All the Best of the Holidays!

Phil Hill in winning Ferraris - 4 Print Series

1 Ferrari 750 Monza Pebble Beach 1955

2 Ferrari 250 TR Le Mans 1958

3 Ferrari 246 F1 Monza 1960

4 Ferrari 156 F1 Monza 1961

Pen & ink on vellum, digitally painted © Paul Chenard 2006

This series highlights Phil Hill's great successes in Ferraris, culminating with his 1961 World Championship win. This is the only series ever created on Phil Hill.

Each illustration is available as a limited edition of 250 signed and numbered 22" x 17" premium archival Giclee prints.

Mr Hill signed the first 25 of each of the 4 illustrations, which are available directly through me.

So-Cal Belly Tank Lakester

Prismacolor pencils on white archival stock 9"x 4"
© Paul Chenard 2008

Gary Grant Collection

The American hot rod scene developed very quickly after WWII. G.I.’s with speed on their minds picked up surplus WW2 fighter belly fuel tanks, and build hot rods around them.

One of the best known is the So-Cal Speed Shop “Lakester”, built by Alex Xydias. It was built using a P-38 belly tank, with a flat-head v-8 stuffed in the back.

In 1951, at the Bonneville Salt Flats, the So-Cal team ran the racer at 145.395 mph, a new record for their class.

Classic & Sports Car features my racing automobilia collection

The December issue of Classic & Sports Car carries a nice feature on my vintage racing automobilia collection.

It's a great honour to be presented in such a fine publication; it's one of my favorites, and I keep every issue as a reference piece. The Editor-in-Chief Mick Walsh did a wonderful job of showing the enthusiam I have for my collection.

He also mentioned doing a piece on my racing history artwork in the spring; I'm very much looking forward to that interview.

Formula 1 Prints - Driver/Constructor/Winner Series

1 Brabham BT19 1966
2 Eagle Weslake T1G 1967
3 McLaren M7A 1968

Pencil on paper © Paul Chenard 2007

The series highlights the 3 Formula 1 driver/constructors who won a race and gained championship points in the car they built.

Sir Jack Brabham won the World Driver's Championship for 1966, and Dan Gurney and Bruce McLaren both won a race in Spa in 1967, and 1968, respectively.

Sir Jack Brabham sent me a note when he saw the BT19 sketch:
Dear Paul,
Thank you for the very nice pencil sketch of the BT19.
Jack Brabham
Wow! I was thrilled to hear from Sir Jack directly.

Each illustration is available as a limited edition of 250 signed and numbered 17" x 14.5" premium archival Giclee prints for $125 CDN each plus shipping/handling.

Eagle Weslake - Spa 1967

Pen & ink and Primacolor pencils on white archival stock 4"x 9" © Paul Chenard 2008

Gary Faules Collection

1967 was a big year for Americans in motor sport, and someone who was at the forefront of it was Dan Gurney.

He won, along with A. J. Foyt, the 24 Heures du Mans in a GT40 Mark IV and remains the only American to win a Formula 1 race in a car of his own construction at Spa in Belgium.

In his career, he won races in Nascar, Can-Am, Trans-Am and Indy. Later on, as a team owner/manufacturer, his cars would also win the Indy 500, and the IMSA GTP series.

The K8 is Back on Track

My New Zealand friend Peter Leversedge revived his 1949 K8 in time to participate in the 50th of the Christchurch Speedway Association Inc, which operates the Ruapuna Park Speedway.



This is a shot of Peter's friend Brenda and her dog Poppy sitting in the famous K8. It's just great to have the historic racer running again, after an 8 year lull. Peter had No.77 (the K8) on display on Saturday (Nov 15th) and then did some track time on Sunday. Bravo to you, Pete!

Peter has raced a great variety of cars, including a Lotus 18 FJ, a 260M Zephyr Special, and a "RAM" sprint car. He was New Zealand Beach Racing Champion for 1970, '72 and'73, racing No.77. Racing obviously runs through his blood.

Below is Peter racing No.77 in the day ... I love those drifts!

