Lotus Racing wants to revive the black and gold livery
Lotus Racing says it intends to run in a black and gold livery in 2011, and the team wants fans to help design it.
The colours first appeared in the 1971 Italian GP when Emerson Fittipaldi ran under the ‘Worldwide Racing’ banner to avoid any legal problems after Jochen Rindt’s accident the previous year. Team Lotus then ran in JPS colours from 1972-78, and again from 1981-86.
It’s an intriguing twist in the battle for the use of the Lotus name, because Group Lotus clearly wants to use green and yellow, as seen on Takuma Sato’s Indycar, in any racing activities.
Head of Marketing Silvi Schaumloeffel explained: “We have worked all year to make sure our fans are given unprecedented access to our team. We are all very excited about the move to a black and gold paint scheme for next season, and we want our fans to help us design the livery that will be racing around the world next year. We will shortly be announcing exactly how the fans can take part in our design process, so keep an eye on our website www.lotusracing.my for more details.
“The person who designs the livery we finally choose will be joining us at our first test next year to see the car out on track for the very first time, so for Lotus and F1™ fans it is the chance of a lifetime to help us take the next step forward in our amazing story in 2011.”
Adam Cooper's F1 Blog 
Sorry, can you remind me, which one is ‘Lotus Racing’ again?
Lotus is Lotus who are being sued by Lotus for the name Lotus.
No wait that doesn’t clear it up at all, does it?
hmmm, yes! They’re the ones owned by Malaysians.
Nope, hang on, that doesn’t help either.
Man that is real formula one tires. No at all like the f3 tires they use to day.
Funny they’re not mentioning what product the black and gold was used to advertise…
Interesting progression in the sport over 50 years from national colours, to colours driven solely by advertising, to colours driven by brand nostalgia.
So, where does exactly does Lotus (the Proton co.) stand on this??? Will Lotus sue Lotus for infringing on the use of the old Lotus’ colors, who were seperate from the original Lotus company?? My head is spinning now….thanks for the clarity, Ben!
Wouldn’t it have to be JPS that sued? Interesting question as to whether it’s the sponsor or the team that ‘owns’ the design.
Good question. It seems like once it’s on a car (in many racing series) it becomes property of the team, maybe in the contract. That’s just my guess. Is JPS still around??
Yes, according to Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Player_Special
Not necessarily the most reliable of sources…