French Racing Blue

In these days of race cars covered with sponsors logos and colours, it�s easily to forget that race teams used to race for their country, not their sponsors.

To differentiate the country for which to team raced, a colour-coding was developed. The first usage of this came during Gordon Bennett Cup races in 1900-1905 which was a race between Nations and their automotive products. Germany was assigned white, Belgium yellow, USA red, United Kingdom green, and France blue.

As more and more countries got into racing, the colour palette grew, and some colours changed, most notably Germany to silver, Italy to red, and the USA to white with blue, but France maintained it�s traditional blue.

The cars that shared those various shades of French blue are Peugeot, Ballot, Amilcar, Salmson, Voisin, Delage, Delahaye, Talbot-Lago, Gordini, Alpine, Matra and of course, Bugatti.

1947 Simca Gordini T15
Photo courtesy & � John Mackenzie

1971 Matra-Simca MS120B
Photo courtesy & � John Mackenzie

They were much simpler times, when racers drove for their nation, and not necessarily the highest bidder.

This all changed in 1968, when Colin Chapman carried non-automotive, Players Gold Leaf cigarette graphics on his Lotus 49�s.

The advertising floodgates were opened for good � and gone, with very few exceptions, were the international colours.

All images � Paul Chenard

Distinct Gift Idea � 1950�s Grand Prix Engines

Maserati 250F - Italy
� Paul Chenard 2008

Mercedes W196 - Germany
� Paul Chenard 2008

Talbot-Lago T26C - France
� Paul Chenard 2008

Vanwall 2.5L - England
� Paul Chenard 2008

Pencil and Prismacolor pencil on coloured paper 12"x9"

Grand Prix race cars of the 1950�s were interesting pieces of rolling engineering.

The French used the best bits of straightforward, tried and true racing technology for their racers, somewhat short of funding. The Germans developed highly engineered and tested machines; the British experimented with new technology and approaches, but were not always fully sorted. And the Italians pushed old technology to the full extent of its development, and always with flair.

National pride drove them all to push for the utmost in their machines, and they all carried their Nation�s colours into the melee; the Italian red, the British green, the French blue and the German silver.

Car Evolution offers a series of illustrations of 50�s Grand Prix Racing engines in International Racing Colours. There is the 1957 Maserati 250F in red, the 1956 Mercedes W196 in gray/silver, the 1950 Talbot-Lago T26C in blue and the 1957 Vanwall in green.

The series is available as limited edition premium archival Giclee prints, 14.5'x 11' (image size 12'x 9'), signed and numbered to a limit of 100 of each. The suggested retail price is $125 USD each plus shipping/handling, or all 4 for $445 USD plus shipping/handling.

Talbot-Lago T26C: La gloire de la France

All photos and illustration � Paul Chenard

One of my all-time favorite Grand Prix race cars has to be the Talbot-Lago T26C. It is such a beautiful piece of machinery, usually painted in it�s International Racing Colour French blue.

It was developed under the guidance of Anthony F. Lago, who had taken over the ailing SA Automobiles Talbot in 1935.

His company developed a straight-six competition 4.5 litre engine, mated to a Wilson pre-selector gearbox, and wrapped in a tradition yet gorgeous body.

Though not the most powerful racer on the grid, it was fuel-efficient, reliable and easy to pilot. These strengths became very apparent in races, and the T26C found some success in the hands of drivers like Louis Rosier, Louis Chiron, Philippe �tancelin, Guy Mairesse, Raymond Sommer and Pierre Levegh.

I was lucky enough to see, and sit in, the Talbot-Lago T26C of Aldo and Denis Bigioni at the Mosport Vintage Racing Festival in 2007.

It is a stunning example, this one sporting an egg-crate grill � perfect!



















Prismacolor pencils and pencil on blue archival stock 12"x 9" � Paul Chenard 2008

Grand Prix Engines from the 1950's

Talbot-Lago T26C - France
� Paul Chenard 2008






Mercedes W196 - Germany
� Paul Chenard 2008






Vanwall 2.5L - England
� Paul Chenard 2008












Maserati 250F - Italy
� Paul Chenard 2008

Pencil and Prismacolor pencil on coloured paper 12"x9"

I decided to do significant 1950's Grand Prix race car engines on paper in International Racing Colours.

The series is available as limited edition premium archival Giclee prints, 14.5'x 11' (image size 12'x 9'), signed and numbered to a limit of 100 of each. The suggested retail price is $125 USD each plus shipping/handling, or all 4 for $445 USD plus shipping/handling.

Formula 1 Cars of the Past

Brabham BT26















McLaren M26














Wolf WR1












Williams FW07

These photos were shot by my son Laurent at the 2007 Mosport Vintage Racing Festival.
All photos, and more, are available for sale.














I took this shot of one of my favorite early F1 racers, the Talbot-Lago T26C (Photo � Paul Chenard).

My trade show booth at Mosport

This is the 10'x 10' booth setup I had had the VARAC Vintage Racing Festival at Mosport, Ontario in June of 2007.

It was great to have giant 8'x 6' colour vinyl outputs of my illustrations, thanks to Mike Kelly of Precision Digital of Halifax (www.precisionatlantic.com). Amazing colour!