My First Wall Mural

When you were young, your parents probably forbade you from drawing on the walls ...

Now that I've moved into my apartment, I noticed a lovely blank wall in my living room, ripe for art.
Acrylic on latex, 75"x 42" (109cm x 107cm) 


Well, I finished my mural, an acrylic painting (my second ever!) representing the grid moments before the start of the 1961 Grand Prix de Monaco.

I hope that my parents would approve ...

Richie Ginther: The Race Car Developer

Paul Richard “Richie” Ginther was born in Granada Hills, California in 1930.

He was raised in the same town as Phil Hill, and worked for Douglas Aircraft in the tool and die shop. Ginther met Hill and helped him in the repair and maintenance of his race cars.

He started his own race career in 1951, driving a Ford-powered MG. Shortly afterward, he was drafted to the Korean war, and worked on aircraft maintenance. 

Page from the 1959 Fuller Brush catalog.

Once out of the military, Ginther was drafted by Hill as his riding mechanic for the 1953 Carrera Panamericana, racing in a Ferrari 340 Mexico Vignale. They ran well until they left the road and severely damaged the Ferrari. They returned the following year, racing a Ferrari 375 MM Vignale and finished in second place.

Page from the 1959 Fuller Brush catalog.

Not long after Hill left for Europe to drive for Scuderia Ferrari, and Ginther took his place in the States, racing more and more frequently, gaining successes.

He drove Healeys, Porsches, Aston Martins, and finally Ferraris. He moved to Europe, joining Hill with Ferrari, where he stayed for the 1960 and 1961 seasons. He was instrumental in the race development of the famous 156 F1 “Sharknose”.

Sharknoses at Spa 1961, where Ginther finished in 3rd place. Pen&ink, pencils and markers on white archival stock 12"x 9" © Paul Chenard 2012


From there he moved to BRM for 1962, also helping in the development of their Championship-winning P57 Formula 1 car.

Tamiya 1/20 Honda RA272 kit that I built.

He joined Honda in 1965, racing their new RA272 F1 car. In the last Grand Prix of the season in Mexico, he won the race, giving Honda and Goodyear their first Formula 1 win. Unfortunately, it was Ginther’s only Formula 1 win.

Sketch on a package I shipped to California for a good client.
Pen&ink and markers on Foamcore.  © Paul Chenard 2012

Ginther had a small part in John Frankenheimer’s 1966 film “Grand Prix.”

Ginther finally retired in 1967, and sadly passed away in 1989 while camping with his family in France.

Phil Hill – America's First Formula 1 World Drivers’ Champion

This year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Phil Hill’s Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship.

1961 Formula 1 World Drivers' Champion Phil Hill and the Ferrari 156 F1 "Sharknose"
Pen& ink and Prismacolor pencils on white archival stock 
© Paul Chenard 2011
Available as a limited edition of 50.

50 years ago, there were more Americans involved in Formula 1; Phil Hill was joined by Dan Gurney and Richie Ginther in high echelons of international racing, and more were to follow.

Hill made his mark successfully racing sports cars, including Ferraris. This got the attention of the man himself, Mr. Ferrari, and Hill was recruited to the team. He started racing in Formula 1 in 1958, finally winning his first race in 1960 at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

The following year, he took the Championship, racing the famous Ferrari 156 F1 “Sharknose”.

Phil Hill’s accomplishment is being celebrated at the Danville Tours D’Élégance on September 17th and 18th. Please try to attend this wonderful event; proceeds from it will go in support of Parkinson’s research and patient care.

I’ve had the honour of designing the poster for the event; Phil Hill is one of my heroes, too!

Sir Moss takes Monaco 1961

50 years ago on the last weekend in May, everything pointed to a possible Ferrari sweep of the Grand Prix de Monaco.

Ferrari had introduced their new Formula 1 contender the 156 “Sharknose”, which carried a distinct horsepower advantage over the competition.

