Wednesday 29 June 2011

Bentley Drivers Club Concours D'Elegance

Bentley at the 1929 Irish Grand Prix
(oil on board)
A piece made for the 75th anniversary Concours D'Elegance.

The Bentley Drivers Club had their 75th anniversary Concours D'Elegance on 25th June. I was there enjoying the line up as well as running painting and sketching demonstrations.

1929 HJ Mulliner 4.5 Litre
Winner of the Patina Class


I really liked the owners run it as it is approach.


The First Production 8 litre Bentley
Last restored 1987
First Owner Jack Buchanan He was known for three decades as the embodiment of the debonair man-about-town


1923 Vandeplas 4.5 Litre




Monday 20 June 2011

Brooklands Double 12 report


W.O. Bentley in Experimental Number 1 at Brooklands
(oil on board work in progress)
Part of my painting demonstration on the Saturday. I will be continuing this piece at this Coming Saturdays Bentley Driver Club Concours D'Elegance

My home for the weekend the ERA Shed.

An improvised set up.

One of the current residents in the E.R.A. Shed
The Napier Railton (24 litre Napier Lion Areo Engine) :
Holder of the outer track record at Brooklands
143.44 mph (230.84 km/h)) set in 1935:


Bluebird Sunbeam (350HP)
Originally built by built by the Sunbeam Car Company in 1922. It Was Later campained by Malcolm Campbell. More info on it's life and records can be found here:

This car was on loan from Beaulieu and was subject to some of my scribblings over the weekend. I couldn't pass up an opportunity like this.

Quick pen and ink Sketch
Watercolour study

As part of the celebrations they had three Napier Lion engines. Two were in cars the Napier Railton and the Napier Bentley. The other was on a trolley and had a propeller attached.

The real monster of the weekend was Chris Willaims' Packard Bentley a 42 litre aero engined black beast.
Pen and Ink Study



As well as the large areo engined cars there was lots of other exotic machinery to see. Including this Alpha Romeo Areo Spider. It was built in the 30s to run at over 200mph and was never completed. After a long spell in various barns in England it was restored in Europe (I'm currently trying to fond out more about its history). Unfortunately it only had a 6 cylinder engine installed, it was intended to have a 12 cylinder engine but Alpha Romeo never produced one. It still made a great noise though.


Originally designed to be a single seater it can now take 3 people with the driver in the middle. So McLaren weren't the first!
The front brakes are huge, you couldn't even see past them through the spokes!


There was a fantastic array of Veteran cars on display outside the front of the Club House.

1898 Henroid
Pen and Ink Study

The Henroid can run on either alcohol or petrol with very slight adjustment. This is the only known surviving example. Owned by Roy Fisher of Eastbourne, on the south coast of England, the 6 hp Henriod Duc, or “Madame Henriod” as he calls his pride and joy, is untouched, never having been restored, and is completely intact.

Large exposed flywheel can be seen lurking behind the engine.

Willy Wonka style oil resevoirs which drip directly onto various parts of the engine.


1897 British Built Daimler
Pen and Ink Study

The earliest surviving example a Coventry made Daimler.

The Morgan Three Wheeler Club were well represented on the day.

Special congratulations go out to Ian and Maria Parkinson for winning the Concours!
(photo by Trevor Seymour)

The Clive Lones Morgan
Baragwanath JTOR 996CC J.A.P. Engined Cycle Car
It Achieved 37 world records and in 1930 was the first Light Car to lap Brooklands outer Circuit at 100mph.

There were also some fantastic Austin Severn's out and about.
Chris Williams' Austin 7 special with a 3 Cylinder Light Aircraft Engine

An unusual short bodied Austin 7

Special thanks to all at Brooklands who made me feel so welcome and made such an amazing event possible. I fully recommend this event to anyone and urge you to attend next year.

Don't forget if your not already I would also like to recommend that you become a Brooklands trust member and that you support this amazing living museum:


Monday 13 June 2011

Upcoming Events for June - July


Well June to July is pretty packed with 5 upcoming events on 5 consecutive weekends so I thought I'd deal with them all in one post so here goes.


1922 Brooklands Double Twelve Record
(work in progress)

June 18th - 19th Brooklands Double 12

Billed as "The biggest motoring competition held at Brooklands since 1939" this is going to be a spectacular event and I'm very honoured to be invited to show at this event. I will be displaying new artwork and running a painting demonstration throughout the weekend in the ERA shed. More details can be found here:

June 25th Bentley Drivers Club Concours d'Elegance

This year is the 75th Anniversary of the formation of the Bentley Drivers Club, and so this years Concours d’Elegance is set to be a well attended event with cars from all over the globe attending Broughton Castle for this annual event.
Especially seeing that the Britain by Bentley Tour is taking place at the same time, with visitors from far and wide joining a group of 50 Bentleys travelling the length and breadth of Britain throughout June and July the turnout will include cars that are not normally seen in this country!
More info can be seen at the Bentley Drivers Club here:

July 3rd UK Roadster Nationals
The UK Roadster Nationals are open to all convertible and open top cars including Veteran, Classic, Custom, Americans, Hot Rods and Replicas. So this is going to be a really interesting event as the range of cars is huge. Along with a special painting demonstration planned I'm really looking forward to this.
More Info Can be found here:

8th - 10th July VMCC Festival of 1000 Bikes
This is the Vintage Motorcylce Clubs main event of the year and it has a vast line up "the event gives enthusiasts the opportunity to ride their own machines in multiple track sessions over the weekend. On the Saturday of the event we cater for all classes of road machines from the earliest Veterans (discounted entry fee available for pre 1925 machines) through to machines of the super bike era which reflect the wide range of interests within the VMCC. With lesser noise restrictions Sunday is the day for riders to display their racing machinery in special track sessions running throughout the day.
It is now recognised that this unique event provides the best line up of “Past Masters” and famous machines assembled every year in the UK."
More info here:

16th July Pre War Prescott
This is the first year that this event is being run and it is set to be an annual event from now on. The event is being run by the Vintage Minor Register and a great range of Pre war Cars is expected. I'm hoping to organise a special painting demonstration for this event too.
More info here:
http://www.prewarprescott.com/


I look forward to seeing you if you are attending. If you are unable to attend then as always I will be posting up event reports.

Tuesday 7 June 2011

The Charles Jarrott Commemoration Run (Sunday 5th June)

Charles Jarrott on a De Dion Bouton Tricycle
Watercolour on Bristol Board
Quick ink sketch of the front end of a De Dion Bouton in Richmond Park

On the 29th November 1897 the first race meeting for motors in Great Britain Britain took place at Sheen House Richmond Park, London. Charles Jarrott organised the event which took place on the cycle track at Sheen House.

To celebrate such a momentous occasion the De Dion Bouton Club UK retraced the route that the Motor-Car Club took on that day starting off at Whitehall Place and driving to Sheen House.

It was the first time this event has been run and it was a fantastic sight to see so many De Dion Bouton cars and tricycles, being flagged off from Whitehall Place and running through London to Richmond Park. The Club then ran their cars and tricycles round the park, before heading off to Brooklands.

Pedal Start of a De Dion Bouton tricycle




De Dion Bouton Club Members Dressed for the occasion.


Large single cylinder De Dion Bouton engine

1897 De Deon Bouton tricycle engine

For more information on the De Dion Bouton Club UK please visit their website where you can read more on the history and the clubs activities.


The clubs bulletin "De Dion Bouton Motorvations" is a fantastic read, as it not only documents the clubs activities it contains articles on the history of the marque.

Many thanks to Nick Pellett who organised the The Charles Jarrott Commemoration Run, making it such a success.