Who Has The Best Looking Open-Wheel Racer?

[GP Racer]

A good off-season question(I hope!)

From a purely asthetic point of view, which of the open-wheel cars from the top 3 series, CART, F1, and the IRL do you find to be the best looking and why? Forget about performance, aerodynamics, etc., and especially try to leave out any bias you may have for your favorite series(difficult, I know!) This is strictly about looks.

[enemy-ace]

Although I am an F1 fan first, I must say that the ChampCars are gorgeous. Long, sleek, low, slicks and TURBOS. Beautiful!!! Especially the Reynard; too bad it's not as good as the Lola.
Next are the F1 cars! Especially the F2003GA, MP4-19 and one of my all-time faves from recent years the Arrows A23!
The IRL cars are so ugly they don't even rank in the top three. This isn't just an IRL bias either, I find them truly difficult to look at!

[dirtfan]

The Watson Roadsters!!!

[GP Racer]

Hmmmm... I'll have to look that one up in the archives I suppose.

[dirtfan]

Sorry 'bout that. Ever since aerodynamics have overruled aesthetics, race cars just don't have the same visual bang. Like the old Ferraris and Maseratis(except, maybe, Hitler's Auto Unions). Every now and then somebody brings out a 40 year old restored Sprint to the local clay oval for the pace car, sure look better than today's "door stops". And today's ALMS stuff looks like somebody left them out in the hot sun too long. Like I said, science WILL win out.

[Snrub]

Go to the body design of a few years back and CART wins. Right now I'd vote for F1.

I think dirtfan is right on the money. Modern cars just don't look as good as old ones.

[jjspierx]

Coulthard and Kimmi's McLarens are my favourites at the moment.

[Tailwind]

I really like the look of the Reynards. I'm also real fond of the old roadsters.

[ElScOrChO]

I just love the 1994 Williams!

[gttouring]

I like the Champcar reynards myself, they look very purposeful, the Champcar Lolas are ok, just don'e have the style- now i love the current F2003 and most likely the renault. although the Maclarens are really a nice sight the renault's inch past.
IRL cars the vote goes to GForce easy, they (irl) need to work on the engine covers and bring them down tighter, and the side pods are so long-although in short oval configuration the IRL machines don't look too bad, they don't hold a candle to Champcars though the dallara's eeesh yuck that needle nose.

[Schuberth]

Although I'm only 34, I just can't help but put my vote in for the Leyton House Judd from 89-90. Just a great looker.

[Jay]

Just received a 1/18 scale model of Paul Tracy's Lola from this year....and was comparing it to similar models of a 1999 Reynard, 2001 McLaren and a 1997 FW-19 Williams. For paint scheme - the 1999 Player's car wins, however as far as cars go, I have to think the 1997 FW-19 is the sleakest... looks very quick, slim and if I could drive one open-wheel car - that would be it!

[carsten66]

F1 cars... they are looking like toys... and the wheels... (and the engines sounds terrible, they are crying...) – no and ALMS... hmm... but the ChampCars are looking great , my favorites are the Herdez cars...

[dirtfan]

How does this compare to a 1954 Ferarri Monza?
Actually, it does look sort of good in a purposeful way, like an F4 Phantom

[GP Racer]

I think the Bentley would make a great Batmobile in the next Batman movie, but good looking, never!

My personal favorite is the F1 cars at the moment. There high noses and the front wings mounted underneath make for an aggressive look. I also like the narrow track and the higher sidewall of the tires, which I know is a feature that many despise right now.

Champ Cars come in second, wide, long, low, and sleek, kind of the opposite from modern F1 cars, but still give off a high-tech, modern look.

As for the IRL cars, I can't really warm up to them. As gt touring said, engine covers are to high, and that needle nose has to go. The front wing is rather weak looking also. It doesn't give it a very sleek or modern look.

[429CJ]

Champ cars, they are wider and sleeker than F1 cars, and do not have those multiple ugly fins and flaps on them. And no high air intakes either, like on F1 and Indycars.

