Le Puy Notre Dame Report 2010

A quick watercolour sketch of the Morgan Three Wheelers parked up at Le Chai De La Paleine

All packed up and ready to go.

Who said you couldn't get two three wheelers on one trailer!

My lovely wife Rowena and her Father Nick Taylor in the Paddock at Le Puy feeling very happy with themselves after getting through the rally on the previous day with no problems.

View of the paddock from the back of the Family.

Wow looks like those green t shirts were popular!

Amilcar parked up outside the bar on the first night.

A Nash in lovely condition parked up outside the track.

The ever useful Citroen H van.

Ravat bike with JAP engine. really love the styling on this bike.

New Map with a JAP motor

Monet Guyon

A small, belt-drive 2 stroke - very popular with the crowd!

This guy was really wrestling his Darmont Special through the chicane!

Jon Mattey, before his rear sprocket collapsed!

Gordon Naisby's MX4 SS that he has owned since 1949, driven in this demonstration by his son David.

Gary Caroline in his 1932 SS MX4

On the Sunday I met an amazing artist Jean-Marie Guivarc'h who was sketching in the paddock. His pen work was an inspiration to watch. If you want to see more of his work his website is:

http://arbresacamesetpoilsdemartre.hautetfort.com/

I asked him if he did this professionally but he said "no just for fun". I'm pretty sure he must be an illustrator of some sort his work is too good to be just a hobby.

Nick Taylors 1924 Aero "The Black Pig"

Darmont Morgan

VSCC Prescott Hill Climb 2010

Orchard Corner

VSCC Prescott Hill Climb 2010

7th - 8th August

Prescott Hill, Gotherington, Cheltenham, Glos. GL52 9RD

I will be running a stall at Prescott this year. This is the main VSCC event of the year with

250 Pre-war sports and racing cars split into 16 Classes there is a huge amount to see. As well as trade stands and entertainment.

This year there is a PRINCE HENRY VAUXHALL GATHERING The Prince Henry Vauxhall, the ‘First British Sports-Car’ celebrates its 100^th Birthday this year. There are only eleven cars in existence, and it is hoped that at least five, (possible more) will be on display and parade up the hill.

Times (Subject to change)

Saturday 7 August Practice Runs commence at 9.30am

Sunday 8 August Competitive Runs commence at 10.00am

SPECTATOR INFORMATION

Ticket Prices Members: In Advance On The Day
Saturday £5 £15

Sunday £15 £25

Under 16s free

Ticket Prices Non-Members: In Advance On The Day
Saturday £8 £15

Sunday £20 £25

Under 16s free

More info here:

http://www.vscc.co.uk/vsccweb/events/event.jsp?id=593

I will be running a live painting session throughout the weekend as well as displaying my wares.

Hope to see you there!

1925 Bugatti Brescia Lake Find Watercolour

1925 Bugatti Brescia Lake Find

A5 Watercolour

This is a watercolour sketch of the Lake Maggiore Bugatti. This rare 1925 Bugatti Brescia 22 Roadster was retrieved from Lake Maggiore in Switzerland in 2009 after being at the bottom of the lake for 70 years.

Earlier this year it fetched an incredible €260,500 at auction. "The winning bidder – a European collector representing the Peter Mullin Collection in California – will show the car in its present condition in his museum, whereas the underbidder – an American – had intended to restore the car.”

The full article on this car can be found here:

http://www.classiccaradventures.com/2010/01/bugatti-lake-find-up-for-auction/

Eric Fernihough at Brooklands Watercolours

Eric Fernihough on the banking at Brooklands

A4 Watercolour

Eric Fernihough at Brooklands 11th March 1938 on his streamlined Brough Superior.

A5 Watercolour

Here are two watercolour pieces based on photos of Eric Fernihough at Brooklands where he had a garage by the perimeter of the track on the Byfleet Road.

Eric Fernihough world record holder was killed at an record attempt at Gyon, near Budapest, in Hungary in 1938 on his Brough Superior JAP. His streamlined Brough left the road at high speed, supposedly due to a gust of wind affecting the steering - though theories about the accident abound to this day.

