10 Greatest Ford Liveries of All Time

Intro

Henry Ford is often credited with saying that the customer can have any color they want as long as it is black. There is some debate over whether or not Ford actually said that, but the point remains. Ford wanted the Model T painted only black because it was the least expensive color and the assembly line didn’t have to stop for workers to change paint colors. That was back in 1914, and a lot has changed since that time. For many decades Ford vehicles have been offered in a slew of colors. And their racing vehicles have been covered in a number of bold and exciting racing liveries. Today we are looking at ten of our favorites from across the Ford range.

There are hundreds of great liveries to pick from, so we left off many great ones from our list. But we wanted to limit the list to ten. We also wanted to come up with a good mix of old, new, custom, street, and racing liveries. We also didn’t limit the list to just Mustangs. So, what we have here listed in model year order is a list of our 10 favorite Ford liveries. If we missed your favorite, please let us know about it.

Image: Ford

1. Various Years Ford GT Gulf Racing

The orange and blue Gulf livery is perhaps the single most iconic in motorsports history. It began in the 1960s on the Le Mans-winning Ford GT40s. To mark this historic moment, Ford offered the livery on the various Ford GT sports cars over the years. Of course, Ford is not the only one to use this livery. It has been used by Porsche, McLaren and others. But it is associated with Ford as much as anyone, so we listed it here.

Image: Ford

2. 1922 Ford T-Bucket

The car you see here did not leave the Ford factory looking this way, but it is too iconic to leave off the list. It is a 1922 Ford Model T roadster body sitting on a modified 1931 Ford Model A frame. It features pinstripes by the legendary Dean Jeffries. The car is known as the “Kookie Kar” because it was driven by the character Kookie Kookson in the popular TV show 77 Sunset Strip. The car was fully restored several years ago, and it won First in Class at the 2019 Pebble Beach Concours.

Image: Joe Kucinski

3. 1978 Mustang II King Cobra

The Mustang II is typically the least favorite Mustang among enthusiasts. They were underpowered and just didn’t have the muscle car feel that was expected. But this list is not about horsepower, it is about liveries, and the Mustang II King Cobra has one of the best. It was the first Mustang ever to wear the iconic “5.0” branding. It also features a distinct design in the form of a snake decal on the hood, special trim pieces, and unique color-coordinated wheels. It might not win many drag races, but the Mustang II King Cobra wears one of the best Ford liveries of all time.

Image: Ford

4. 1981 IMSA Mustang GTX

Ford’s road racing program ended in 1970. But in 1981 it returned with the Team Zakspeed GTX Mustangs. You may expect a big V8 under the hood but instead there is a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine, heavily modified by Zakspeed and it puts out over 560 horsepower. The wild bodywork makes the car appear fast when it is just sitting still. And covered in the red and white livery featuring the “It’s Miller Time” slogan only adds to the effect.

Image: Joe Kucinski

5. 1983 Mustang GTP

Wearing a classic blue and white color scheme, the 1983 Mustang GTP looks perfect. And although it has a Mustang GTP name, it was not really a Mustang. The car was built to compete in the GTP class of IMSA’s Camel GT Championship. At that time none of the GTP cars had the engine mounted up front. But the Zakspeed-built Ford 1.4-liter four-cylinder powerplant broke the mold by being placed well forward in the chassis. In its very first race at Road America, this car finished first overall.

Image: Joe Kucinski

6. 2005 Crawford/Ford Daytona Prototype

This Daytona Prototype racer has a Crawford chassis but uses Ford power, so we felt it belonged on this list. The car competed in the 2005 Rolex 24 at Daytona with Paul Newman as one of its drivers. The car was sponsored by the Disney Pixar film Cars and had a livery to indicate that. Newman was the voice of Doc Hudson (the 1951 Hudson Hornet) in the movie.

Image: Joe Kucinski

7. 2006 Ford GT Robertson Racing

This is another car with a great livery, and a great story to match. In 2011 the Robertson Race Team was accepted to compete in the 24 Hours of LeMans that year. That was big news because this is a small, private husband-and-wife race team. On July 11 of 2011 the couple celebrated their 7th wedding anniversary by driving this car to a podium finish in the race. They are the only husband and wife to ever make the podium at the 24 Hours of LeMans.

Image: Joe Kucinski

8. 2020 GT350 Heritage Edition

For the 2020 model year, Ford introduced the limited-edition Mustang Shelby GT350 Heritage Edition Package. It was created to celebrate the first 1965 Mustang Shelby GT350 fastback coupe released 55 years earlier. The highlight of the package was the throwback livery with Wimbledon White paint and Guardsman Blue side and over-the-top racing stripes. These cars look fantastic and are highly sought after by collectors today.

Image: Ford

9. 2025 Bronco Stroppe Special Edition

This is the only SUV on the list, but it deserves to be here as much as any of the other vehicles. The 2025 Bronco Stroppe Special Edition wears a modern take on the original Calypso Coral, Wimbledon White, and Astra Blue livery. The design pays tribute to the 1969 Stroppe-prepared Bronco that earned the first and still only outright win by a stock 4x4 at Baja.

Image: Ford

10. 2025 Mustang GTD Spirit of America

This is the newest Ford livery on the list as it was just revealed earlier this month. The 2025 Mustang GTD Spirit of America honors America’s spirit of ingenuity and perseverance and 60 years of Mustang achievement. The twin-painted racing stripes are meant to mimic Mustang’s iconic Tribar logo from 1964. The stripes are also a nod to the Mustang’s racing history. It is a special livery on the most powerful and fastest factory Mustang ever produced.

Image: Ford

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