There are examples of great looking race car paint schemes in every decade. - And not every car in each decade followed the same guidelines for how they laid things out. The really wild paint jobs that included flames, lace, scallops. fish scales, stripes, murals, metalflake, gold leaf, candies and pearl come to mind.
Years ago I wanted to get into custom painting and I bought and read almost every book I could find on the subject. One of the best I read was called RACE CAR GRAPHICS. One of the things that they stressed in the book was contrast. They said (and I believe) that when a successful paint job was done, photos of it in color AND in black and white should all stand out. It ensured that the graphics would be crisp and clear and stand out even in low light conditions.
