire) RS Cosworth 4×4 = i4 DOHC 2.0 Turbo 4WD
Escort RS Cosworth = i4 DOHC Turbo 2.0 4WD

US:
Merkur xR4Ti = i4 OHC 2.3 Turbo RWD

XR4i and xR4Ti had different bodystyle from the rest of the 3 door Sierras with three sidewindows instead of two. Sapphires are 4 door sedans. XR4x4 was 5 door. Escort RS Cosworth had shortened Sierra platform and only looked like an Escort.

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