“Go Like Hell” – A Book Review

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt was kind enough to send me this book to review on my blog; here it is.

As I closed the cover of A. J. Baime’s book “Go Like Hell”, all I could think of was “hell-of-a-book”!

The book’s subtitle is “Ford, Ferrari, and their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans”, and that sums up very well the subject of his book.

Baime, an executive editor at Playboy magazine, has obviously done some extensive research to put the story together, with interviews with the some of major participants, and their associates, to get the inside perspective. I very much enjoyed finding out more of the players in this vast story, in particular Ken Miles, Phil Hill and John Surtees.

This is not at all a clinical analysis of what happened, but gets right in on the feeling of the 1950’s through to the late 1960’s, and the huge clashes of culture going on then.

These numerous culture clashes float up through the background of racing, spiraling into that landmark 1966 Le Mans: hot-rodders vs engineers, time vs development, American vs Italian, horsepower vs cylinders, corporate vs casual, global vs national, staid vs flashy, speed vs safety, individual vs team …

It’s all there, working together, bringing us through this exciting period of history.

The book is very easy to read thanks to the fine layout and design of graphic designer Brian Moore, who obviously researched his subject to bring in some subtile design touches.

Though I found only one very minor error in the book, there are two points with which I really take issue.

The title “Go Like Hell” is not a quote from the book (I couldn’t find it); it’s weak and totally misses to point of the story. “Speed and Glory” from the subtitle is a much stronger and accurate title to this book, and much more attractive.

The cover, which unfortunately was not designed by Mr. Moore, is horrendous. There are two possibly interesting front cover photos obliterated by a typographic monstrosity that looks like a “TIDE” logo. As I always tell my clients, it cost just as much to do it wrong as to do it right … unfortunately, they are not even close to doing the cover right here, and they are more than 8.36 miles off …

Most of us know this story, and we also know how it ends.
But A. J. Baime gives us the behind-the-scenes and the hard to find insights that make it enthralling.

You can pick it up here at Amazon ... you won't regret it!

1972 Norton Commando 750 Fastback

Recently, a friend of mine commissioned me to illustrate her husband's 1972 Norton motorcycle as a gift.

Pen & ink and Prismacolor pencils on white archival stock 12"x 9"
© Paul Chenard 2009

It was a fun project, and I guess it solicited the required response.

Dijon 1979 - A race not easily forgotten ...

The Renault Team was favored to make a clean sweep of the 1979 French Grand Prix. A French car on French soil driven by a Frenchman and fueled by French "carburant" had the making of P.R. gold.

But they didn't count on the tenacity of the Canadian driving for Ferrari ...
Pen & ink and Prismacolor pencils on gray archival stock
© Paul Chenard 2008
Original art available, as are limited editions.

Photographer, author, keynote speaker Allan De La Plante had the chance to witness that famous race; in his words:

Hi Paul,
I was there In Dijon that crazy day and it was something else. When I returned to the pits Gilles' T4 was sitting there all alone with the front tires completely spent, but the thing that got to me was the car was growning and creaking as it cooled down. It almost seemed to talk! I am sure the car was as satisfied as everyone, well almost everyone, that saw that almighty duel.
Nice work!

You can see Allan's fabulous photography at http://www.allandelaplante.webs.com/

L'art et l'automobile Catalog Auction

I'm very honoured to have two of my original artpieces in the current L'art et l'automobile auction.

Mister Jacques Vaucher's auctions are world renowned and respected for the quality and scope of the lots.








Fangio - Lancia D24 - La Carrera Panamericana 1953

Prismacolor pencils of red archival paper, 13" x 19.75"
© Paul Chenard 2007

My portrait of Juan Manuel Fangio and his win of the 1953 La Cerrara Panamericana in a Lancia D24 and my representation of Sir Stirling Moss' win of the 1959 Nurburgring 1000 km in an Aston Martin DBR1 are the two pieces represented.