Fernihough reached about 180 mph in 1938 with this machine. He also held the solo flying mile record (163.82 mi/h in 1936), the solo flying kilometre record (169.8 mph in 1937), and the sidecar flying kilometre record (137 mph in 1937).

Basil Davenport in his GN cyclecar 'Spider'

Basil Davenport in his GN cyclecar 'Spider' at Skegness racing trials, Lincolnshire, circa 1925.

A4 Watercolour

This is a watercolour piece based on a photo of British racing driver Basil Davenport (1903 - 1979) in his GN cyclecar 'Spider' at motor racing trials on the sands at Skegness, Lincolnshire, circa 1925. Davenport built 'Spider' himself using parts from Archie Frazer-Nash's GN company.

(Oringinal reference Photo by FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

GN V8 (Work In Progress)

GN V8 GP Special (work In progress)

An update on the GN V8 piece that was started as a demonstration at the Wiscombe Hill Climb earlier this year. This piece will be on display at the Prescott Hill Climb in August (the picture doesn't really do it justice). Whilst doing this piece I have been finding more out about this wonderful machine while looking for reference pictures, here's what I found out:

The car is a GN/JAP Grand Prix, year 1908/1919 owned and built by Richard Scaldwell (please correct me if I'm wrong). www.prewarcar.com gave this great description in 2006 after seeing it at the Prescott Hill Climb:

"The low car seems equally flimsy and scruffy at first sight, but when you are getting closer you see a grand piece of art in which thousands of hours and tons of creativity have been invested. The detailing is incredible and gives an overall impression the car has escaped from Harry Potter's latest... Here some specs: modified wooden chassis in GN style. Air cooled 5 litre V8 engine ( aero JAP ?) with everything exposed. The alloy coachwork organically evolves from the radiator shell along the cowl and unfolds into two staggered seats. The driver and co-driver are squeezed into something like a miniature steam loc engine room. From there we proceed to the back of the car, a kind of rivettted 'goats' rear end which accommodates to carry two saddle bags."

The engine is an original Jap V8 rather than 4 v twins bolted together, the same engine was used by E.T. Willows to power his airship which flew from Cardiff to Crystal Palace on August 6th 1910. The engine can be seen in the Shuttleworth Collection. More info on the engine can be seen here:

http://gasballoon.com/V8JAP.htm

Morgan Three Wheeler Club South West Meeting July 2010

Ron Clements Receiving his Raffle Prize from the Morgan Three Wheeler Opening Run

(not bad for a £2 ticket if I do say so myself!)

Ron Clements 1933 Super Sports ALX 8.

Great to have another look at this car after painting it for so long!

Pete Clements' Matchless

Ted Frenchs' fantastic machine! made it down with his dog as a passenger and two great hunks of foam for upholstery. That's the way to do it!

Alan Goodwins Super Sports

On the 6th July I traveled down to Taunton to the Morgan Three Wheeler Club South West Meeting where I presented the lucky and always happy Ron Clements with a commission piece won at the MTWC Opening Run earlier in the year. The piece was based around a photo of Ron at Goodwood in 2008.

I had a great time with the South West group; there was a great turnout of three wheelers for the occasion, and all the members were very welcoming. I'd like to say thank you to Ian and the SW group for hosting the event.

I'm currently busy getting ready for 2 upcoming events Le Puy (next week!) this is going to be more of a holiday than a business trip, but I will be painting whilst I'm at the event and will also be carrying a few prints with me if anyone wants to treat themselves.

The second event will be the big one of the year the VSCC Prescott Hill Climb it runs over a whole weekend and the attendance is expected to be around 6000 over the weekend so I'm really looking forward to it. I will be running a stall with a painting demonstration running over the whole weekend. I'm currently working on some watercolour pieces for the event which I will be posting up over the coming weeks as a taster of what I will be stocking for the event.

So until then, please feel free to contact me with any queries.