100 Years of Zagato

The famous Italian coachbuilder Zagato celebrates it's 100th anniversary this year.

They have designed some of the worlds most beautiful sports cars for companies such as Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, Fiat, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Maserati, Mercedes, Porsche, and many more.


Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato

Some of their more memorable designs are the Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato, the Lancia Hyena, the Lancia Aprilia Sport Zagato, the Fiat-Abarth 750 GT, Alfa Romeo 1750 GS Zagato, Alfa Romeo 1900 SSZ Double Bubble, and the Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ1.

Alfa Romeo 1500 GS Zagato and the Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ1

The design house is being honoured at the upcoming Greenwich Concours d’Élégance, an event always worth attending.

I hope to see you there!

1929 Grand Prix de Monaco

The very first Grand Prix de Monaco took place on April 14th, 1929.

It was created as to bring international prestige to the Principality.

Sixteen drivers participated in that inaugural race, including Rudolf Caracciola, René Dreyfus, Philippe Étancelin and William Charles Frederick Grover-Williams.

That first race was won by Grover-Williams racing a Bugatti Type 35B.

Pen&ink, paint markers and markers on 18"x 12.75" (45.5cm x 32.5cm) blue archival paper © Paul Chenard    

I decided to create an artwork showing him in his Bugatti, and had a B&W photo as reference. I did the art on blue paper, as most often Bugatti's were in French racing blue.

After starting the art, I found out that he was racing in British racing green, so I used a yellow marker on the blue paper to get the green.

A happy mistake!