Sir Stirling Moss - Aston Martin DBR1 -
Nurburgring 1000 km 1959

Prismaclor pencils on gray archival stock, 18" x 7"
© Paul Chenard 2008

Sir Jack Brabham - 50th Anniversary

Recently, I have been corresponding with Sir Jack Brabham, who is celebrating the 50th anniversary of his first of three F1 Driver's Championship wins. He suffers from kidney failure and is on dialysis; he lends his image and name to Australian Kidney Foundation, now Kidney Health Australia (KHA), for their fund-raising.

In his honour, I did a portrait featuring his wins. Though I will retain the image copyright world-wide, I decided to lend it, with unrestricted usage, to KHA for all and any of their fund-raising within Australia.





Pen & ink, and Prismacolor pencils on white archival stock
© Paul Chenard 2009

Available as a limited edition of 50 Giclee prints.

I emailed Sir Brabham for his approval of this idea, and at the same time, requested a quote related to the image that I could add directly to the piece.

A week and a half ago, he has emailed back his approval, copying KHA at the same time; he also gave me the requested quote!

KHA even emailed me their thanks, and the pleasure at being able to use the artwork. This is huge honour for me, with Sir Brabham's endorsement of my piece as a representative image for fund-raising.

Mike Hawthorn 1929-1959

I now have my Mike Hawthorn sketch available as a limited edition of 50 Giclee prints.


Pen & ink with watercolour and Prismacolor pencils on white archival Strathmore stock
© Paul Chenard 2009

It is currently featured in the Automobilia section of Classic & Sports Car magazine. This has lead to the first order of the print from a gentleman in Boston; he ordered it for his very best friend's birthday in England, who is a Hawthorn fan.

Once I packaged it up for shipping, I decided to decorate the back of the packaging with an original marker rendering of Hawthorn racing a Ferrari in the 1958 Grand Prix de Monaco.


Markers on corrugated cardboard © Paul Chenard 2009

Birthdays should always have happy surprises!

Porsche Of Halifax 2009 Rally

On May 24th, I had the pleasure of playing navigator for my friend Gordon’s beautiful raspberry 2008 Boxster on a Porsche Rally organized by Porsche of Halifax.

It was a well-prepared and well-attended event, featuring Boxsters, Caymans, Cayennes, 911 Turbos, Carrera 4Ss and Carreras, 21 Porsches in all. Even with the cool wind, and the spotty rain, it was still a fun event.

Each driver/navigator was given a list of directions, quiz questions, and route maps to help them along. The route started at the base of historic Point Pleasant Park in Halifax, snaked it’s way through the historic downtown, then across the Harbour through to Eastern Passage, up along the coast, past Lawrencetown Beach to finish at Porter’s Lake Provincial Park & Campground.

At key points along the whole route, we had questions to answer on the sheets, relating to your knowledge of Nova Scotia, past and present. The most right answers were rewarded with a beautiful Porsche 911 watch. Gord is a good, enthusiastic driver, so it was fun to ride shotgun with him.

Once arrived at Porters Lake, we were treated to a beautiful buffet lunch provided by the well-known and respected caterer Scanway. It was delicious!








I met someone really wonderful people, and had lots of fun. My hat goes off to Steve Archibald of Porsche of Halifax and his great team for pulling off a successful event.

I hope there will be more like it!

Porsche 917 – 40th Anniversary of the Legend - Part 2

Changing Lanes in 1972
For 1972, the Commission Sportive Internationale (CSI) changed the Makes rules, basically rendering the 917 obsolete for Group 5 Sports Cars.

At the time, Porsche was also involved with the Can-Am Challenge, having decided to re-purpose their racer to this end, and raise their growing profile in the North American market.

Can-Am racing patch, circa 1972

They created a new light-weight spyder body for the car and re-christened it the 917-10. At the time, they were also experimenting with engine turbo-charging, giving the car 850 bhp.

The new car, fielded by Penske Racing, was initially driven by Mark Donohue, but a testing accident sidelined him for the season. Driving duties were then taken up by George Follmer, who successfully broke McLaren Racing’s five-year dominance of the series, and won the Championship.




Penske Sunoco Porsche 917-30 - Can Am 1973
Pen & ink on vellum, digitally painted
© Paul Chenard 2007
Limited editions available.

