In 2000, now Bathurst winner Paul Morris purchased a former Holden Racing Team Commodore to race in the Shell V8 Supercars Championship. The livery that adorned it will go down as one of the most unusual of all time.

Let’s be honest, it’s pretty damn hideous! The main sponsor, Big Kev, was a range of cleaning products owned by Big Kev himself, Kevin McQuay. Big Kev would become famous around Australia for his TV commercial catchphrase “I’m excited!”, which I for one ran around the school playground imitating with my friends. An interesting personality but a brand you wouldn’t normally associate with motorsport.

The car was mainly yellow and faded sharply into a deep orange on the bottom of the sides, with the very bottom in straight black. The Big Kev logo was blue with a thick white border and placed nice and big on the side of the car. It’s a nice clear logo but underneath it is a silhouette of a palm tree and some white tropical flowers. This could have a deeper meaning (albeit unlikely), but to me it just looks like something you’d find in a gift shop from your last tropical holiday.

However, the kicker on this livery is Big Kev himself, as a big cut out on the rear quarter panel. Roughly cropped and with and “I’m excited!” speech bubble coming out of his mouth, this bit of design is absolutely absurd, but something we remember fondly, in the worst kind of way.

The livery was retained for 2001 as well and I remember this car specifically when playing V8 Supercars on PS2 (I believe TOCA Race Driver outside of Australia). So take this as a reminder that ugly cars can be appreciated down the track, even if they are ridiculed at the initial launch. I wonder what other cars we’ll look back at with fond memories in a few years?

As an aside, here’s probably the moment this car is remembered for most: