NOMINATIONS: Best Looking 1980s F1 Car [Open 23/05-29/05]

[Liquid]

Rules

Nominate four cars with a photo to match each.
Don't clog up the page with lots and lots of videos; links to videos are fine.
You can change your post and your nominations right up until the closing date.

Provide any supplementary information you wish, but don't give us an 8 page essay.

The top four cars with the most nominations will go through for polling next week.

Eligibility

Cars which competed in World Championship events during the 1980-1989 Formula One seasons.​

Important: Cars which only competed in non-championship races are not eligible.

As far as I am aware, that is the only criterion which may preclude nomination. If something does come up over the course of the thread, a ruling will be made.

If you have any quibbles about your nomination, tag me in your post and I'll get back to you.

Reasoning

If possible, please give some justification or reasoning for your nominations.
You can choose based on livery, body shape or a combination of the two. It's up to you.

---

Nominations close in the evening of SUNDAY 29th May.​

 

[Roger the Horse]

Brabham BT55

Benetton B186

Tyrrell 012

Toleman TG183B

 

[Wiegert]

Brabham BT52

Not the only car to make use of the arrow shape in 1983, but it was a damn sight better looking than the Tyrrell 012 from a ground perspective.


Renault RE60

Classic Renault livery that isn't overbearingly yellow with a clean '80s curved profile. A defining F1 design at the midway point of the decade.


Arrows A3

Where the A2 was a bulbous oddity in a field full of munters, the A3 was a golden wonder in a field of... slightly less nasty pieces of work compared to the '79 grid.


Lotus 98T

Narrowly beats the 1989 Ligier JS33 onto my nomination list. Only the 97T wore the JPS livery nearly as well as this.

 

[Panoz]

Brabham BT52

Renault RE60

McLaren MP4/4

Williams FW13

 

[-Fred-]

My first nomination goes to the Williams FW11. While the livery wasn't exactly anything to write home about, I always thought the shape defined parts of what we'd see for nearly 10 years afterwards, with the low sidepods and tall wings. Plus, it was pretty dominant, which meant we would see it a lot on TV back in the day.

 

[[Nor]MclarenF1]

Ferrari 640
To me at least - one of the most iconic and quintessential shapes of F1. Also the first ever F1 car to use sequential paddle shifters. Oh, and let's not forget that glorious V12.

Ferrari F1-86
Good proportions, clean lines. Simply a very good looking F1 car.

 

[Jimlaad43]

Again in keeping with the "I've pushed it at Silverstone" logic-

Lotus 91

March 881

Arrows A10B

Williams FW12

 

[Luminis]

Ferrari F1-87/88C

Brabham BT52

Williams FW13

Ferrari F640

 

[DK]

March 881 - I've really grown to like this car thanks to the 100s of hours I've spent playing rFactor's and GTR2's F1 1988 mods.

Brabham BT55 - the BT52's getting enough love as it is, this is the car that pretty much revived the concept of the driver lying down in the cockpit.

Lotus 98:

Renault RE60:

 

[lxmmy]

Brabham BT55

Ferrari F1-86

Williams FW09B

Benetton B186

 

[Furinkazen]

Lotus 98T (1986)

McLaren MP4-4 (1988)

 

[SVT Cobra GT]

Ferrari 126C2:

McLaren MP4/2:

 

[Dotini]

Ferrari 126C2:

Short of the NQ Toleman-Hart of Fabi, this particular car is the biggest POS I've seen in person at an F1 race, a real pig. Those silly wings were pivoting and flapping wildly up and down from the middle, like some gooney bird running but unable to take off! This is not a good-looking car in the slightest, but it is truly memorable, even if only seen once , as the most ill-suited-for-purpose Ferrari ever seen. Villeneuve heroically manhandled it from 7th on the grid to 3rd at the finish, but was DQ'd for the obviously messed up wing.

 

[Ryk]

Brabham BT52

Done - what about the 90s?

 

[Dotini]

• 
  
  The March 881 was clearly a good looking car, both in shape and in tasteful livery. Emotionally and fan-wise, it had great appeal, as it was the fastest non-turbo car in a number of years.
  
  I also nominate the Brabham BT52, as it also had a unique and attractive shape, together with a very successful livery. This was the first turbo car to win a championship. Great design, easy to drive, incorporates carbon fiber chassis components, stupendously fast with boost turned up and Q-tires.
  

