Creative moments ...

We are into the New Year, which can be a time for spiritual renovations. In our house, it�s time for basement renovations.

We are repainting our basement, along with replacing old furniture and old carpets.

I�ve spent over a week painting, so I�ve not had time to do any of my racing history art. To keep my creativity flowing, I decided to do a quick painting with the 2-inch brush I was using on a wall we were repainting before the roller-paint was put down.

It shows Peter Collins driving a Ferrari-Lancia D50 in 1956.

The painting is gone now, but it was worth the creative moment!

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.

1956 MGA

Prismacolour pencils on paper � Paul Chenard 2006
Brian Woods Collection

With my 50th fast approaching, I remembered that I did this up for a friend's half century.