Distinct Gift Idea – 1950’s Grand Prix Engines

Maserati 250F - Italy
© Paul Chenard 2008

Mercedes W196 - Germany
© Paul Chenard 2008

Talbot-Lago T26C - France
© Paul Chenard 2008

Vanwall 2.5L - England
© Paul Chenard 2008

Pencil and Prismacolor pencil on coloured paper 12"x9"

Grand Prix race cars of the 1950’s were interesting pieces of rolling engineering.

The French used the best bits of straightforward, tried and true racing technology for their racers, somewhat short of funding. The Germans developed highly engineered and tested machines; the British experimented with new technology and approaches, but were not always fully sorted. And the Italians pushed old technology to the full extent of its development, and always with flair.

National pride drove them all to push for the utmost in their machines, and they all carried their Nation’s colours into the melee; the Italian red, the British green, the French blue and the German silver.

Automobiliart.com offers a series of illustrations of 50’s Grand Prix Racing engines in International Racing Colours. There is the 1957 Maserati 250F in red, the 1956 Mercedes W196 in gray/silver, the 1950 Talbot-Lago T26C in blue and the 1957 Vanwall in green.

The series is available as limited edition premium archival Giclee prints, 14.5'x 11' (image size 12'x 9'), signed and numbered to a limit of 100 of each. The suggested retail price is $125 USD each plus shipping/handling, or all 4 for $445 USD plus shipping/handling.

1959 Nürburgring 1000 km Race

Prismacolor pencils on gray archival stock
© Paul Chenard 2008

In 1959, Sir Stirling Moss convinced Aston Martin Company owner Sir David Brown to lend him an Aston Martin DBR1 sports car to participate in the Nürburgring 1000 km. Brown’s only real goal for 1959 was to win at Le Mans, so allowed only one car to go.

Moss was completely convinced that he could repeat his previous year’s win there, against some strong Ferrari opposition.

Driving at 10/10ths for the whole race, Moss did indeed reel in his second consecutive Aston Martin win at Nürburgring, with the assistance of his co-driver Jack Fairman.

In the illustration, Sir Stirling Moss gets ahead of second place winner Phil Hill; Moss’ win gave Aston Martin the additional points required to clinch the World GT Championship.

Dinky #108 MG Midget Competition

I just picked up a nice 1950's Dinky racer. Though it was in nice played-with condition, it unfortunately had a broken windshield.

I looked at the replacement windshields available on the web and saw that they were of very poor quality. I decided to make my own.

I carefully removed the old one, and drew out a pattern to follow when cutting out a new one.


I'm including a copy of that pattern, along with a scale for proper sizing. I taped the pattern to a cutting board, and taped a piece of acrylic on top. I then carefully cut out the acrylic with many small light cuts.

Once I cut out, I did some light filing and sanding to smooth out the edges. Putting the new one in place is a bit tricky, but it worked beautifully.

See for yourself. Voila!

Mille Miglia 1954 - Ascari's fans

Pencil on archival white paper, digitally colorized 12"x 9"
© Paul Chenard 2008

Son of a famous Italian racing hero Antonio Ascari, two-time World Champion Alberto Ascari moved to the Lancia Racing Team from Ferrari for 1954, but the Lancia's Formla 1 cars were under-developed, and not really in contention.

Ascari did find success in the well-developed D24 sports car, winning the grueling Mille Miglia (Thousand Mile) race.

In the following year, the Lancia D50 Formula 1 was again raced by Ascari, but retired in the 2 first races. In fact, he lost control and ended up in Monaco Harbour in that Grand Prix.

Four days later, he was killed testing a Ferrari Monza sports car; Italy lost another one of it's great racers. He died at the age of 36, like his father.

Chenard et Walcker - Le Mans 1923

Adobe Illustrator sketch © Paul Chenard 2000

As I accumulated books in my racing history library, I decided to create a bookplate to label them.

For me, it was obvious that it would be based on the first Le Mans winner in 1923, a 3-litre Chenard et Walcker Sport racer, driven by André Lagache and René Léonard. In fact, a Chenard et Walcker Sport also took second place. In the following year, Chenard et Walcker took 4th and 5th place.

Chenard et Walcker was a French automobile manufacturer that began in 1900, building some sports cars, but later focusing on mostly passenger cars and commercial vans. In 1946, they were taken over by Peugeot, at which point they built only light commercial vans.

