Color Inspiration: Baby Blue

Design and color have a large part to play in the history of the automotive world. Here, we’ve married the two things together for the purpose of showcasing their influences on automotive culture.

Some facts about baby blue cars:

In the late 1960s, New Age philosopher Alan Watts suggested that police cars be painted baby blue and white instead of black and white. This proposal was implemented in San Francisco in the late 1970s. (In the late 1980s, the police cars of the San Francisco Police Department were repainted the usual black and white.) Watts also suggested that the police should wear baby blue uniforms, because he thought it would make the police less likely to commit acts of brutality than if they were wearing the usual dark blue uniforms. This proposal wasn’t ever implemented.

The Gulf livery colors originated with the Gulf Oil Corporation in 1967, when its then vice president, Grady Davis, entered his own GT40, #1049, at both Daytona and Sebring. The car was painted in the standard Gulf Oil colors of dark blue with orange trim. After that, Gulf Oil Corporation began sponsoring a race team, and the first official Gulf cars showed off a new body and roofline, which differed from those of the standard GT40s, and featured a new distinctive color, which became known as Gulf Powder Blue. The blue was accented with a marigold orange trim. The pale blue and orange of Gulf racing livery became internationally prominent in the late 1960’s when the Gulf sponsored Ford GT 40’s and Porsche 917 dominated the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Fact Sources: 1, 2

Image Sources (clockwise from top left): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Click here for more Petrolicious color inspirations.