 

[FutureF1]

Lotus 98T

McLaren MP4-4

Ferrari 640

 

[-Fred-]

I want to nominate the McLaren MP4-1 next, but I want to nominate it without its bodyshell. Is that allowed? By 1981 standards, this was litterally science-fiction.

Although honestly, it wasn't all that bad with the body on. Very much the genesis of the "modern" F1 as we know it today... carbon tub, sculpted bodywork... Just, a whole lot simpler than it is today.

 

[Liquid]

I'd also like to nominate the McLaren MP4. It genuinely is a fantastic looking car. I just know the MP4/4 is going to get lots of nominations and I really, really, really, really don't think it's a great looking car. Dominant? Yes. Great looking? Not necessarily.

Benetton B188

Absolutely love the shape of this car and the livery is neat too. I'd probably say it's my 1980s favourite.

I'll have a think for the last two.

 

[JR98]

Lotus 98T

McLaren MP4/4

Williams FW13

Ferrari 87/88C

 

[Liquid]

Brabham BT54

 

[Ryk]

Toleman-Hart TG183

A very distinctive Rory Byrne's designed car - Brian Hart's Turbo.
... A Guy called Brian, taking on the Factory might of :-
Alfa Romeo, Honda, Porsche, BMW, Ferrari and Renault turbocharged engines...Only in Formula One!

The picture above is Bruno Giacomelli at Monaco in 1983 - the first race that the car didn't qualify (0.022s off the back of the grid. Still faster than Niki Lauda in his McLaren who also missed the grid.)
The Second time the TG183 didn't manage to qualify for a race was when a novice Brazilian F1 driver in only his fourth attempt missed the cut at Imola in 1984 by 2.633 seconds. - That Brazilian driver was Ayrton Senna.

 

[Dotini]

Toleman-Hart TG183

The picture above is Bruno Giacomelli at Monaco in 1983 - the first race that the car didn't qualify (0.022s off the back of the grid. Still faster than Niki Lauda in his McLaren who also missed the grid.)
The Second time the TG183 didn't manage to qualify for a race was when a novice Brazilian F1 driver in only his fourth attempt missed the cut at Imola in 1984 by 2.633 seconds. - That Brazilian driver was Ayrton Senna.

Numerous times in 1982 the Toleman-Hart failed to qualify. I was there at Long Beach when the hopeless pig displayed a yawning, Grand Canyon sized-gap between its ground effect skirts and the road - a real embarrassment to its designer.

 

[Ryk]

The TG 181 (Long side pods) was a first effort - but 1983's "Flat Bottomed Girls" rule change very close to the start of the 1983 season meant the designers had to really work hard to get a car ready for the first race in Rio.

I remember the Toleman TG183 having a few pages in an old Grand Prix International magazine - and the car looked like a brute parked up - very strong lines - Serena Williams sort of pretty.

 

[Ryk]

chug chug interweb

twin turbo post

 

[Dotini]

The TG 181 (Long side pods) was a first effort - but 1983's "Flat Bottomed Girls" rule change very close to the start of the 1983 season meant the designers had to really work hard to get a car ready for the first race in Rio.

I remember the Toleman TG183 having a few pages in an old Grand Prix International magazine - and the car looked like a brute parked up - very strong lines - Serena Williams sort of pretty.

Im very interested in those tandem wings. I've experimented with tandem fins on model rockets, and ran tandem (F&R) wings on my laydown RZ350 road course kart.

 

[brocky31]

The choice was very very very hard... I can aslo chose Brabham BT55, AGS JH25 or 24, Zakspeed 891 but...
Arrows A3

McLaren MP4/1

Lola THL1

Lotus 98T

 

[Dotini]

Tyrrell 018

• 

Ferrari 640

 

[-Fred-]

I'll also nominate the Benetton B188, one of the last cars out of Benetton that was not tainted by Flavio Briatore (guess which team (and which driver) is not going to get a single nomination from me in the 1990s thread?)

 

[Liquid]

Thanks for the nominations. The four cars going through are:

Lotus 98T
Brabham BT52
McLaren MP4/4
Ferrari 640

Unsuccessful Nominations

Williams FW13
Renault RE60
Brabham BT55
March 881
McLaren MP4
Ferrari F187/88C
Benetton B186
Arrows A3
Benetton B188
Ferrari F1-86
Brabham BT54
Williams FW09B
Ferrari 126C2
McLaren MP4/2
Toleman TG183
Toleman TG183B
Lola THL1
Tyrrell 018
Tyrrell 012
Arrows A10B
Williams FW12
Lotus 91
Williams FW11