Though we are of no relation, I love that we share our name. As I get a new (to me) book, I label it with this little piece of history.

Phil Hill - Ferrari 246 F1 - Reims 1960

Pen & ink on white archival stock, digitally coloured, 9"x 6" © Paul Chenard 2006

Phil Hill started with Ferrari in 1956, he was driving sports cars, and quite successfully at that.

In 1959, he got his break in F1. In 1960, he won his first Formula 1 race, driving the 246 F1 at Monza. It happened to be the last front-engined F1 Ferrari win, too.

Of course, in 1961, he became Formula 1 World Driver Champion in a Ferrari 156 F1 "Sharknose".

A brilliant man, and brilliant racer.

Collector Cards - World on Wheels

Recently, I picked up an interesting set of vehicle cards.


World on Wheels Card No.2

They were published in 1953-54 by the American company Topps in a 160-card set under the title "World on Wheels". They later added 20 more cards, and featured it as a 180-card set; I guest these have blue+black printing on the back and are rarer and more valuable.

The sets included a fairly eclectic mix of vehicles, including passenger cars, sports cars, race cars, buses, commercial vehicles, and military vehicles.

I acquired 17 sports car/race car cards. I haven't finished scanning them, but I thought I'd show off a few of them.

World on Wheels Card No.23














World on Wheels Card No.110

World on Wheels Card No.38

World on Wheels Card No.43

World on Wheels Card No.35

World on Wheels Card No.30

Racing History - My Automobilia Collection

Chime tin wind-up racer (Canada) 1930's

I've been slowly collecting my vintage racing automobilia since the late 1990's. Because I lack the funds to support it, I've picked up most of my large collection with a very small investment.



Spanish-language Lobby Card for "Road Racers" (Mexico) 1959

Though most of my collection comprises of vintage (and newer) toys, over the years I've tried to add some variety to it.

The collection includes toys, games, posters, advertisements, items, models, artwork, cards, limited editions, publications, and books.

Here is a small sampling of my collection. You can see more by going to my collection website at www.piczo.com/racecartoys

Enjoy!

Dinky #23C Mercedes Benz Racing Car (England) 1940-50's

Solido Catalogue (France) 1974


Le superchocolat Jacques "Le Monde des Autos" collector cards (Belgium) 1966

Technofix Rallye 66 Wind-up Racetrack (Germany) 1966

Gilles Villeneuve vs René Arnoux – Dijon 1979

Pen & ink with Prismacolor pencils 22"x 12"
© Paul Chenard 2008

This illustration is for sale; please contact me if you are interested.

The 1979 French Grand Prix had all the ingredients for public relations gold the Renault team.

Previous to the race, Renault had 5 weeks to fine tune and improve their French-designed turbo-charged cars. The cars were raced by 2 French drivers, Jean Pierre Jabouille and René Arnoux, fueled by French fuel (elf) and shod in French tires (Michelin).

The race was started and though Jabouille had to get by a very determined Villeneuve in Ferrari, he advanced easily into a lead that he would not relinquish.

Arnoux had only to do the same, and near the end of the race, he did. But because of a fuel pick-up problem, it was not as easy. The powers that be started popping corks for what was supposed to be a Renault sweep.

Of course, Villeneuve saw things differently. He noticed that Arnoux did not readily pull away, so saw that he had a slim but possible chance to fight for 2nd place, which is exactly what he did.

With worn out tires and a slight power deficit, Villeneuve proceed to regain the lead with a wreckless control that has become legend. He and Arnoux swapped leads a few times, bumping tires and moving on and off the track, with Villeneuve finally taking the flag for 2nd.

The media jumped on the story, almost forgetting who actually won. But Villeneuve exemplified the winning spirit.

Martini Racing Porsche Carrera RSR - Watkins Glen 1974

Prismacolor pencils on black stock 9"x 6" © Paul Chenard 
Private Collection

Victory Lane magazine is featuring my illustration in their "Holiday Gift Ideas" section of their October issue.

Limited edition of 50 (11.5" x 9"),
numbered and signed premium archival Giclee prints
$65 plus shipping/handling.