Ferrari was running two engine configurations; a V-6 with a 65 degree V-angle (180 hp) and one with a 120 degree V-angle (190 hp). Phil Hill and Wolfgang von Trips raced 65 degree V-6’s and Richie Ginther the 120 degree V6.

Sir Stirling Moss - Winner, Monaco Grand Prix 1961
Prismacolor pencils on gray archival stock, 10"x 8"  © Paul Chenard 2009
Private collection. Available as a limited edition.

Sir Stirling Moss was driving the Rob Walker Lotus 18 F1 car which ran with a 1.5 litre Climax inline-4 engine producing only 174 hp.

Lotus was also there with Jim Clark driving the Lotus-Climax, with Jo Bonnier and Dan Gurney racing the Porsche 718’s.

From his pole position, Sir Moss took an early lead from Ginther and Clark, and retained it to the end. He drove at 10/10’s for the whole race, keeping just ahead of the very persistent Ginther and Hill in their more powerful cars.

Sir Moss is quoted in saying that this was his best race ever, and in seeing the machines and talent he was up against, one can only agree!

Ferrari 156 “Sharknose” 50th Anniversary

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Ferrari's first rear-engined Formula 1 car, the famous 156 “Sharknose”. It was so named because of the distinctive air intake “nostrils” on either side of the front of the racer.

Battle Plans 1961 Black and white pen&ink (14"x 11), digitally painted, available as a limited edition.

© Paul Chenard 2010

The 156 was designed by Carlo Chiti, and was powered by a 1,476 cc V6 “Dino” engine.

The car was driven to success by such notable drivers as Phil Hill, Wolfgang von Trips, Richie Ginther, Giancarlo Baghetti, Ricardo Rodríguez, Lorenzo Bandini, Willy Mairesse and John Surtees.

Belgian Grand Prix 1961 - "Sharknoses" Limited edition of 50 – 14.5”x 11” (36.8 cm x 27.9 cm) – $150 USD plus S/H

American Phil Hill won the Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship driving the “Sharknose”, with a win at the Belgian and Italian Grands Prix, and podium finishes in Monaco, Nederlands, Great Britain and Germany.

Black & white pen&ink (22"x 17), digitally painted, available as a limited edition signed by Phil Hill.

© Paul Chenard 2007

Sadly, all the “Sharknose” F1 Ferraris were scrapped after the 1963 season, but a few replicas have since been constructed.

Jaguar E-Type 50th Anniversary

The sports car that some consider the most alluring in the world is celebrating it’s 50^th anniversary this year.

The late Malcolm Sayer’s stunning design completely wowed the public and the media at it’s launch in 1961; even Enzo Ferrari called it “ the most beautiful car in the world.”

The E-Type’s looks, cost, and performance were completely unmatched in it’s day, and it still easily draws a crowd today.

Pen&ink and Prismacolor pencils on green archival paper

© Paul Chenard 2011

Historic Car Art has asked me to create an artwork to honour the E-Type; it will be presented at Race Retro in late February.

Limited editions of this piece are also available.

The 1961 Formula 1 Season – Battle Plans

The 1961 Formula 1 season introduced new rules, including a 1.5 litre engine capacity. By that time, all the teams had switched to the rear-engined configuration.

Black & white pen&ink (14"x 11), digitally painted, available as a limited edition.

© Paul Chenard 2010 

Some teams choose to drag their feet, and protest the engine-capacity changes, but Ferrari started up development by the end of 1960, working from their Formula 2 racers.

In the sketch, designer Carlo Chiti has testing done on the new Ferrari 156 (1.5 litre, 6 cylinder) F1 racer. Assisting him is young engineer Mauro Forghieri, as Enzo Ferrari looks on.


The car was very successful, and Ferrari took the Formula 1 World Constructors Championship, with American driver Phil Hill taking the Formula 1 World Drivers Championship.

Black & white pen&ink (14"x 11), digitally painted, available as a limited edition signed by Phil Hill.

