Herbert M�ller � N�rburgring 1971

At the 2007 Mosport Vintage Racing Festival, I had to honour of meeting Peter Felder, who was Swiss driver Herbert M�ller�s best friend and race team manager. We�ve been friends ever since, and Peter has come to visit me a few times in Nova Scotia. Peter�s stories of his racing experiences are completely captivating; he was kind enough to write one of these down for me:

In 1971, Herbie decided to run one of his Ferrari 512 M�s in an InterSeries race at the N�rburgring. (Unfortunately, Pedro Rodriguez perished in one of his 512�s at the Norisring a few months earlier). In any case, Herbie had transmission problems in qualifying and subsequently started last. At the start, the last rows were still in the last corner before the start-finish line. A young, wealthy German driver in a McLaren M8C, not being used to the torque of a 427, he spun coming on to the starting straight, in the process crashing into Herbie�s 512. The red 512 became airborne, flew across the track upside down and hit the pit lane guardrail; the guardrail sliced into the car right behind the driver seat, which caused an immediate explosion. The car landed in the pit lane, still upside down and fully engulfed in burning fuel.

The following is what Herbie told me afterwards in the hospital:

�There was a tremendous crash � I knew that I was flying through the air because I saw the blue sky behind the pits � and I knew that the car was on fire...and I though �This is not going to be good�. I braced myself waiting for some kind of impact, which is what happened � twice! All I was worried about was not to hit my head anywhere � then the car came to a stop � and I immediately release my seatbelt and since I didn�t know that I landed upside down, I fell into the burning fuel. I turned myself around � tried to kick open the door � no go � considered knocking out the windshield � didn�t work � so I tried the other door � and it opened enough for me to get through � and I knew that I was on fire � tried to figure out where to run � (and here comes the kicker) you know those Germans � I remember seeing a couple of fancy Mercedes cars on display next to the tower, so I thought � if I run towards the cars, somebody will try to save me so I don�t blow up the Mercs!�

Herbie and I had a lot of laughs about this whole ordeal.

Regrettably I was with him on May 24^th 1981, or ten years later, at the same track, when he crashed into Bobby Rahal�s crashed, stationary, Coca Cola sponsored, Bob Aiken owned 935.

Later that day I went to the Adenau hospital � but this time, we could not laugh together.

1934 Eifelrennen Formule Libre

At the Nurburgring track, bad weather delayed this important race by a few hours.

Mercedes-Benz was making its first official entry into the Grand Prix season at this event after extensive testing and adjustment of the new W25.

Team manager Alfred Neubauer was feeling the pressure to succeed in their homeland. Their star driver had not yet fully recovered enough from his 1933 Monaco crash to participate so Mercedes brought in a new driver Manfred Georg Rudolf von Brauchitsch, along with Luigi Fagioli to drive their new racer.

Pen&ink, markers, and pencil on archival white stock 12�x 9� 
� Paul Chenard 2010

Original art & limited editions available.
Auto Union had Hans Stuck, Hermann zu Leiningen and August "Bubi" Momberger to drive their Type A.

Scuderia Ferrari had Louis Chiron and Mario Tadini driving the Alfa Romeo P3. Bugatti had no entries in the race, and nor did Maserati.

Three classes of cars were racing together, flagged off one class after another, a total of forty-four cars in all.

Italian Fagioli took an early lead until he was ordered by team manager Neubauer to let his German teammate von Brauchitsch by. Later in the pits for fueling, Fagioli argued furiously with Neubauer over this. He started off again, but with only one lap remaining in the race, he pulled over and abandoned his race car in protest.

With two Auto Unions out of the race, Stuck had taken the sole remaining Type A to a sizeable lead over von Brauchitsch. Some believed he would go non-stop and win the race. He finally did have to come in for fuel and tires, and the Mercedes driver took the lead, which he would keep to the checkered flag.

The win was a stunning debut for both the Mercedes-Benz team and their new driver.

1959 N�rburgring 1000 km Race

Prismacolor pencils on gray archival stock
� Paul Chenard 2008

In 1959, Sir Stirling Moss convinced Aston Martin Company owner Sir David Brown to lend him an Aston Martin DBR1 sports car to participate in the N�rburgring 1000 km. Brown�s only real goal for 1959 was to win at Le Mans, so allowed only one car to go.

Moss was completely convinced that he could repeat his previous year�s win there, against some strong Ferrari opposition.

Driving at 10/10ths for the whole race, Moss did indeed reel in his second consecutive Aston Martin win at N�rburgring, with the assistance of his co-driver Jack Fairman.

In the illustration, Sir Stirling Moss gets ahead of second place winner Phil Hill; Moss� win gave Aston Martin the additional points required to clinch the World GT Championship.

Maserati 250F - A Masterpiece of Speed & Beauty

Polistil-Tonka 1/16 1980's (Italy), Matchbox Models of Yesteryear #Y10-4 1/36 1980's (England), Mercury #52 1/43 1950's (Italy), Solido R�-edition 1990's (France)

If you ask knowledgeable Grand Prix (or general racing) historians what is the greatest race car of all time, 9 out of 10 would say the Maserati 250F.

Conceived with little funding, but much enthusiasm, dedication and know-how, the 250F was built along fairly conventional lines, but with an incredible visual aesthetic. The car looks fast just siting there, and with it's balanced light chassis and powerful inline 6-cylinder engine, it was!

It's first victory came in 1954 at Aintree in the capable hands of Sir Stirling Moss, and it's last major win came in the legendary 1957 German Grand Prix at N�rburgring in the hands of the Argentinean master Juan Manuel Fangio, giving him his last of five World Championship titles.

The image above includes the Maserati 250F diecasts in my collection. Below, I've included a few of sketches I did of Fangio driving the rolling masterpiece, the heart of the masterpiece, and a paper model I created.





Fangio at N�rburgring 1957, pencil on paper
� Paul Chenard 2006
Charles McCabe Collection


Fangio at Monaco 1957, pen & ink on paper � Paul Chenard 2006


Prismacolor and pencils on red archival stock
� Paul Chenard 2008

Paper model that I created using Adobe Illustrator on a Mac
� Paul Chenard 2001

Juan Manuel Fangio in a Maserati 250F, Nurburgring 1957

Pencil on paper 9"x 6" � Paul Chenard 2006
Charles McCabe Collection

In my opinion, Fangio was the greatest Grand Prix driver there ever was. His brilliance was opitomized in his maestro drive of the 1957 German GP.

Next generation Land Rover Freelander spied

These are the latest pictures of the next generation LR Freelander II. Caught undergoing high-speed testing around the Nurburgring race-track by our spy photographer, the camo doesn't exactly hide everything. The overall SUV will be larger than the model it replaces and it will be similarly styled to the outgoing model. Although the current model was a huge success in Europe and Asia, it was too small for the American liking.

Power is expected to come from a 3.2 litre V6 petrol and a 2.2 litre diesel engine. Both engines will get a choice of manual and automatic transmissions. Prices kick off at around �20,800.