**The Origin of Racing Stripes: A Tradition that Started with a Revolutionary Design**

In the car world, racing stripes are synonymous with performance, and tapping into this decades-long tradition is like getting an Insane Clown Posse tattoo - you're letting people know you're about that life. Mother (beep)er. Even if you ironically put stripes on a beater, it's funny because we know stripes are meant for a true sports car.

But why? American car companies have been painting stripes on their cars for decades. They started it in the '60s, because that's when stripes started to mean fast. Ford had solid stripes, Chevy had little pin stripes around their stripes, and Dodge had stripes down the side. Each company had their own little twist on the racing stripe.

However, this doesn't answer our question, because stripes didn't just appear overnight. So I looked to the car with the longest history of racing stripes I could think of - The Shelby GT350. The GT350 came out in 1965, and besides its otherworldly performance, its standout feature were the blue stripes over the white body.

When I saw that, I thought stripes, Shelby... AHH! The Cobra! I forgot about the Cobra. I felt like an idiot, which wasn't new but (mouse clicks) it was a relief. The Cobra predates the Mustang by four years, and as a car you can't even imagine without stripes. Surely, this must be the first car with stripes!

But I go to look it up, and guess what? The first one didn't have stripes! It didn't have stripes until 1965, when the GT350 got stripes. I don't know what's going on? What happened in 1965? (sighs) Well, I'll tell you.

**The Birth of a Design Revolution: Pete Brock and the Cobra**

Pete Brock happened. The first Cobra was a cool race car, but it was about as aerodynamic as a brick. So when Carroll Shelby took it to Le Mans, he got destroyed down the long straights by the sleeker Ferraris. Shelby knew his next car for the 1964 season needed to be a coupe.

Pete Brock was the guy he chose to design this Ferrari killer. Brock had done such a good job that he was promoted to head of special projects in 1965, and that's the year he decided to paint stripes. There's no way this isn't the guy who made the stripes!

Someone asked him, Pete, your blue stripes - you've changed cars forever. How did you come up with such a simple yet brilliant design?

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(engines roaring)- Racing stripes are on anythingfrom badass performance cars,this motorcycle I saw outside the office,and this weird guitar I found online.I mean look at this thing it looks fast,and it's a guitar.Stripes have become auniversal symbol for speed.But why?Where'd they come from?And who was the first person to putracing stripes on a race car?I'm Nolan Sykes and this is Wheel House.In the car world racingstripes mean performance.(tires screeching)If you have racing stripespainted onto your car,you're tapping into adecades-long tradition.It's like getting anInsane Clown Posse tattoo.You're letting people knowyou're about that life.Mother (beep)er.Even if you ironicallyput stripes on a beater,it's funny because we know stripesare meant for a true sports car.But why?American car companies have been paintingstripes on their cars for decades.They started it in the '60s,because that's when stripesstarted to mean fast.Ford had solid stripes,Chevy had little pin stripesaround their stripes,and Dodge had stripes down the side.Each company had their own littletwist on the racing stripe.But this doesn't answer our question,because stripes didn'tjust appear over night.So I looked to the car with the longesthistory of racingstripes I could think of.The Shelby GT350.The GT350 came out in 1965.And besides it's otherworldly performance,it's stand out feature were the bluestripes over the white body.When I saw that I thought stripes,Shelby (clicks tongue) Ahh.The Cobra!I forgot about the Cobra.I felt like an idiot.Which wasn't new but,(mouse clicks)but it was a relief.The Cobra predates theMustang by four years.And as a car you can't evenimagine without stripes.Surely, this must be thefirst car with stripes!But I go to look it up.And guess what?The first one didn't have stripes!It didn't have stripes until 1965,when the GT350 got stripes.I don't know what's going on?What happened in 1965?(sighs)Well I'll tell you.Pete Brock happened.The first Cobra was a cool race car.But it was about asaerodynamic as a brick.So when Carroll Shelby took it to Le Mans,he got destroyed down the long straightsby the sleeker Ferraris.Shelby knew his nextcar for the 1964 seasonneeded to be a coupe.Pete Brock was the guy he choseto design this Ferrari killer.Brock had done such a good job,that he was promoted to headof special projects in 1965,and that's the year hedecided to paint stripes.There's no way this isn'tthe guy who made the stripes.Someone asked him,Pete your blue stripesyou've changed cars forever,how did you come up with such a simpleyet brilliant design?"Well" he said, "I didn't."What?I thought we had it.Brock gave credit to Briggs Cunningham,another guy I've never heard of.So who was Briggs Cunningham?He was some guy obsessedwith motor sports.Cunningham showed up to Le Mans in 1951with two cars he designed himself.They were called Cunningham C-2Rs.As far as American cars gothe C-2Rs were revolutionary.But Cunningham's longestlasting legacy was in the paint.The rules at the time said that every carhad to be painted thatteam's national color.And America's colors werewhite and imperial blue.Now normally teams would just paintthe body white and the frame blue.But Briggs was a bit of a show boat.He painted two blue stripes on topof the white from front to back,because he thought it looked cool.And it did!Fan's and teams alike couldn't stoptalking about Cunningham's cars.They'd never seen anything like it.This was the first time racing stripesas we know them wereever used in competition.While all this was going on,a young Pete Brock was reading about it.And he saw that Cunningham was buildingcars unlike anybody else.A guy no one had ever heard ofwas doing things that nobody thought he could.I think that's pretty cool.So Shelby's got theirstripes from Pete Brock,a guy we've never heard of,who's honoring Briggs Cunningham,another guy we've never heard of.And the Daytona, Cobra, and GT-350,were all such truly dominant carsthat their stripes becamesynonymous with performance.Right now there arehundreds of guys and galsthat you've never heardof painting racing stripeson their cars just like those other guysyou've never heard of.I'm Nolan Sykes,the guy you've neverheard of saying thanksguys I've never heard of,for everything.Thanks for watching Wheel House,remember to like, comment,share and subscribe.It really helps us out.Ah we got a lot of new shows on Donut,Monday is Wheel House with me.Tuesday is Field Prep with Matt Field,he's building a formula drift Corvette.Wednesday is Science Garage with Bart.It's prolly my favorite show right now.Thursday is Up to Speedwith James Pumphrey,tells you everything you needed to knowabout your favorite cars.Friday is The Bestest with Tony,the top 10 countdown ofall the coolest stuff.If you watch our channel everydayI guarantee you're gonna know a lot moreabout cars than when you started.Bye.