Comments from 1955

Comments made in the year 1955!

�I�ll tell you one thing, if things
 Keep going the way they are, it�s going to be impossible to Buy a week�s groceries for $10.00. 

�Have you seen the new cars Coming out next year?  It won�t Be long before $1, 000.00 will Only buy a used one.�

�If cigarettes keep going up in Price, I�m going to quit; 20 cents A pack is ridiculous. �

�Did you hear the post office is Thinking about charging 7 cents Just to mail a letter.�

�If they raise the minimum wage To $1.00, nobody will be able to Hire outside help at the store.�

��When I first started driving, who Would have thought gas would Someday cost 25 cents a gallon. Guess we�d be better off leaving The car in the garage.�

�I�m afraid to send my kids to the 

Movies any more.  Ever since they 

Let Clark Gable get by with saying 

DAMN in �GONE WITH THE WIND�, 

It seems every new movie has 

Either HELL or DAMN in it.�

�I read the other day where some Scientist thinks it�s possible to put A man on the moon by the end of The century. They even have some Fellows they call astronauts Preparing for it down in Texas.�

�Did you see where some baseball Player just signed a contract for $50,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn�t surprise me if someday they�ll be making more than the President. �

�I never thought I�d see the day All our kitchen appliances would Be electric.  They are even making Electric typewriters now. �

�It�s too bad things are so tough Nowadays.  I see where a few Married women are having to Work to make ends meet. �

"It won�t be long before young Couples are going to have to hire Someone to watch their kids so They can both work."

�I�m afraid the Volkswagen car Is going to open the door to a Whole lot of foreign business.�

�The drive-in restaurant is 

Convenient in nice weather, 

But I seriously doubt they 

Will ever catch on.�

�There is no sense going on short Trips anymore for a weekend.  It Costs nearly $2.00 a night to stay In a hotel.�

 �No one can afford to be sick 

Anymore.  At $15.00 a day in 

The hospital, it�s too rich for 

My blood.�

�If they think I�ll pay 30 cents For a hair cut, forget it.�

Sir Moss�s Gift

In the past year or so, I�ve been lucky enough to become friends with a gentleman from Scotland named John.

We share the same passion for motorsports history, and it�s heroes. One of our shared heroes is Sir Stirling Moss, who happens to be an acquaintance of John�s.

John had the great idea of asking Sir Moss to autograph one of my limited editions, namely my triptych of him winning the 1955 British Grand Prix in a Mercedes W196.



The signed print has just arrived, and I�m thrilled to the bone!

A huge THANK YOU to my friend John, and to his friend Sir Stirling Moss!

British Grand Prix 1955

1955 was a very big year for racer Sir Stirling Moss.

The Mercedes-Benz racing team had recruited him because of his strong placings in previous years in all classes of racing cars.

That year, he had won the grueling Targa Florio sports car race with teammate Peter Collins, and the very long and dangerous Mille Miglia with navigator/journalist Denis Jenkinson.

He was also driving the Mercedes-Benz Formula 1 cars in which he won his first Grand Prix race, the British GP at Aintree on July 16^th, ahead of his illustrious teammate Juan Manuel Fangio.

He would finish in second place in the season, and also in the following three seasons.

The above new 22�x 7� limited edition archival Giclee print is available to celebrate Sir Moss� first Formula 1 win; you can order it by emailing me at paul.chenard@hotmail.com

The Office Series � 1955 Jaguar D-Type

Not long after the Second World War, the Jaguar car company decided that they needed to promote themselves with an attention-getting product.

Pen & ink, watercolour pencil on white archival stock
� Paul Chenard 2009

Needless to say, they shook the automotive world by introducing the powerful and sleek XK-120 sports car. Powered by a straight-6 and clothed in a stunning sleek and low body, its performance matched its looks and orders flooded in.

A clocked speed of at least 120 mph suggested that it had potential as racing car, so Jaguar created a lighter, more streamlined of the car, calling it an XK-120-C, or C-Type.The racer won the prestigious 24 hours of Le Mans for 1951 and 1953.

To build on their success, Jaguar created an all-new racer for 1954, and christened it the D-Type. As a factory-built racer, it introduced the strong yet lightweight monocoque chassis. Designed by Malcolm Sayer, it sported a gorgeous aerodynamic body, producing minimal drag. It was powered by a modified XK straight-six engine, and sported disk brakes all around.

The first of it's 3 Le Mans wins came in 1955, under very sad circumstances, when Pierre Levegh�s Mercerdes SLR lost control and crashed, killing him and 80 spectators. Mike Hawthorn was the winning D-type�s driver, along with Ivor Bueb.



Pen & ink, watercolour pencil and Prismacolor on white archival stock
� Paul Chenard 2009

The D-type won again in 1956, under �curie-�cosse Team management, with Ron Flockhart and Ninian Sanderson driving, and again in 1957, with again Flockhart, this time teamed up with Ivor Bueb.

By 1958, the D-type was no longer competitive, so the remaining cars were converted to road-specification as the XKSS.

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 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.

Phil Hill and Pebble Beach 1955

Pencil "remarque" on archival Giclee print of one of my illustrations � Paul Chenard 2007
Phil Hill Collection

At the Pebble Beach weekend in 1955, Phil Hill won the race driving a Ferrari 750 Monza. But on the same weekend, he also won Best of Show at the Pebble Beach Concours d'�l�gance with his self-restored 1931 Pierce Arrow Model 41, formally belonging to his Aunt. In one weekend, he showed his utter skill as a racer and a restorer.

I thought it would be great to combine the two accomplishments in one piece. I did a pencil sketch "remarque" of his Best of Show win on a Giclee print of my Pebble Beach race illustration and sent it to Mr Hill as a gift. I was told that he and his family very much appreciated it.

Sir Stirling Moss, driving for Mercedes, won his first GP in Aintree, England 1955

Pencil on paper � Paul Chenard 2007