Alfa Romeo & the 1934 Grand Prix Season

The 1934 Grand Prix season introduce to the world a glimmer of the powerful government-subsidized German Grand Prix racing teams. Both Mercedes and Auto Union (formed by the racing union of Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer) brought new racers to battle, highlighting advanced technologies.

These new technologies were so new that they were not fully developed for the 1934 season. The very well organized Scuderia Ferrari developed and managed the Alfa Romeo racing cars for the company, and that season’s Alfa Romeo domination was the result; they won 18 out of a total 35 races.

Pen&ink, markers and pencil on white archival stock 12”x 9” (30.5cm x 22.9cm)

© Paul Chenard 2010
Original sketch available, as is the limited edition.

In the image above, the Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo P3’s of Varzi, Chiron and Trossi are ready to race the Grand Prix de France at Montlhéry. They came in respectively 2nd, 1st, and 3rd place.

Le Mans 1972 - French colours

I’ve been illustrating for a few years (since the Summer of 2006), but I as yet don’t have a studio; I do most of my art on the dining room table.

We just finished redecorating, which included repainting our living room, dining room, and kitchen.

I started thinking about doing a painting, but I can't really afford artists materials; the paints, brushes and canvas. So I went out and bought some brushes, and decided to use our leftover house paint on a piece of leftover premium plywood. Because I don't have a studio, I did it on my hands and knees on the basement floor in our little junk room with the washer and dryer ... cozy! This is my very FIRST painting!

41.5"x 18.5" (105.4cm x 46.8cm), latex paint on plywood
© Paul Chenard 2010

My painting features the winning Matra-Simca MS670 #15 of Henri Pescarolo and Graham Hill, followed by the second place MS670 #14 of François Cevert and Howden Ganley. The third Matra-Simca is the MS660C #16 of Jean-Pierre Jabouille and David Hobbs.

A friend in Scotland didn't believe is was done in house paint, so I created this paint key ...

The painting is available through Historic Car Art; limited edition prints are also available. It will be featured at the Le Mans Classic.

Porsche Rally 2010

This past Sunday, I was invited to take part in the annual rally organized by Porsche of Halifax.

It was another well-prepared and well-attended event, featuring Boxsters, Caymans, Cayennes, Turbos, Carrera 4Ss, Carreras, and the Panamera, about 25 Porsches in all.

We all gathered at Point Pleasant Park, and after a short rally briefing, we were on our way out of town towards the Annapolis Valley. To get there, we took the more interesting and curvy Highway No.1, a perfect road for the Porsches. I was navigating in a very sweet dark blue Carrera 4S Cabriolet ...

We made a pit stop in picturesque Wolfville, continuing on through Port Williams to the famous Look-Off. The normally stunning view was hindered by fog, but it is still a great place to stop and stretch.

Starting off again, we snaked our way west, downwards towards the coast, our final destination being Halls Harbour.

The event wrapped up in the picturesque little lobster village, where you can witness the famous Bay of Fundy tides, the highest in the world.

After a tour of the lobster pound, our lunch was booked in at the Hall's Harbour Lobster Pound Restaurant. We had a wonderful meal there, and we had time to meet new faces and chat.

I have to thank organizer and MC Steve Archibald for inviting me to such a fun and well-organized rally and his team, Kathy, Mary-Jane, Jeff, Chris and Kendall for looking after everything, with special thanks to Chris and Kendall for getting me there and back in such class.

All photos © Paul Chenard 2010

Bruce McLaren 1937 – 1970

“To do something well is so worthwhile that to die trying to do it better cannot be foolhardy. It would be a waste of life to do nothing with one’s ability, for I feel that life is measured in achievement, not in years alone.”

Bruce McLaren

Pencil on paper © Paul Chenard 2006

Sadly, forty years ago yesterday, a life full of achievement was extinguished. Bruce McLaren left a huge mark on motor racing that is felt even today. The company he founded thrives at the top echelon of Formula 1 and in automotive design and development. And his approach to race car development and design, race preparation and team management has been adopted worldwide as the standard.

All those who met and knew him speak of nothing but their deep respect for the quiet New Zealander; he's left his indelible mark on us too.