917-30 – A Monster Machine
For 1973, Roger Penske and Mark Donohue redesigned the 917-10, giving a longer wheelbase, a more aerodynamic body, and a much more powerful twin-turbo-charged engine … 5.4-liters, 12 cylinders, 1250 bhp’s worth! The resulting top speed was 414 km/h (257 mph)!

The Penske Sunoco Porsche 917-30 was unstoppable, with the Donohue-driven car winning six out of the 8 races, and taking the Championship.

For 1974, the fuel-consumption rule-change, and the dwindling interest in Can-Am basically killed the series as it was, and the Porsche 917-30.



Martini Racing/Herbert Muller Interserie winner poster
80 cm x 37 cm, autographed by Muller, 1974.

The 917-30 found a renewed purpose in the European-based Interserie. In the hands of Swiss driver Herbert Müller, it was the winner of the 1974 Championship.

Porsche 917 – 40th Anniversary of the Legend - Part 1

Racing in their Blood
Porsche’s history in motor sports started in baby steps.
First there were the regular cars modified for racing, such as the Gmund racers.

With their cars potential clearly evident, Porsche developed it’s own racers: there was, from that point on, a steady succession of more and more powerful purpose-made racers.

Porsche RS60 - Sebring 1960
Prismacolor on Strathmore gray archival paper 9"x 4"
© Paul Chenard 2008
Philip Powell Collection

The 550, the 718, the RSK, the RS60, the 904, 906, 908, 910 all met with success. As each new racer emerged, Porsche eyed more and more closely the possibility of an outright win at the 24 hours Le Mans.

The Beginning of the Legend
For 1968, the Commission Sportive Internationale (CSI) decided that the International Championship of Makes would run 5-liter engines and to qualify, each maker had to produce a minimum of 25 cars. Porsche decided it was time to act. They took the 908 chassis, modified and strengthened it to carry a 4.5-liter flat-12 engine, while moving the cockpit forward; the 917 was born!




Corgi #385 Porsche 917 (England) 1970's

On April 20, 1969, Porsche stunned the CSI inspectors by having all 25 of the new racers ready for their viewing.

917K - The Le Mans Dynasty
The first attempt at Le Mans with the basically undeveloped new car was not successful. It was incredibly unstable at speed, with its body and suspension in need of more development. After a fatal first-lap crash of one of the new racers, all the other 917’s failed to finish, and one lone 908 finishing an extremely close second, driven by Hans Herrmann and Gérard Larrousse.

For 1970, under John Wyer’s JWA Team guidance, Porsche chopped the tail off, reshaped the body, and tweaked the suspension and tire choice. Combined, these changes created a huge difference it the 917, which became the 917K.


Porsche 917K - Le Mans 1970
Prismacolor on Strathmore black archival paper 19"x 12"
© Paul Chenard 2009
Original art available, as are limited editions.

At Le Mans, the car was unbeatable, with a win by the Porsche Salzburg team 917K No.23, masterfully driven by Hans Herrmann and Richard “Dickie” Attwood. Porsche goal to win the celebrated race came to fruition.

The wins did not stop there, with the 917Ks of JWA, Martini Racing, and Porsche Salzburg teams also winning the 24 hours of Daytona, the 1000 km of Brands Hatch, the 1000 km of Monza, the 1000 km of Spa, the 6 hours of Watkins Glen, the 500 km of Imola, the 1000 km of Zeltweg, just to name a few.

It was also had a staring role Steve McQueen’s movie “Le Mans”.

For 1971, the amazing 917 kept on winning; Le Mans, Buenos Aires, Daytona, Sebring, the Nurburgring, Monza, Spa, Zeltweg all fell to the powerful racer.

Including that first Le Mans win in 1970, Porsche has won the historic race a record sixteen times!

Steve McQueen & Le Mans 1970
Pen & ink on vellum, digitally painted
© Paul Chenard 2007

Gilles Villeneuve — Jan. 18, 1950-May 8, 1982

Sadly, it was 27 years ago today that we lost Gilles Villeneuve.

He still very much in our hearts ...

Monte Carlo Rallye tin toy

Design Edge magazine featured a story on graphic designers and their hobbies and personal interests, and how they mingle.

They were interested of how the Indian toy company Welby hired me to do the packaging for their new re-creation vintage toy.



















