In celebration of sixty years of Grand Prix racing, Yamaha has brought its decades-old livery back to the showroom floor with new World GP 60th Anniversary Editions of its YZF-R lineup. Of everything the company could have done to celebrate this anniversary, this one is pretty darn cool. The red-over-white with a yellow accent is a vintage look that works perfectly on the angular superbike look of the company’s current track-ready machines. The R1, R7, and R3 are all dolled up in vintage cosplay, and I love every bit of it.
With 511 GP victories and a whopping 37 constructor titles, Yamaha has been racing Grand Prix motorcycles for a long time, and winning with them nearly as long. The company scored its first win in the 250cc class back in 1963 and won its first championship in 1964, so by this point it’s quite obvious that racing is in Yamaha’s blood, and this is more than a cynical motorsport-themed cash grab.
Speaking of cash, this special livery is only going to cost new customers a $500 premium. The 321cc YZF-R3 will cost you $5,499 decked out this way, while the 689c twin YZF-R7 with heritage white paint over redline is a paltry $9,299, while the full-boat liter bike YZF-R1 is a $18,099 proposition. All of these bikes will become available at your local dealership in November of this year. There’s no indication that these bikes will be limited production, so if you want one and you can afford it, you should be able to get one.
Now in its sixtieth year racing in what would become MotoGP, it’s quite clear that Yamaha still knows what it’s doing. This season the team has won six GPs and sits at the top of both the teams and riders championships with Fabio Quartararo. While there has been, um, a bit of drama with Maverick Viñales, that isn’t slowing the team down much. The Blu Cru is still making history with every race, so why not celebrate that with a nice throwback?
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