Seeing Red – The Italian Racing Colour

In these days of race cars covered with sponsors logos and colours, it’s easily to forget that race teams used to race for their country, not their sponsors.

To differentiate the country for which to team raced, a colour-coding was developed. The first usage of this came during Gordon Bennett Cup races in 1900-1905 which was a race between Nations and their automotive products. 

Germany was assigned white, Belgium yellow, USA red, United Kingdom green, and France blue.

As more and more countries got into racing, the colour palette grew, and some colours changed, most notably Germany to silver, Italy to red, and the USA to white with blue.

The cars that shared various shades of Italian red are Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Fiat, Lancia, Bandini, Cisitalia and of course, Ferrari.

They were much simpler times, when racers drove for their nation, and not necessarily the highest bidder.

This all changed in 1968, when Colin Chapman carried non-automotive, Players cigarette graphics on his Lotus 49’s.

The advertising floodgates were opened for good … and gone, with very few exceptions, were the international colours. True to tradition, Scuderia Ferrari team cars are always red.

All images copyright © Paul Chenard - Automobiliart.com

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.

Monte Carlo Rallye tin toy - Part II

In late 2008, the Welby Toy Company of India found my blog, saw my illustration of the 1971 Monte Carlo Rallye, and that I was a graphic designer who collected vintage racing toys.


Prismacolor pencils on black archival stock 19"x 13.5" 
© Paul Chenard 2008
This print is available as limited signed/numbered edition of 15 (14.5''x 11'') premium archival Giclee prints for $150 USD each plus shipping. The original sketch is also available.


They asked me if I would like to design the packaging for a new re-creation windup tin racing toy they were going to produce. I, of course, said yes to such a special opportunity.


I used my illustration, and designed the packaging to their specifications. Once I had approval, I sent the digital files to Welby for printing. The story was written up last year in Design Edge magazine; you can read that feature here.






















The toy has finally been produced, and Welby was kind enough to ship two examples to me. Wow! What a stunningly beautiful tin windup! They say it's a reproduction of a 1940 German toy made by Arnold, but the charming toy graphics indicate more 1958-60. Welby has done a beautiful job of it, and it works very very well.


You can never have too many toys!

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

Today marks a very sad anniversary, the date of the passing of an extraordinary figure. 

Photo courtesy & © Allan de la Plante
www.allandelaplante.webs.com/
 

Gilles Villeneuve left his mark on Formula 1 like very few before, or since. 

His dedication to his "métier" and his team were legendary, as was his pure passion for the sport.

MotorSports editor Nigel Roebuck wrote Villeneuve's obituary for Autosport magazine on May 13, 1982; it is beautiful, as it is heart-felt. You can read it here:
http://www.iprimus.ca/~trauttf/Gilles/Obituary.htm

We will always remember Gilles …

Sir Jack Brabham – World Class

Now that we are well into the 2010 Formula 1 season, it's easy to forget that 50 years ago, Australian Sir Jack Brabham, AO, OBE won his second consecutive F1 World Driver’s Championship, driving a rear-engined Cooper T53 to success in 1960.

Sir Jack Brabham - detail

Pen&ink and Prismacolor pencils on white archival stock

© Paul Chenard 2009

Available as a limited edition

Sir Brabham started racing in 1948, racing open-wheeled midgets on dirt tracks. He competed successfully at various levels and series thoughout Australia, and in 1955, made his move to European racing, basing himself in the United Kingdom.

He quickly hooked up with the Cooper Car Company, working with them as both a mechanic and driver. This successful alliance lead to his first F1 World Driver’s Championship in 1959, and his second in 1960.

1960 Cooper T53

Prismacolor pencils on white archival stock

© Paul Chenard 2009

After driving for Cooper for 1961, Brabham set out on his own, teaming up with New Zealander Ron Tauranac, to build and race his own cars. Their cars had limited success for a few years.

 

1964 BT11

Prismacolor pencils on gray archival stock

© Paul Chenard 2008

The FIA brought in new rules for 1966, including a change to 3-litre engines. Brabham convinced the Australian engineering company Repco to develop a competition V-8 engine for his BT19 F1 racecar, designed by Tauranac.