© Paul Chenard 2007


The following season was less successful for Ferrari, with the other teams finally catching up. The BRM team (British Racing Motors) took the Championship, with the Drivers’ Championship going to Graham Hill driving the BRM P56 V8.

Interestingly, by October 1962, Ferrari's disgruntled employees, stirred up by Mrs. Ferrari in a face-slapping incident, left the company "en masse", lead by Carlo Chiti in the famous "Palace Revolt". Most of them joined him at the ill-fated ATS, including World Champion Phil Hill.

The young Forghieri replaced Chiti as chief of the technical department for racing cars. Under his guidance, Ferrari won four Formula 1 World Constructors Championships; 1964, 1975, 1977, and 1979.

After ATS, Carlo Chiti went to Autodelta (Alfa Romeo), then Brabham; he passed away in 1994 in Milan. Mauro Forghieri left Ferrari in 1987 to join Lamborghini.

Sir Stirling Moss – Grand Prix de Monaco 1961

Prismacolor on archival Canson stock, 12"x 9"
© Paul Chenard 2009

The Grand Prix de Monaco was the inaugural race of the 1961 season, which introduced new 1.5 litre engine rule.

Most teams, except for the Scuderia Ferrari team, were ill-prepared for the new season.

Sir Stirling Moss was racing a 1960 Lotus 18 F1 fielded by privateer team owner Rob Walker. This outdated Lotus was certainly not as sophisticated or as powerful as the Ferraris, but Sir Moss’ virtuoso driving skills more than made up for the disadvantage.

In a very hard fought, tight race, he finished 3.6 secs ahead of American Richie Ginther who drove the new Ferrari 156 “Sharknose”.

In the illustration above, Sir Moss rounds the Station hairpin.

The original sketch is Prismacolor pencils on Canson archival gray stock, 12" x 9". The original is available for $375 CDN (plus taxe).

It is also available as a limited edition of 50 number/signed archival Giclee 14.5"x 11" (image size 12"x 9") prints for $150 plus shipping/handling each.

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.

Phil Hill 1927-2008: An American Hero

Working drawing for future serigraph limited edition, pencil on board © Paul Chenard 2007


Hand-drawn birthday card, pen and ink on card
© Paul Chenard 2007
Phil Hill Collection

I’m very sad to hear that Phil Hill, one of my great heroes, has passed away.

Here is a quote from the Race Legends website:
Hill had a varied racing career beginning in 1947 and stretching over 20 years. He was remarkable in winning both his first and last race outings. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times for the team of Enzo Ferrari, Sebring 12 Hours three times and a host of sports car, endurance and Formula One races. He was also the fastest man in an MG, setting a land-speed record for the British firm. Hill was a long-time contributing editor to Road & Track Magazine.

I actually never heard of him until I started reading his Salon features in Road & Track magazine. His articulate and retrospective analysis’s actually nurtured my curiosity in the history of motor sports, and pushed me to find out more, to read as much as I could on the subject.

That’s when I really learned of his amazing accomplishments in a great variety of racers, and his artistry in Ferraris. My research also showed me that no one had encapsulated his success for the Ferrari Team in art. This led me to create a series of illustrations on his wins with them.

Mr Hill not only chose to feature them on his website, but also agreed to sign 100 prints of the series. Keep in mind that this happened just over a year ago, so it was an incredibly difficult task for him. His signature was obviously effected by the Parkinsons, but he none-the-less pushed on and did the series.

His son Derek was kind enough to take some snapshots of his dad signing, and sent them out to me, and they are now my treasured keepsakes.

Godspeed, Phil Hill 1927-2008...

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 success in Ferraris, culminating with his 1961 World Championship win.

* Note: At a request of Phil Hill's Family, all Phil Hill artworks are removed from his website until sometime in November, 2008.

Sir Stirling Moss O.B.E. - Monaco 1961

Pen & ink on film, each colour drawn separately then digitally lined up and coloured © Paul Chenard 2007

Sir Stirling Moss fought off the powerful shark-nose Ferrari 156's to win the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix in the Rob Walker Team's Lotus 18.