A Liger LMP3 prototype is not a normal car. It is a purpose-built closed-cockpit race machine with compound curves, carbon fiber aero surfaces, and bodywork that was designed with one thing in mind: going fast. When Diehl Automotive brought this LMP3 to AZ Rag for a full race livery, the design brief was straightforward. Bold colors. Strong branding. A wrap that would hold up at race pace and look right in pit lane, at speed, and in photographs from every angle. Here is how we built it.
The Challenge: Wrapping a Prototype Race Car
Most vehicles that come into the shop have a painted body with predictable panel geometry. A Liger LMP3 is not that. The bodywork is made up of carbon fiber panels shaped entirely around aerodynamic function. There are no flat surfaces. Every panel transitions into the next one through a compound curve, and the surfaces that look simple from a distance are often the most difficult to install on without lifting edges or creating tension wrinkles.
The nose, sidepods, and rear diffuser area all require custom template work before a single panel of film goes down. The wing endplates sit at angles that create stress on the material if the installation sequence is wrong. Miss any of these and the wrap will fail on the first race weekend, sometimes the first corner.
This is why race car wraps on prototype platforms demand a different skill set than a street car color change or a commercial van graphics package. The install methodology, the material choice, and the sequencing are all different.
The Diehl Automotive Livery Design
The livery is built around three colors: race red, gloss black, and white. The base body is covered in red, with large geometric black shapes cutting across the nose, cockpit surround, and rear body panels. White serves as the contrast element, pulling the eye across the car and making the Diehl Automotive branding land with impact on the flanks.
The design reads at speed. From a trackside perspective at Flatrock or any road course, the large-format shapes register instantly without needing to read the text. That is a deliberate characteristic of good motorsport livery design. At 100 miles per hour, you have a fraction of a second to make an impression. The Diehl livery does it.
The rear wing view is where the livery pays off. Looking straight back at the car, the large rear wing frames the red and black geometry in a way that reads more like fine art than racing graphics. That is not an accident.
Material and Installation
The full livery was installed using 3M IJ175cv3 cast film with 3M 8518 overlaminate. Cast film is required on a car with this kind of surface geometry. Calendered film does not have the conformability to handle tight compound curves over carbon fiber without edge lifting or surface tension. IJ175cv3 is the correct material for prototype race car installations, and it is the same film we used on the Liger LMP3 Cosmic Blue livery for Flatrock Motorclub that came through the shop earlier this year.
The 3M 8518 overlaminate protects the gloss red finish through race weekends, trailer transport, and the handling that comes with competition use. It adds durability without changing the visual profile of the underlying film.
Why AZ Rag
AZ Rag handles print and installation in-house. For a livery build like this one, that matters. When the print comes from the same shop doing the install, the color accuracy is consistent from panel to panel, the sizing is exact, and there is no handoff where something gets lost. We are a 3M Certified Installation Company, which means our installers are trained and tested on the materials we use. That is the standard we hold the work to on every build, whether it is a commercial van or an LMP3 prototype. If you want to see what that looks like on a different platform, the Porsche GT4 Clubsport livery we built for Flatrock Motorclub is another example of what this shop does with a purpose-built race car.
Ready to Build Your Race Livery?
If you are running a prototype, GT car, or any purpose-built race vehicle and need a livery that holds up to competition use, get a race car wrap quote and tell us what you are working with. We will handle the rest.