1966 BT19

Pencils on white archival stock

© Paul Chenard 2006
Available as a limited edition

The results were stunning, with Brabham winning four races, and the F1 World Driver’s Championship for the third time. He also took the F1 Constructors Championship, the only driver to have done it. He was also the first of only three drivers to have won a Championship race in a car of his own construction.
At the end of the season, the Queen appointed him an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
The following year, he again took the F1 Constructors Championship, with his driver/teammate Denny Hulme taking the F1 World Driver’s Championship.
He retired from Formula 1 in 1970. His three sons Geoff, Gary and David have all gone into successful professional racing careers.

Peter Collins – A very respected racer

Englishman Peter Collins was a very well liked and respected Grand Prix and sports car driver.

Pen&ink and Prismacolor pencil on steel gray archival stock 

© Paul Chenard 2010

Born in 1931, he started racing Formula 3 Coopers in 1950, and quickly moved up to Formula 1 in 1952, driving for HWM. He also drove for BRM, Maserati and Vanwall.

Targa Florio - Mercedes 300 SLR

Pen&ink and Prismacolor pencil on steel gray archival stock
© Paul Chenard 2010

In 1955, He joined Sir Stirling Moss to win the prestigious, but grueling 277 mile (445 km) Sicilian Targa Florio open-road race, driving for Mercedes in a 300 SLR.

Scuderia Ferrari hired him in the 1956 season driving in F1 and his first win with the team came at the 1956 Belgium Grand Prix. Collins found more success during the season, and was well on his way to possibly becoming the first British F1 Champion.

At the 1956 Italian Grand Prix, the last race in the season, his teammate Juan Manuel Fangio’s Lancia-Ferrari broke down, so Collins selflessly handed over his car to Fangio, who also had a chance at the Championship. This enabled Fangio to finish the race in second place, giving him enough points at the end of the season to win his 4^th F1 World Drivers Championship.

This great act of generosity gained Collins immense respect in the eyes of fans, the motoring press, and Enzo Ferrari himself.

Mille Miglia - Ferrari 335S, pencil on light gray archival stock, © Paul Chenard 2009

In 1957, Mike Hawthorn joined him on the team, and they became fast friends. Collins married American actress and racer Louise King, proposing to her on their second meeting.

Mike Hawthorn, pen&ink and Prismacolor pencils on white archival stock © Paul Chenard 2009

Tragically, this well-liked driver was killed while racing a Ferrari 246 F1 at the 1958 German Grand on the Nürburgring. Hawthorn was so badly affected by the death of Collins, that he announced his retirement after taking the 1958 F1 World Drivers’ Championship.

1971 McLaren M8F Team cars unpublished photo …

Jennifer Revson’s stories on her brother Peter’s 1971 Can-Am Championship-winning McLaren M8F has generated enormous interest and support from the world over. Many have also sent information that confirms Jennifer’s exposé.

Mr. Barry C. Smyth sent along a very interesting photo from back in the day. He was Gulf Oil Corporation's Motor Sports Sponsorship Public Relations representative until the company ceased all US racing involvement in 1973. After that he ran their various Corporate Advertising Programs.

Here is his note:

Jennifer,

Per our conversation of 4/17/2010, attached is the B and W photo of the 1971 McLaren team shot at Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. As you can see your brother, Peter along with his team mate Denny Hulme are posed standing in their cars #7 and #5, respectively. Each car's mechanics stand behind their car. The Gulf Oil PR/McLaren Team coach is in the background.

This photo was taken at my request to be used as potential promotional material. We never used it. To the best of my knowledge this is the only copy.

As you can see, as mentioned in one of the recent disclaimer articles, there are marked differences between the cars. No. 7 has a much smaller air intake opening than no. 5. That could reflect the different driving styles of Peter and Denny. Also, you'll notice the air ducks at the rear quarters are different. No. 7 is more a scoop and no. 5 is an aircraft type "no drag" air intake (NACA duct).

The Edmonton event was 3rd to the last in the '71 CAN AM Series, Laguna Seca and Riverside the last respectively. The only changes to the cars in the last two races were slightly wider rear wheels.

Barry C. Smyth