Porsche 911 M42 Martini Stripe

We love working with classic cars (we started Sign-Rite Grafix in 1985, pinstriping cars) so naturally, when Bicester Sports & Classics and DS Automotives contacted us to supply and fit M42 Martini side stripe decals to this Porsche Carrera we were thrilled.

History: M42 Martini Stripe

If you’re reading this you are likely a fan of the car, and possibly looking for the rare Martini livery kit required to restore this beauty to its former glory. We’ll get to that, and how you can buy one in a minute. First, a little back story.

The cars were not an official limited edition like the 924 Martini. The factory optioned stripes (code M42) were the only thing that sets a Martini Turbo apart from a standard car. The standard 911 SC could also be optioned with the Martini stripe. Some Martinis have the Dr.Fuhrmann orthopaedic seats which are colour coded to match the Martini livery. Porsche specialist Philip Raby, who wrote an article on an owner’s Martini Turbo for 911 & Porsche World magazine in 2004 commented:

“I’m not exaggerating when I say that the car is almost unique. If Porsche had produced an actual limited-edition 911 Turbo with Martini livery, there’d be a record of the number made, but because the Martini stripes were only an option, no one knows exactly how many cars were equipped with them. [The owner], however, has done some research and he believes that around 24 right-hand-drive Turbos with the Martini option were sold in 1979. It seems that most were white and had the eye-catching Caramel interior with its strange mix of leather and fabric seat coverings. It’s thought that this is because, in many cases, dealers ordered the cars to display in their showrooms, and so went with the colour scheme favoured by Porsche. It’s also apparent that the stripes could be bought and retrofitted to an existing car, although there is no evidence that this ever happened.”

Producing A Porsche 911 M42 Martini Stripe Livery Decal Kit

Decal kits for this are hard to come by on the internet, and on our research, we found many that differed from the original. So armed with original photos and Martini colour swatches we set to work hand-mapping out the kit, ensuring a true fit to the body of the car. Once the outline is masked out we take a tracing.

This tracing is then laid flat and photographed ready for digitising.

We digitally redraw the outline and fill out all Martini line detailing, ensuring it corresponds with original kit measurements. The file is then set up for printing and cutting.

Finally the decals are fitted to the Porsche 911. As you can see, the results are phenomenal.