Each country has its own unique paint colors used for racing cars in the past. Typically the UK is moss green, Italy is red, Germany is silver and France is blue. The color on French racing cars is also known as French Racing Blue and now this paint color has become a part of Bugatti’s history since its early days. In the present, before the brand enters a new era of electric vehicles, the brand is now looking back to their past to find the green of the future.
Over the years, French Racing Blue has changed with each successive Bugatti model. From the Type 35 to the EB110, to the modern Chiron or Bolide, this color has undergone slight changes to suit the brand’s wishes from stage to stage. Now, they’re set to do the same for their next era with a livery that’s meant to convey the brand’s electrification goals.
The color started out as a pale turquoise in the early 1920s, then quickly became a more saturated neutral tone with a darker blue undertone in the mid-20s. This is a color commonly considered blue. The blue of a Bugatti racing car. Later, trends of the time brought the color to a two-tone form consisting of a more vibrant blue with a pale turquoise. This is exactly the “Duotone” that enthusiasts see on cars like the Chiron today, where the front half is lighter blue and everything behind the “C” line is dark blue than. By this point, French Racing Blue had become extremely attached to the French Hypercar brand.
In 2007, having just become part of the VW Group, Bugatti decided to use every shade of blue it had used since its founding in 1909. From here, the brand launched as many as four shades Variations of this paint include a warmer blue, a cooler blue, a neutral blue, and most importantly, blue-tinted carbon fiber. Now, as one half of the Bugatti-Rimac joint venture, the blue-hunting French automaker will stick with its electrified future.
