John Player Special

If Gulf represented elegance and endurance racing romance, John Player Special represented pure Formula One theatre.

The black-and-gold JPS livery is arguably the most intimidating design motorsport has ever produced. It didn’t merely decorate racing cars — it transformed them into symbols of danger, glamour and excess. Even today, decades after tobacco advertising disappeared from top-level motorsport, the sight of a black Lotus with gold pinstriping still feels dramatic.

The partnership began in the early 1970s when Lotus teamed up with John Player & Sons, the British cigarette manufacturer behind the John Player Special brand. Formula One was entering a new commercial age, and sponsorship liveries were becoming increasingly important. Colin Chapman, Lotus founder and one of motorsport’s greatest innovators, understood that appearance mattered almost as much as engineering. The JPS identity became one of the first liveries to fully embrace Formula One as spectacle.

The choice of black and gold was inspired. Earlier racing cars often carried bright national colours or simple sponsor decals, but Lotus created something far more sophisticated. The glossy black bodywork looked luxurious and threatening at the same time, while the gold lettering and striping added a sense of wealth and precision. Under sunlight the cars shimmered. Under floodlights they looked almost sinister.

Importantly, the livery perfectly matched the atmosphere of Formula One during the 1970s and 1980s. This was the era of enormous personalities, dangerous circuits and technological revolutions. Drivers were celebrities in a way that felt closer to rock stars than athletes. There was glamour, but there was also constant risk. The JPS Lotus cars captured both sides of that identity.

Cars such as the Lotus 72, 78 and 79 became icons not just because they won races, but because they looked unforgettable while doing it. The Lotus 79 in particular is often regarded as one of the most beautiful Formula One cars ever built. Its low, sleek ground-effect shape already appeared futuristic, but the black-and-gold paint transformed it into something almost mythic.

The drivers associated with JPS Lotus added even more weight to the legend. Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti, Ronnie Peterson and later Ayrton Senna all raced black-and-gold Lotus machinery. Each contributed to the mythology in different ways. Andretti brought world championship success. Peterson brought fearless speed. Senna brought intensity and mystique during the later years of the livery’s life.

Senna’s connection with JPS Lotus is particularly important to its lasting image. Photographs of a young Ayrton Senna wrestling a black-and-gold Lotus in wet conditions remain some of the defining visuals of Formula One history. The combination of Senna’s raw aggression and the dramatic livery created imagery that still feels powerful decades later.

Part of what made JPS so effective was restraint. Unlike many liveries overloaded with logos and colours, Lotus kept the design clean. Large areas of black bodywork gave the cars confidence. The gold detailing was precise rather than excessive. It felt expensive without trying too hard.

The livery also reflected the changing culture of Formula One itself. During the JPS years, Formula One increasingly embraced luxury branding, celebrity culture and international glamour. Monaco, champagne, private jets and elite sponsorship became central to the sport’s identity. JPS looked like it belonged in that world. The cars resembled high-end products as much as racing machines.

When tobacco sponsorship disappeared from Formula One in the 2000s, many feared iconic liveries would lose their relevance. Instead, JPS became even more legendary. Freed from its original advertising purpose, the design could simply exist as art and nostalgia. Fans who never saw the cars race still wear black-and-gold Lotus merchandise and build scale models because the aesthetic remains so powerful.

Modern Formula One teams continue to borrow from the JPS visual formula. Matte-black liveries, gold accents and minimalist sponsor placement all trace some influence back to those Lotus cars. Even when teams attempt entirely modern designs, echoes of JPS remain visible because it established the blueprint for how to make a racing car look intimidating and elegant simultaneously.

What ultimately separates John Player Special from most sponsor liveries is emotional atmosphere. Gulf evokes romance and endurance. Martini evokes style. Marlboro evokes aggression. JPS evokes danger.

It looked like Formula One at its most glamorous and most lethal.

That is why it endures.