The original of this sketch is sold; please contact me if you are interested in other pieces of my original art.

Old Racing Car Art

Pencil on paper © Paul Chenard 1978

As I poked around a trunk of old papers, I found the working drawing and the finished sketch of a piece I submitted to the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design (NSCAD) for acceptance in the art & design program there in the late 1970's.



Pencil on paper © Paul Chenard 1978

Needless to say, I got in. But as I review what I drew, it was way before I started studying the history of racing, so I understand it is a not-so-accurate interpretation of a vintage racer.

But it did the job it had to do.
It's funny that it took 28 years before I got it right.

Porsche 934: The Street-legal Racer

Porsche 911-based race cars have always been very successful and in the early part of the 1970’s, that was certainly the case. For the 1976 season, FIA-sanctioned sports car racing was divided into 6 classes and Porsche had been very dominant in the Group 4 Class, which were strictly based on production road cars.




















With the launch of the 930 Turbo in 1975, Porsche saw an ideal platform on which to build it’s new Group 4 candidate. With relatively minor (in race car terms) modification, Porsche created the 934 Turbo RSR. This efficient racer was still road legal, even retaining it’s power windows! The 934 was built through 1976 and 1977, with about 400 being built.

In competition, the 934 continued the company’s success by winning the European GT Championship, driven by Toine Hezermans (Netherlands), and the Trans Am Championship in the hands of American George Follmer. At Le Mans, the racers had class wins in 1977, 1978 and 1979.

A few years ago, I built the Tamiya 1/12 kit No.12020 Porsche 934 Turbo RSR No.24 Jägermeister racer, in it’s classic 1976 orange livery. I put in approximately 350 hours in the build, adding considerable more detail to already detailed kit; I also added the Tamiya kit No. RM2202 Motor Racing Team Mechanic. I had to mix the custom paint for him, and create the custom patches and stitching for his suit.

I then built the base to display it, using oak-flooring scraps and a ceramic tile; the acrylic cover was made to my specifications. I finished it off with a pewter plaque, which I engraved.

It won every top award in the local model competitions in 2006, and is now retired from the show circuit.

Vanwall: The Seeds of an Industry

1/18 diecast Mettoy Vanwall made for Marks & Spencer (missing windshield, and possibly driver), England, circa 1959

The Vanwall was a British race car that got it's name from the combination of the team-owner Anthony (Tony) Vandervell’s name and that of his company's patented “Thinwall” bearings.

The first cars raced in 1954 with Peter Collins at the wheel, but without much success. By the end of 1955, Vandervell hired young Colin Chapman to redesign the chassis, with Frank Costin redesigning the body. The racer showed more potential through 1956, with a win at Silverstone in the hands of Sir Stirling Moss.

Frank Cooper Ltd. marmalade pot, England, 1959

Moss decided to join the team for 1957, along with Tony Brooks and Stewart Lewis-Evans, and as the season unfolded, the Vanwalls became faster and more reliable with wins at the British, Italian and Pescara Grand Prix.

In 1958, Vanwall won Grand Prix's in Holland, Portugal and Morocco (Moss) and in Belgium, Germany and Italy (Brooks), thus winning the Constructor's Championship.

After the death of Lewis-Evans in Morocco in 1958, the team continued half-heartedly until 1961 when it closed all together.


Corgi #150 Vanwall Formula 1 Grand Prix, England, 1957

The international motorsport industry developed from the seeds sown by companies like Vanwall, BRM, Lotus, Cosworth and many others in Britain is such that there are now as many as 4000 companies involved in motorsport manufacturing in the U.K.

In Formula 1, 7 teams competing in the 2008 season are based there: McLaren, Williams, Renault, Super Aguri, Red Bull Racing, Force India and Honda.

Pencil and Prismacolor pencil on coloured archival paper 12"x 9" © Paul Chenard 2008

Available as limited edition premium archival Giclee prints (part of a series), 14.5''x 11'' (image size 12''x 9''), signed and numbered to a limit of 125 of each. The suggested retail price is $100 CDN each plus shipping/handling, or all 4 from the series for $325 CDN plus shipping/handling.