This is one of my favorite automotive paintings ever, by Peter Helck. I’ve tried to buy an original print, but struck out so far. It just captures the essence of the automotive beast, the Ur-Racer, unleashed in Death Defying Combat indeed. And how’s that for an early version of an overhead cam on that 900 cubic inch (15 L) four cylinder? A description of the (reality defying) rendering follows.
Strictly speaking, this event never occurred. It’s a depiction of a grudge race that could have taken place between two of the most notorious racers of the 1903- 1905 period.
The “Green Dragon” piloted by the famous Barney Oldfield is a 60 hp Peerless that held numerous records on the borrowed horse-racing dirt tracks of the time. The other nameless monster was hurriedly built by the Premier Company with the intention of challenging Europe’s finest racers in the Vanderbilt Cup Series, the precursor to Grand Prix racing, on open roads.
Somehow, the memo restricting Vanderbilt Cup contenders to a maximum weight of 1000 kg (2204 lbs) was never received, because the huge 900 CID engine pushed it well beyond that limit. In a desperate move, owner Carl Fisher had the chassis drilled out as much as possible, but to no avail. The Monster only raced once, in a five-mile handicap race, where it handily won. Mr. Fisher went on to build his own race track: Indianapolis. But the Monster never bellowed again.
I have a couple of similar prints, though they don’t have the cool back story. I found them at a local craft store and thought the just looked cool.
I’ve never seen that pic before, but I like it. There’s a b/w print that I see from time to time of a deuce coupe on the salt flats, which I really like. I did a quick search and couldn’t find it online, but Tom Fritz did a few that are just as good. I highly recommend checking out his website (www.fritzart.com). I think his hot rod, salt flats and dragster prints are great.
I also really like auto art from Trosley, Keith Weesner, Chris Froggett (atomichighboy.com). Also check out http://www.plan59.com for nifty 50’s art, automotive and otherwise, but be prepared to waste a lot of time browsing there.