41 cars from a dozen of automakers were arranged to form the Pirelli logo as a nod to a similar display from four decades ago.
Back in 1978, Italian tire manufacturer Pirelli put together an assembly of road-going cars to form the company’s well-known logo. The main idea behind the gathering was to prove that although the cars were different makes and models, all had something in common: Pirelli tires. In charge of immortalizing the vehicles was photographer Adrian Hamilton and the photo shoot was shortly followed by a TV ad directed by Giulio Cingoli with the “Tires with a capital P” slogan.
Now, four decades later, the display has been recreated, but with a more modern twist. Rather than using road-legal models, Pirelli has decided to bring together thoroughbred race cars at the famous Monza track in Italy. A total of 41 GT3s from the Blancpain GT Series were used, from 12 different manufacturers and with a total output of 22,000 horsepower. These were displayed on the track’s main straight where speeds of about 174 mph (280 kph) are common.
More than 150 people were involved in putting together the giant Pirelli logo, which measured 80 meters (262 feet) long and 18 meters tall. In order to make it all happen, all 41 cars had to be pushed into place one by one, so you can imagine it was a rather time-consuming process.
Why race cars from the Blancpain GT Series in particular? Because Pirelli is the sole tire vendor of the racing series, thus following the same reasoning that served as the basis for the 1978 photo shoot. Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lexus, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, Nissan, Porsche, and Jaguar – these were all represented on the track, highlighting the Blancpain GT Series has more manufacturers represented than any other motorsport series in the world and all of the cars have wheels wrapped in Pirelli tires.
Source: Pirelli