If you’re watching this weekend’s Penrite Oil Sandown 500, you might spy a Mustang rocking a familiar set of colors you wouldn’t normally associate with Ford. Actually, if you asked a North American or European car enthusiast which vehicles ran Castrol red, green, and white liveries, they might say Toyota.
Indeed, between the iconic Tom’s Supra, the Celica WRC car, and the Corolla WRC car, the classic Castrol white base livery is almost synonymous with fast Toyotas. Hundreds of real and virtual tributes exist, and I’ve seen these colors on everything from a Tercel to a GT86. However, Castrol doesn’t just sponsor Toyotas, and this Australian execution of the famed colors might be one of the best yet.
It all starts with the Ford Mustang V8 Supercar. Built for the Australian Supercars Championship, this Mustang gets revised bumpers and skirts, a tubular front end, a full cage, a big wing, double-wishbone front suspension, a six-speed sequential gearbox, and a spool in the rear end, as per regulations. All cars are balanced out on performance to keep racing close, and indeed, Supercars is home to some of the best touring car racing on the planet. Low downforce, close-quarters fights that are absolutely gripping to watch.
This weekend, Tickford Racing is plastering the definitive Castrol livery on its Mustang, and my word, does it ever look spectacular. The white base actually allows you to see the lines of the S650 Mustang, while pops of red and green add some proper flair. Also, kudos for speccing light-hued wheels. They just visually fill the arches so much better than black rollers and give this Mustang even more presence.
If I had a new Mustang, would I replicate this look? Yeah, probably. It’s not subtle, and it’s not exactly suited to many business parks or serious occasions in general life, but it’s hard to deny that it looks just brilliant. It almost makes you wonder what else would look brilliant in Tom’s Castrol livery. Lexus RC F, anyone?
(Photo credits: Tickford Racing)
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Some clarification- these aren’t modified Mustangs, they are a fully tube-framed chassis with some Mustang-shaped panels attached to the outside. And because they are a based on a ‘standardised’ chassis designed to be the same proportions as the competitors, there’s a good chance that no original Mustang panels would fit it anyway (although apparently the current version has been reshaped to be closer to an actual Mustang in size and proportions).
Ford has committed their final sin *shotgun-cocking*
Looks good, but the Celica GT-4 still wore it best.
Definitely fits the car well. Definitely not better.
Now let’s see it in orange and blue Gulf livery.
Actually, John Force Racing ran the red and green over white Castrol livery on Mustangs from the 80’s through the mid teens.
Quite successfully at that.
And a Pontiac too.
The red and green over white has been a Castrol thing forever, well at least from the turn of the late ’70’s, back in 1979 I won a white Castrol jacket with green and red stripes.
And I sure hope John can rehab enough to drive once more.
But as a hero to me, I can understand if he has had enough by this point.
So this is the second time this year the Castrol livery has been on a “Mustang”