[Jordi]

I think the "old is better" is too much of a myth. There were ugly cars back then, too!

Right now my current favourite is the MP4/19. It's just so spectacular, and the paint scheme just improves it. Ron Dennis likes the "performance" image and his cars really show it. Plus, nearly every car Adrian Newey has designed has been a beautiful piece of art.
Second would be the Reynards in speedway configuration. Talk about cutting through the wind.

For older cars, I like the Ferrari 126C2 in no-front-wing version. Really clean lines at the front. I don't know, cigarrette shaped cars just don't attract me. The only one I seem to like is the Auto Union Typ C, radical.

[codename_47]

Ever since they narrowed the F1 cars and added grooves to the tyres (1998) something was lost in the looks department for me....

Upon finding Champcars, that was filled....."Look...wide cars!...slicks! And they're sleek as hell"

Probably not suprising that Champcars are the favorite from someone posting in this forum, current favorite, yes....

However, F1 cars, from 95-97 I think are my ALL TIME favourite (ever since they started to realise raising the nose was better for Aero)....especially the 97 Williams with it's Oval air intake....lovely stuff!

[Mal]

The Lotus 79 and the Maserati 250F are the best looking open wheel cars ever. Of the current cars then its F1 closely followed by CART with the IRL bone breakers last

[Ac.]

At first I thought the question refered to drivers....to which my reply would have been....Team Rahal with Danica! But since we are talking about cars I will cast my vote for the innovation of the six wheeled Tyrrell P34. Truly a classic.

[Dov]

Origianlly posted by Ac.
At first I thought the question refered to drivers....to which my reply would have been....Team Rahal with Danica!

Now that's the best looking chassis I've ever seen! But seriously, while some of the old "classic" F1 cars (Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, BRM'S) are my favourite looking open wheel racing cars of the past, the best looking OW cars of today by far are the ChampCars!

[RWC]

An odd comment i know,but....
Since the fia drastically cut the track width of an f1 car i thought they looked STUPID.
Now i think the old wide slickshod things look dumb too.
The current inbetween width is just right.Now we just have to get those grooved tyres inserted into max........

[jhansen]

Sticking with the thread, my vote goes to the Mclaren MP4-19 or the Williams FW25. The Champcars of the late 90's are much better looking than today's Champcars. Current favorite of any series is the Audi R8. All time open wheel favorites include the 1997 Williams FW19, 1994 Williams FW15, 1991 Mclaren MP4-5 and any Champcar from the later part of the 90's or 2000-2001. But really, you can't top any of the Group C cars such as: the TWR Jags, the Sauber Mercedes C9 and C11, Puegeot 905, or Porsche 962.

[Mal]

Sportscars definately look the best of all and the best of all time has to be the Ferrari P4, and the Porsche 917 from the late sixties. More recently the Ferrari 333sp and the Bentley are better looking than any openwheel car in my opinion of course.

[Neil C]

Of the three open-wheel series I'd rank their current asthetics:
1. IRL
2. CART
3. F1
Which is the exact opposite order from my favorite motorsport series.

F1 cars are too narrow for their length, and they all look the same with the rectangular front cross-section and ungainly looking noses and all the little plastic hang-on bits of winglets and barge boards. I like the CART cars but the front view of the Lola is not pleasing with huge gaping air intakes. And since most of the cars are now Lola's, there's not much else to look at.

I quite like the looks of the IRL cars. Low and sleek, especially in lower downforce trim.

I am of course only talking about their current forms. Historicaly, F1 had the most beautiful (open wheel) shapes. And, if you didn't like how one looked, just walk down the pitlane (which you could do, in those days) and you'd see something totally different. Nowdays with aerodynamics a science rather than an art, they all look like they come from the same mould.

To me the epitome of F1 beauty is the Wolff Racing WR1 that Scheckter drove to victory in it's first ever F1 in 78, I think.