Pirelli & C. S.p.A. used 41 cars, 12 prestige manufacturers, over 150 people and 22,000 horsepower to recreate a historic portrayal of the Pirelli logo from 1978 at a track in Monza, Italy.
The logo, 80 meters long and 18 meters tall, used a diverse set of modern cars featuring different makes, models, engines, architectures and styles – yet all with the same Pirelli tires. The GT3 cars that created it currently compete in the Blancpain GT Series: the world’s premier championship dedicated to road car-based racing machines, exclusively equipped by Pirelli.
The original 1978 concept involved a huge variety of different road cars from a mix of manufacturers, to illustrate that the one thing they had in common was their Pirelli tires. Photographer Adrian Hamilton directed the photo shoot, and there was also a TV ad produced by Italian director Giulio Cingoli, introducing the slogan: “Tires with a capital P”. This was also the very first TV ad that also spawned a “making of” spin-off.
Forty years later, another Pirelli logo was formed on the track thanks to a collaboration with championship organizer SRO. This has more manufacturers represented than any other motorsport series, including Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lexus, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, Nissan, Porsche and Jaguar. Each company was present within the Pirelli logo and represent a part of the prestige world in which Pirelli is the market leader with many of the companies using Pirelli tires exclusively.
