Le Mans Classic - July 9, 10, 11

I very proud to say that Historic Car Art will be bringing my original art and limited editions at the Le Mans Classic.

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

My "Le Mans 1972" will be featured there, amongst some of my other pieces.

I hope you can pay the Historic Car Art stand a little visit!

Watch Live Streaming of Renault World Series(United States) on 19 th June on your pc

Racing Events
United States


All kind of Racing events besides the F1, MotoGP, A1 GP and Nascar.Race #1 - Renault World Series @ Le Mans, France



Renault World Series






Match scheduled
Dated: 19-06-2010
Time: 13:00 until 13:00

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 Fran�ois 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.

Olivier Gendebien - A Racing Talent

Belgian Olivier Gendebien and American Phil Hill celebrate their first of 3 Le Mans wins together; they also won together in 1961 and 1962. Gendebien also won in 1960 with fellow countryman Paul Fr�re.

Prismacolor on gray-brown archival stock � Paul Chenard 2010
Nicolas Cancelier Collection

Available as a 14.5"x 11" limited edition.

Their 3 wins together were with Ferrari; here they're driving in their winning 250 Testa Rossa.

�Go Like Hell� � A Book Review

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt was kind enough to send me this book to review on my blog; here it is.

As I closed the cover of A. J. Baime�s book �Go Like Hell�, all I could think of was �hell-of-a-book�!

The book�s subtitle is �Ford, Ferrari, and their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans�, and that sums up very well the subject of his book.

Baime, an executive editor at Playboy magazine, has obviously done some extensive research to put the story together, with interviews with the some of major participants, and their associates, to get the inside perspective. I very much enjoyed finding out more of the players in this vast story, in particular Ken Miles, Phil Hill and John Surtees.

This is not at all a clinical analysis of what happened, but gets right in on the feeling of the 1950�s through to the late 1960�s, and the huge clashes of culture going on then.

These numerous culture clashes float up through the background of racing, spiraling into that landmark 1966 Le Mans: hot-rodders vs engineers, time vs development, American vs Italian, horsepower vs cylinders, corporate vs casual, global vs national, staid vs flashy, speed vs safety, individual vs team �

It�s all there, working together, bringing us through this exciting period of history.

The book is very easy to read thanks to the fine layout and design of graphic designer Brian Moore, who obviously researched his subject to bring in some subtile design touches.

Though I found only one very minor error in the book, there are two points with which I really take issue.

The title �Go Like Hell� is not a quote from the book (I couldn�t find it); it�s weak and totally misses to point of the story. �Speed and Glory� from the subtitle is a much stronger and accurate title to this book, and much more attractive.

The cover, which unfortunately was not designed by Mr. Moore, is horrendous. There are two possibly interesting front cover photos obliterated by a typographic monstrosity that looks like a �TIDE� logo. As I always tell my clients, it cost just as much to do it wrong as to do it right � unfortunately, they are not even close to doing the cover right here, and they are more than 8.36 miles off �

Most of us know this story, and we also know how it ends.
But A. J. Baime gives us the behind-the-scenes and the hard to find insights that make it enthralling.

You can pick it up here at Amazon ... you won't regret it!

Porsche 917 � 40th Anniversary of the Legend - Part 1

Racing in their Blood
Porsche�s history in motor sports started in baby steps.
First there were the regular cars modified for racing, such as the Gmund racers.

With their cars potential clearly evident, Porsche developed it�s own racers: there was, from that point on, a steady succession of more and more powerful purpose-made racers.

Porsche RS60 - Sebring 1960
Prismacolor on Strathmore gray archival paper 9"x 4"
� Paul Chenard 2008
Philip Powell Collection

The 550, the 718, the RSK, the RS60, the 904, 906, 908, 910 all met with success. As each new racer emerged, Porsche eyed more and more closely the possibility of an outright win at the 24 hours Le Mans.

The Beginning of the Legend
For 1968, the Commission Sportive Internationale (CSI) decided that the International Championship of Makes would run 5-liter engines and to qualify, each maker had to produce a minimum of 25 cars. Porsche decided it was time to act. They took the 908 chassis, modified and strengthened it to carry a 4.5-liter flat-12 engine, while moving the cockpit forward; the 917 was born!




Corgi #385 Porsche 917 (England) 1970's

On April 20, 1969, Porsche stunned the CSI inspectors by having all 25 of the new racers ready for their viewing.

917K - The Le Mans Dynasty
The first attempt at Le Mans with the basically undeveloped new car was not successful. It was incredibly unstable at speed, with its body and suspension in need of more development. After a fatal first-lap crash of one of the new racers, all the other 917�s failed to finish, and one lone 908 finishing an extremely close second, driven by Hans Herrmann and G�rard Larrousse.

For 1970, under John Wyer�s JWA Team guidance, Porsche chopped the tail off, reshaped the body, and tweaked the suspension and tire choice. Combined, these changes created a huge difference it the 917, which became the 917K.


Porsche 917K - Le Mans 1970
Prismacolor on Strathmore black archival paper 19"x 12"
� Paul Chenard 2009
Original art available, as are limited editions.