Talk about outsourcing!

Land Speed Record Cars - Part 2

There is renewed fascination with the land speed record, with two major efforts in the works.

There is the North American Eagle team using a highly modified F-104 Starfighter for their attempt at a new land speed record of 800 mph (1287 km/h)!

There is also the British Bloodhound SSC team, aiming for a record of 1000 mph (1,609 km/h)!

Will's Cigarette Cards "Speed" 2nd series (England) 1938

Toy land speed record cars from the past are not the only items available to fans of the sport.

Eagle Annual #3 "Motor Racing and Sports Cars", illustration by George Pye (England) 1950's

Many printed items are also out there celebrating the land speed records; magazines, books, print ads, collector cards, prints and art out there celebrating speed at the edge.


So-Cal Belly Tank Lakester
Prismacolor pencils on white archival stock 9"x 4"
© Paul Chenard 2008
Gary Grant Collection

Here are the ones I’ve picked up over the years, and the little bit of art I’ve done on the subject.
Enjoy!

World on Wheels Cards No.43, No.23 and No.38

Malcolm Campbell in Bluebird at Pendine Sands, January 1927
Pencil on paper, antique frame
© Paul Chenard 2006

Land Speed Record Cars - Part 1

People have always been focused and fascinated with speed.

From the speed of your computer to how quickly you can paint a room, everyone has some kind of stake in it.



Lledo/Kelloggs Land Speed Legends
Bluebird 1935 & Railton Mobil Special 1947 (England) 1993

But there is a small, but determined group who are steadfastly focused on the land speed record. People like Camille Jenatzy, Ralph DePalma, Malcolm Campbell, Henry Seagrave, George Eyston, John Cobb, Craig Breedlove, Art Arfons and Andy Green are some of the brave pioneers who pushed the limits to achieve the land speed record.

Dinky #220 Small Open racing Car (England) 1952

The publics fascination with this is, of course, supported by toy producers who make miniature versions of the exotic machines used to achieve a new record.

Here are some of the ones I have.
Enjoy!

Dinky #221 "Speed of the Wind" Distance Car & #23P MG Record Car (England) 1950's & 1947, CIJ No.3/2 Renault "Étoile Filante" Racing Car (France) 1957, Corgi #153 Proteus Bluebird (England) 1966

Chime Record Car, Tin Wind-up (Canada) 1930's

Mike Hawthorn 1929-1959

Pen & ink with watercolour and Prismacolor pencils on white archival Strathmore stock
© Paul Chenard 2009

John Michael “Mike” Hawthorn was a well-liked British racecar driver from Farnham. He was popular, and fun-loving, almost always sporting his trademark bowtie, even when racing.

His father Leslie owned own and operated the Tourist Trophy Garage and Mike spent most of his spare time working in his father’s garage, located close to the Brooklands race track.

He started racing motorcycles with some success, and in 1950, raced automobiles, also with success. In 1951, he graduated to a Formula 2 Cooper-Bristol that his father bought.

His racing prowess caught the attention of Jaguar’s Lofty England and Enzo Ferrari. Hawthorn was offered a contract with Ferrari and signed up for 1953.

His first F1 win came in the 1953 French Grand Prix at Reims, driving a Ferrari 500. Though less consistent and successful than others, he won 4 pole positions and 3 Grand Prix races in 45 starts. In 1958, he won only one race, but place 2nd in five races, allowing him to take the Formula 1 Driver’s Championship.

After winning, Hawthorn immediately announced his retirement from Formula 1 to pursue his business interests. Sadly, less than a year later, he was killed in an automobile accident.

Note: The sketch above is available as a 11"x 14.5" limited edition of 50 signed/numbered archival Giclee print for $150 USD each plus shipping/handling.

The Office Series – 1955 Jaguar D-Type

Not long after the Second World War, the Jaguar car company decided that they needed to promote themselves with an attention-getting product.

Pen & ink, watercolour pencil on white archival stock
© Paul Chenard 2009

Needless to say, they shook the automotive world by introducing the powerful and sleek XK-120 sports car. Powered by a straight-6 and clothed in a stunning sleek and low body, its performance matched its looks and orders flooded in.

