When did sponsorship first appear in F1?

[D-Type]

Well that wraps up the "whole car in sponsor's livery in Formula 1?" - Team Gunston, Kyalami 1968

I believe that it was 1967 when the FIA/CSI and hence all the member clubs allowed decals of a certain size in all classes of racing including Formula 1. can anyone confirm this?

The Mexican Carrera Panamericana allowed cars to display sponsorship. I believe the first Carrera was in 1950.

The Coronation Safari rally allowed cars to display sponsorship from 1956

[Mekola]

Also many Grand Prix cars during the Temporadas Argentinas of 1948-50 carried sponsors on their hoods. Fernet Branca and Cerveza Quilmes inscriptions were noted on them among others.

Also it's known that Juan Manuel Fangio had a long sponsoring agreement with Suixtil during his racing years.

[Don Capps]

Without doing research, just thinking aloud, what about the Indy 500, when it was counted as a part of the WDC or whatever?

The Indy 500 was a round of the World Championship but it was not a Formula 1 race.

Although usually pointed omitted or completely ignored by the European F1 fan types, the International 500 Mile Sweepstakes event was a part of the CSI World Championship for Drivers from 1950 until 1960. From 1948 to 1953, the event was run with the contemporary International Formula/ Formula 1 as the basis of the technical rules for the AAA Contest Board's Contest Rules governing the National Championship cars. Although the Contest Board added several options to the technical rules and eventally made the grandfather clause for the use the 3-litre/183 cubic inch supercharged engines from the previous International Formula permenant, thereby postponing adopting the 1.5-litre supercharged engines, so by and large the cars competing in the Indianapolis events held from 1950 thru 1953 met the F1 specifications. Not so much a quibble as explaining that the decision of the CSI to include Indianapolis as part of the world championship was not as far-fetched as some think it was. The decision by the Contest Board not to adopt the new CSI International Formula decided upon in the Fall of 1951 meant that from 1954 thru 1960 the Indianapolis was not an F1; however, that was also irrelevant given that there was no stipulation by the CSI that an event in the WCD had to be run to the International Formula. It was not until the adoption of the formula for 1961-1963 seasons that the CSI made it a requirement that WCD events be run to the International Formula.

Well that wraps up the "whole car in sponsor's livery in Formula 1?" - Team Gunston, Kyalami 1968

I believe that it was 1967 when the FIA/CSI and hence all the member clubs allowed decals of a certain size in all classes of racing including Formula 1. can anyone confirm this?

The Mexican Carrera Panamericana allowed cars to display sponsorship. I believe the first Carrera was in 1950.

The Coronation Safari rally allowed cars to display sponsorship from 1956

In its Fall 1967 meeting, effective 1 January 1968, the CSI allowed advertising on racing vehicles in international competition; or something like that given that various countries had been allowing this for years by that time. There was a total of such-and-such square cm for the advertising logos, decal, whatever. I have that information buried somewhere in my files. This was very typical of the CSI, accepting reality a bit late in the day -- the decals were already there -- and then tossing in some regulations to ensure that it got properly muddled. In the US, the SCCA was about the sum total of those not opening allowing advertising on race cars, although decals had been popping up in the SCCA pro series for some time. Obviously, unlike most here I never got my knickers in a wad over this issue given that racing takes money -- and lots of it.

The Mexican Carrera races began in 1950 and allowed advertising/ sponsorship on the the vehicles.

Mekola properly points out that such advertising was already common in South America.

[FAL]

The then RACMSA also permitted advertising in its UK motorsport from 1.1.68. A rare instance for the time of alignment of new regulations with FIA (or CSI, FISA or whatever it was that week). 55 square inches was the permitted maximum dimension (in pairs, one each side) for the number of stickers permitted (5?).

[BDunnell]

The then RACMSA also permitted advertising in its UK motorsport from 1.1.68. A rare instance for the time of alignment of new regulations with FIA (or CSI, FISA or whatever it was that week). 55 square inches was the permitted maximum dimension (in pairs, one each side) for the number of stickers permitted (5?).

Well, I have truly learned something there. Thank you, FAL.

[Don Capps]

The then RACMSA also permitted advertising in its UK motorsport from 1.1.68. A rare instance for the time of alignment of new regulations with FIA (or CSI, FISA or whatever it was that week). 55 square inches was the permitted maximum dimension (in pairs, one each side) for the number of stickers permitted (5?).

I do not think that I was alone at the snickering at this utter nonsense.... The pomposity of European racing -- and its often dimwitted stepchild the SCCA -- at the time was often a source of great amusement and jollity for many of us.

[Rollo]

Do you include this:


Do we include Fred Agabashian's 1952 Indianapolis 500 entrant, was decked out in Cummins corporate colours?

[Rollo]

I also wonder if something like the Peugeot which won the 1913 Indianapolis 500 should be included, because it was running Peugeot's corporate blue, which it was sort of mandated to by the FIA anyway. It was the same Peugeot EX3 which finished second to Georges Boillot at the French GP a couple of months later.

[D-Type]

Napier green and wasn't "Bugatti bleu" deliberately selected to be the exact colour of a make of cigarette (Gitanes?) to tie in to an advertising campaign.

I think in this context, Indianapolis should not be considered "Formula 1" as it was a different culture from Europe. "Blue Crown Spark Plug Special" makes sense but I do think the "Sugar-ripe Prune Special" was carrying things a bit far.

[Don Capps]

"Blue Crown Spark Plug Special" makes sense but I do think the "Sugar-ripe Prune Special" was carrying things a bit far.

Not if you needed to find the funding to field an entry.

As noted, difficult cultures, different approaches to how to finance automobile racing. It should be noted that the American approach seems to have won out over time....