At Le Mans, the car was unbeatable, with a win by the Porsche Salzburg team 917K No.23, masterfully driven by Hans Herrmann and Richard �Dickie� Attwood. Porsche goal to win the celebrated race came to fruition.

The wins did not stop there, with the 917Ks of JWA, Martini Racing, and Porsche Salzburg teams also winning the 24 hours of Daytona, the 1000 km of Brands Hatch, the 1000 km of Monza, the 1000 km of Spa, the 6 hours of Watkins Glen, the 500 km of Imola, the 1000 km of Zeltweg, just to name a few.

It was also had a staring role Steve McQueen�s movie �Le Mans�.

For 1971, the amazing 917 kept on winning; Le Mans, Buenos Aires, Daytona, Sebring, the Nurburgring, Monza, Spa, Zeltweg all fell to the powerful racer.

Including that first Le Mans win in 1970, Porsche has won the historic race a record sixteen times!

Steve McQueen & Le Mans 1970
Pen & ink on vellum, digitally painted
� Paul Chenard 2007

Eagle Weslake - Spa 1967

Pen & ink and Primacolor pencils on white archival stock 4"x 9" � Paul Chenard 2008

Gary Faules Collection

1967 was a big year for Americans in motor sport, and someone who was at the forefront of it was Dan Gurney.

He won, along with A. J. Foyt, the 24 Heures du Mans in a GT40 Mark IV and remains the only American to win a Formula 1 race in a car of his own construction at Spa in Belgium.

In his career, he won races in Nascar, Can-Am, Trans-Am and Indy. Later on, as a team owner/manufacturer, his cars would also win the Indy 500, and the IMSA GTP series.

Chenard et Walcker - Le Mans 1923

Adobe Illustrator sketch � Paul Chenard 2000

As I accumulated books in my racing history library, I decided to create a bookplate to label them.

For me, it was obvious that it would be based on the first Le Mans winner in 1923, a 3-litre Chenard et Walcker Sport racer, driven by Andr� Lagache and Ren� L�onard. In fact, a Chenard et Walcker Sport also took second place. In the following year, Chenard et Walcker took 4th and 5th place.

Chenard et Walcker was a French automobile manufacturer that began in 1900, building some sports cars, but later focusing on mostly passenger cars and commercial vans. In 1946, they were taken over by Peugeot, at which point they built only light commercial vans.

Though we are of no relation, I love that we share our name. As I get a new (to me) book, I label it with this little piece of history.

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.

The Art of Racing History

I decided to stream my racing history sketches together with a soundtrack of vintage race cars.

Phil Hill driving a Ferrari 250TR, Le Mans 1958

Pencil on paper, 9"x 6" � Paul Chenard 2006

Phil Hill, co-driving with Belgian Olivier Gendebien, won his first of 3 Le Mans' in 1958. He later started driving Ferrari Formula 1 cars, becoming the 1961 Grand Prix World Champion.

Gulf Racing Ford GT40 1968

Pencil on paper 29 cm X 23 cm � Paul Chenard 2006
$200 CDN plus shipping/handling

The Gulf Racing GT40 gets wheeled from it's transporter by the team race technicians before the 1968 Le Mans, which it won. The same car won in 1969 also.

Fangio driving the Mercedes 300 SLR at LeMans 1955

Pencil on paper, 12"x 9" � Paul Chenard 2006
Geoffrey Chenard Collection

1965 Cobra Daytona Coupe #12

Pen & ink, digitally painted � Paul Chenard 2006

The 1965 GT Championship winning Cobra Daytona Coupes left their mark on racing history on both sides of the Atlantic.

This illustration is available as a limited edition of 250 signed and numbered 22" x 17" premium archival Giclee prints. $150 CDN plus shipping/handling

My artwork featured in Victory Lane magazine January 08

It's a great honour to be featured in such an important vintage racing news publication.

Mr. Cool

Pen & ink on vellum, digitally painted
� Paul Chenard 2007

Ken Miles in a Shelby GT350R

Pencil on paper, digitally coloured
� Paul Chenard 2007

Tazio Nuvolari drifting a Bugatti Type 51

Pencil on paper � Paul Chenard 2007

Sir Stirling Moss on his way to his first GP win, 1955 British GP, Aintree.

Pencil on paper � Paul Chenard 2007

Limited edition of 125 (34.5"x 11") numbered and signed 
premium archival Giclee prints $150 CDN plus shipping/handling.

Penske Sunoco Porsche 917-30 Can Am 1973

Pen & ink on vellum, digitally painted
� Paul Chenard 2007

Limited edition of 100 (14.5" x 11") numbered and signed premium archival Giclee prints $125 CDN plus shipping.

Roger Penske, Mark Donohue and Porsche made a formidable team in Can Am racing during the 1973 season. With Porsche's support, they modified the 917-10 into the all-dominating 917-30. The Donohue developped, Penske modified, Sunoco sponsored Porsche was said to put out over 1000 hp!