Marketing discovers motor racing

Contrary to common belief, it wasn’t Team Lotus that introduced non-automotive full-livery sponsorship to international motor racing. Although Colin Chapman loved to exploit it that way, it would only be correct in terms of a full World Championship campaign.

The first Company to line up two fully liveried Formula 1 cars at the grid of a Grand Prix was the Gunston Cigarette Company of Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. Gunston introduced tobacco sponsorship to motor racing when they sponsored Rhodesian drivers John Love and Sam Tingle in the 1968 South African Championship for F1 and F5000 machinery.

As the South African F1 GP simultaneously represented the first round for the domestic series, John Love lined up a Brabham BT20–Repco and Sam Tingle an LDS Mk3B, both sporting the typical orange Gunston livery including a brown horizontal stripe with golden border stripes. Team Lotus still used British racing green in Kyalami, as can be seen on the picture above, showing Graham Hill leading the fight for 2nd place at the South African GP.

In the background of the shot above John Love’s Brabham can be spotted already wearing the orange Gunston livery. That’s the proof. Lotus only entered a Grand Prix in Player’s Gold Leaf cigarette livery at the next round of the World Championship, the Spanish GP in May. However, Team Lotus appeared for the very first time in Gold Leaf colours at the Wigram round of the Tasman Series on the 20th of January, Jim Clark taking the win with his Lotus 49T.

Of course Team Lotus went on to win the World Championship that year, while Gunston would remain true to their market in South Africa. The Rhodesians had acquired right from the paddock in Kyalami the Lotus 49 driven by Graham Hill to 2nd place and Love, a multiple South African Champion, took the car to national honours the same year.