Bugatti Club Italia visits Spain 2006

In 2006, my family and I had the great pleasure of visiting Spain.

It was a fabulous trip, filled with amazing futball (soccer), amazing people, amazing food, amazing art and amazing scenery.

Towards the end of our trip, on our way back to Barcelona, we stayed in the fabulous village of Morella, about 3 hours west of Barcelona. It was dramatic and picturesque, and the drive there was stimulating.

All photos © Paul Chenard 2006

On our second day, while sitting down for tapas and cerveza, we heard an engine sound like I've never before ... the sound of riping callico! The Bugatti Club Italia arrived in town, part of their organized tour of the Valencia region of Spain.

There were T23's, T35's, T37's, T40's and a T55, nine in all, followed a Porsche 356 Spyder support car and famed British Bugatti restorer Malcolm Gentry in an equipment van.

It was a very impressive gathering in a very dramatic setting!


All photos © Paul Chenard 2006
















All photos © Paul Chenard 2006

Mosport Vintage Racing Festival 2007 - Movies

These are some of the movies my son Laurent made of the 2007 Mosport Vintage Racing Festival, celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Formula 1 at that track. Enjoy!

All videos © Laurent Chenard 2007

Tragedy at Mosport

Tragedy struck at the 2008 Mosport Vintage Racing Festival when the 1977 Ex Gilles Villeneuve Wolf Dallara CanAm car of Dino Crescentini crashed at high speed. Organizers canceled the rest of the day’s races out of respect to Mr Crescentini and his family.

We saw Mr Crescentini racing at last year's Festival; here is a small video clip shot by my son of the racer in action:



Our hearts go out the Mr Crescentini's family and his fellow racing fraternity.

Mosport Vintage Racing Festival — June 20-22

A year ago this coming weekend, my son Laurent and I spent the weekend at the Mosport Vintage Racing Festival, celebrating 40 Years of Formula 1 as Mosport. This year, they celebrate 40 years of Can-Am at Mosport, with the featured mark being Lola, who are celebrating their 50th year.

Our dear friend Gary Grant, creator and scribe extraordinaire of The Garage Blog made our visit there as smooth as it could be for us Maritimers.

The noticeble lack of spectators for such an amazing racer-attended event hurt our Automobiliart.com sales, but that was made up by the amazing people I got to meet and can now proudly call my friends.

Though I couldn't really attend the races, having to stay at the booth, my son Laurent wandered high and low, taking stunning pics. I'm attaching some of his great work. Enjoy!


Dave Boon of Ottawa brought along his famous Hubley Bluenose Special; what a wonderful gentleman with a beautiful old racer.

Some of the more modern machinery was there too.

Brabham BT26



McLaren M26


Wolf WR1


Williams FW07

All photos © Laurent Chenard 2007

John Surtees OBE

Prismacolor pencils on gray archival stock 22.5"x 11"
© Paul Chenard 2008

John Surtees, the only person to win World Championships on both two (1956) and four wheels (1964), was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) on the weekend, for his services to motor sports and charity.

Though it is wonderful that his great accomplishments are being recognized, I do believe that "Big John" Surtees is deserving of a higher level of recognition.

In the above sketch, Jim Clark is racing a Lotus 33 to a win of the closely fought Solitude F1 race in 1964. Left to right, we find Clark, second place finisher John Surtees in a Ferrari 158, Graham Hill in a BRM P261 and Sir Jack Braham in a Brabham BT7-Climax; both Hill and Brabham crashed out in the race. John Surtees finished the year as F1 Driver's World Champion with Ferrari.

In fact, everyone represented here was a Driver's World Champion. John Surtees took it 1964 , Clark took it in 1963 and 1965, Hill took it in 1962 and 1968, and Brabham took it in 1959, 1960 and 1966. Brabham also took it as a Constructor in 1966 and 1967. Lots of talent in one place!

Mr Surtees was kind enough to send me a comment on my illustration:

Dear Paul,

Yes a nice little piece of history. While it was very wet I of course had taken the lead and pulled away, it was only when the track started to dry up that Jim caught me. But of course I got my own back at the following race, the German GP, which I won.

Kind regards,
John

John Surtees

Available as a limited edition of 100 signed and numbered 22" x 11.25" premium archival Giclee prints for $150 plus S&H. (Includes the above quote from John Surtees O.B.E.)

Ove Andersson 1938–2008

Prismacolor pencils on black archival stock © Paul Chenard 2008

Sadly, the great Swedish rally driver Ove Andersson, was killed today while taking part in a veteran road car rally in South Africa.

Though he is well known for his work with Toyota Racing, he is also the winner of the 1971 Rallye de Monte Carlo in an Alpine-Renault A110 Berlinette.

This print is available as limited signed/numbered edition of 15 (14.5''x 11'') premium archival Giclee prints for $115 each plus taxes/shipping.

Sir Stirling Moss OBE - a British National Treasure

Pencil on white archival stock © Paul Chenard 2007

Born on September 17, 1929, Sir Stirling Moss OBE is one of the world's premier drivers of the 1950's and early 1960's.

He excelled in all types of vehicles in all types of races – he is often called "the greatest driver never to win the World Championship". He was successful in race and sports cars made by Aston Martin, Cooper, Ferrari, Lotus, Jaguar, Maserati, Mercedes, Sunbeam, and Vanwall.

He made history in 1955 by winning, along with his navigator, journalist Denis Jenkinson, the Mille Miglia in a record time of 10 hrs, 7 mins, 48 secs, nearly a half an hour ahead of second place Juan Manuel Fangio.

Sir Moss is now a very popular attendee and participant at vintage racing festivals around the world.

The Art of Racing History

I decided to stream my racing history sketches together with a soundtrack of vintage race cars.

Monte Carlo Rally 1971 - Alpine Renault A110

Prismacolor pencils on black archival stock 19"x 13.5"
© Paul Chenard 2008

Original illustration available for sale.

The Alpine Renault A110 was a very effective rally car, winning the top 3 spots of the 1971 Monte Carlo Rally. The winning car was driven by Ove Andersson with David Stone navigating.

The Alpine Renault A110 also won in 1973, and proceded to take the World Rally Championship crown.

Jim Clark - Revival

Prismacolor pencils on gray archival stock 22.5"x 11"
© Paul Chenard 2008

Jim Clark died tragically 40 years ago this year.
He crashed in an F2 race at the Hockenheimring in Germany in a Lotus 48.

The 5th Jim Clark - Revival will be held from the 24- 27 of April, 2009 in Hockenheim, Germany.
You can get information at the following website: http://www.jimclark-revival.com/index.php?id=15&L=1

In the above sketch, Jim Clark is racing a Lotus 33 to a win of the Solitude F1 race in 1964. Left to right, we find Clark, second place finisher John Surtees in a Ferrari 158, Graham Hill in a BRM P261 and Sir Jack Braham in a Brabham BT7-Climax. Both Hill and Brabham crashed out in the race; Surtees finished the year as F1 Driver's World Champion. In fact, everyone here was a Driver's World Champion. Clark took it in 1963 and 1965, Hill took it in 1962 and 1968, and Brabham took it in 1959, 1960 and 1966. Brabham also took it as a Constructor in 1966 and 1967. Lots of talent in one place!