06th August, 2019
We explain the inspiration behind the rather ‘out-there’ Autohouse Storage Racing livery.
As well publicised on our social media channels, we teamed up with Brisbane’s premier auto-styling workshop Gangsta Wraps based just minutes down the road from us in Sumner Park. Whilst their bread and butter product tends to be mono-colour wraps for road cars, they took to this new challenge like a duck to water. Naturally, the design process was a comprehensive one, and took no less than 4 sit-down review sessions with their in-house designer Josh before the final product was sent to print.
How It Started
The bland and basic colour scheme that the car came with really wasn’t floating our boat
When we purchased the car in late 2018, it arrived with a pretty basic silver and red colour scheme. Whilst we were fully aware that visual aesthetics don’t make the car go faster, a complete livery overhaul was certainly on the list from day one. After experiencing some minor accident damage at a race meeting at QR in March 2019, it was decided that that would be the catalyst for a new colour scheme.
The Inspiration
They say imitation is the best form of flattery
We’re not exactly the most creative thinkers here at Autohouse, so when it came to our race livery inspiration, we basically stole a good idea and made our own version of it. As can be seen above, the basic concept came from the GTE-AM class winning 2018 Le Mans 24hr Porsche 911 RSR. One of the three Drivers who took a convincing victory was humble Queenslander Matt Campbell, who is these days a highly-regarded Porsche Factory Driver, in which he became after winning Australian Carrera Cup in 2016 – another reason the design concept felt rather appropriate for us.
Warwick (QLD) native Matt Campbell took class victory at Le Mans in this beast of a 911 in 2018
The funky geometric triangular pattern caught our attention, although we certainly felt compelled to put our own personal touches on it…
The Blue
The first (and most important tweak) was getting the blue on the left rear quarter right. Whilst Proton-Dempsey RSR features light shades of blue, we want something a bit deeper and bit bolder. We didn’t have to look outside the Porsche world to get it – we simply requested a 50/50 split of Porsche Miami Blue (from the latest 911 GT3) and Porsche Mexico Blue (a shade of blue offered by Porsche in the 70’s). The end product was absolutely on point, and we think is the real focal point of the car.
We didn’t have to look very far for an example of Miami Blue – in fact it came to us!
The Green
The front right quarter was treated to a turquoise treatment. The idea for this was inspired by the famous Falken Tyres livery, which has been seen in the top flight of motorsport competition for the best part of 3 decades. Whilst not intended to be an exact colour match, we’ve always been big fans of the Falken livery since the days of Peter Fitzgerald campaigning the colour scheme in the 1990’s Australian Porsche Cup. We had originally intended to replicate the Proton-Dempsey car and feature the same blue as the left rear, but we ultimately decided a splash of Maldives-inspired turquoise was something a bit different and a bit more original.
Blue and green must never be seen? We don’t think so.
The Orange
Is there a better colour for wing mirrors than dayglo orange? We didn’t think, so inspired by the 2018 Nurburgring 24hr winning Porsche 911 RSR from the Manthey Racing team, we insisted on some bright and cheerful wing mirrors.