A clocked speed of at least 120 mph suggested that it had potential as racing car, so Jaguar created a lighter, more streamlined of the car, calling it an XK-120-C, or C-Type.The racer won the prestigious 24 hours of Le Mans for 1951 and 1953.

To build on their success, Jaguar created an all-new racer for 1954, and christened it the D-Type. As a factory-built racer, it introduced the strong yet lightweight monocoque chassis. Designed by Malcolm Sayer, it sported a gorgeous aerodynamic body, producing minimal drag. It was powered by a modified XK straight-six engine, and sported disk brakes all around.

The first of it's 3 Le Mans wins came in 1955, under very sad circumstances, when Pierre Levegh’s Mercerdes SLR lost control and crashed, killing him and 80 spectators. Mike Hawthorn was the winning D-type’s driver, along with Ivor Bueb.



Pen & ink, watercolour pencil and Prismacolor on white archival stock
© Paul Chenard 2009

The D-type won again in 1956, under Écurie-Écosse Team management, with Ron Flockhart and Ninian Sanderson driving, and again in 1957, with again Flockhart, this time teamed up with Ivor Bueb.

By 1958, the D-type was no longer competitive, so the remaining cars were converted to road-specification as the XKSS.

Garry Sowerby: A Memorable Interview

Over the Christmas holidays, a select group of people received my limited edition signed and numbered Holiday card, and their responses were overwhelming.

















One of the recipients was local automotive journalist, record-breaker, adventurer, and event planner Garry Sowerby. I was always intrigued by his exploits, so I thought I should send him one of the cards.

In turn, Garry was intrigued to receive this card sent to him by a person completely unknown to him. So he called me to do an interview for his “Road Less Traveled” weekly feature in the “Wheels” section of our local Halifax Chronicle Herald paper.


I was thrilled to meet Garry. He has been described as the Indiana Jones of adventure driving, and has 4 world distance/time records under his belt, including 1980 world circumnavigation by car “Odyssey 77” in a Volvo station wagon in a record-breaking 74 days! His next record-breaking drive was the 1984 fastest drive from the bottom of Africa to the top of Europe “Africa-Arctic Challenge” (28 days), where he was shot at by Shifta bandits in Kenya. His third was the 1987 fastest drive from the bottom to the top of the Americas “Pan American Challenge” (23 days), and his last was the 1997 world circumnavigation by car “Frontera World Challenge” where he beat his origin record, with his new record being an amazing 21 days! All have been published in the Guinness Book of World Records.


He has published a great book of his adventures called “Sowerby’s Road – Adventures of a Driven Mind”. His company Odyssey International Limited does event planning and product launches for the major automotive companies, including General Motors, Honda, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Saturn, Saab, Vauxhall, Subaru and Ford.

Like I said, I was honoured to be interviewed by such accomplished adventurer. You can read his feature below; I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato: “Machismo” defined

After they introduced their stunning new Touring-bodied DB4 GT in 1959, Aston Martin decided to take on Ferraris SWB 250GTs with their own weapon.



Pen & ink and Prismacolor pencils on Canson green archival stock
© Paul Chenard 2009

They commissioned the Milanese firm of Zagato to make their new car competitive. Young designer Ercole Spada penned a fabulous lightweight “Superleggera” body, “super-light” in Italian, which refers to a Touring-developed construction method of a frame of small-diameter metal tubes built on the main chassis, and covered with aluminum body panels.

The car is a stunning purposeful-looking racer; Doug Nye described it as "a man's car" in his 1982 Salon feature review in Road & Track magazine. It is beautiful from every angle ... rolling sculpture.

Though the Zagato was slightly lighter the original DB4 GT, they were not competitive enough to beat the all-conquering Scuderia Ferrari, which introduced the GTO. They were raced by such famous drivers as Roy Salvadori and Jim Clark.

19 of the Zagatos were built originally, and in 1991, Aston Martin authorized the building of 4 more DB4 GT Zagatos, utilizing unutilized chassis numbers; these were labeled as Sanction II cars. The original cars rarely come up for sale, but if they did, the expected sale price would be at least $3 million USD.