Fernando Costa Creates The Official Art Car for Le Mans 24 Hours (and a look at his art).

The OAK Racing Official Art Car for the 90th anniversary of the Le Mans 24 Hours has been unveiled. The colorful and radical design was created by French artist and sculptor Fernando Costa who created the car much like most of his own sculptural artwork. He soldered pieces of metal road and street signs atop the body of the Morgan-Nissan race car.


above: Artist Fernando Costa in his studio (photo by jm angles)

The Art Car will be seen on the team's No. 45 Morgan-Nissan, driven by Jean-Marc Merlin, Philippe Mondolot and team principal Jacques Nicolet.

Creating the car:








While there will be no fewer than three art cars in the race, including unique liveries from Aston Martin Racing and JMW Motorsport, OAK's design has been designated as the official art car by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest.



“In my meeting with Jacques Nicolet and the bringing to fruition of this project, the most important thing for me was the confidence entrusted in me and the challenge it represented," Costa said. "As I like challenges I accepted straight away! But what artist would pass up the creation of an Art Car for the Le Mans 24 Hours?

"And when, like me, one is a lover of this legendary event, this very popular motor sport party, you throw yourself into the adventure hoping to put a smile on people’s faces and give them a little happiness. I’m very honored that the Automobile Club de l’Ouest has made this Art Car the emblem of the 90th anniversary of the Le Mans 24 Hours.”

Here's a look at several pieces of artwork by Fernando Costa:











See more work by Fernando Costa here.

Le Mans 24 Hours site

Supercars Painted With LED Lights Continue To Gain Speed.

Marc Cameron and photographer Mark Brown teamed up to create a series of "Light Painted" sports cars shot at well known locales in London. Initially launched in November 2009, the ongoing project continues as they add more and newer cars to their series, including a series of F1 (Formula One) race cars.

Below are several images from the series of Light Graffiti Cars, including many of the newest ones.

Ariel Atom:

Aston Martin Cygnet:

Bugatti Veyron Supersport:

Ford GT40:

Holden Efigy:

Koenigsegg-CCX:


Lamborghini Gallardo:

Lexus LFA:

Mastretta MXT:

McLaren MP4 12c:

Mercedes SL500 Brabus:

Mercedes SLR McLaren:

Mercedes SLS AMG:

Pagani Huayra:

Porsche 918 Spyder:

TVR Tuscan:

VW Beetle:

VW Camper/Bus:


Formula 1 Race Cars:








“Light painting” or “light graffiti” is a complicated process that involves using LED lights to draw an outline that a camera with a slow shutter speed then captures. Using extended exposures Mark Brown is able to step in front of the lens and paint with light using the camera as a canvas. He them uses photographed components as backgrounds for the images. Nothing is digitally generated, only composited.

The Official Light Graffiti site
These images and more are available as prints here

The Supercar To Run Laps Around All Other Supercars. The McLaren P1 Is Unveiled.

When in the concept phase, this 200mph supercar was called the P12. Now renamed the P1 and unveiled to the public next week at the Paris Auto Show, the new flagship two-seater from McLaren goes from 0 to 62 mph in under three seconds. When it goes into production later next year, it will sit above the existing 12C and 12C Spider, in terms of both price and performance with a price of around $1.3 Million (£800,000).



press release, September 18, 2012:
McLaren Automotive will use its first ever international motor show appearance to preview its next generation ultimate supercar – the McLaren P1 – which takes much of its technological and spiritual inspiration from the company’s Racing division. The McLaren P1 has one simple goal: to be the best driver’s car in the world on road and track.



At the Paris Motor Show, Mondial de l'Automobile 2012, the McLaren P1 is previewed as a design study. Next year a production version, which the company aims to put on sale within 12 months, will be revealed.



‘The McLaren P1 will be the result of 50 years of racing and road car heritage,’ says McLaren Automotive Executive Chairman Ron Dennis. ‘Twenty years ago we raised the supercar performance bar with the McLaren F1 and our goal with the McLaren P1 is to redefine it once again.’



‘Our aim is not necessarily to be the fastest in absolute top speed but to be the quickest and most rewarding series production road car on a circuit,’ says McLaren Automotive Managing Director Antony Sheriff. ‘It is the true test of a supercar’s all round ability and a much more important technical statement. Our goal is to make the McLaren P1 the most exciting, most capable, most technologically advanced and most dynamically accomplished supercar ever made.’



When the McLaren P1 goes into production later next year, it will sit above the 12C and 12C Spider, in terms of both price and performance.

McLaren Automotive heritage:
McLaren Automotive has a 20 year heritage in producing landmark sports cars for the road: the McLaren F1 road car, which was launched in 1992, set the world land speed record for a production car, and is regarded as one of the iconic sports cars of the modern age. The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren (2003 – 2009) is the most successful supercar ever in its price bracket, having sold twice as many cars as its nearest carbon-based rival.

McLaren Automotive has now moved from these successful automotive projects to launching a new car company that will design, develop, and distribute a range of high performance, highly efficient and technologically innovative sports cars through a global network of highly respected premium car retailers in every major automotive market.

Around 4,000 sports cars will be built annually by the middle of the decade in the advanced new manufacturing facility, the McLaren Production Centre. McLaren Automotive’s debut model is the 12C. Drawing on the company’s long-standing Formula 1 experience in its concept and development, the 12C is lighter, faster, more powerful, more fuel efficient and more exclusive than its key competition. It supports its performance benchmarks by introducing a unique one-piece moulded carbon chassis into the ‘core’ sports car segment in a new production method that brings the performance of £500,000 cars to market at a third of the price. All future McLarens will continue the themes presented by the 12C: innovation, integration of Formula 1 technology, and ultimate performance.

In 2011 McLaren Automotive announced the launch of McLaren GT; a new race car manufacturer combining the expertise of McLaren Automotive, McLaren Racing, McLaren Electronic Systems, McLaren Applied Technologies and CRS Racing. McLaren GT is responsible for developing the first racing derivative of the 12C sports car, the MP4-12C GT3. Twenty-five examples of the MP4-12C GT3 are now racing with private teams in Europe in 2012.

More information will be released following the McLaren Automotive press conference scheduled for 17.45 CEST (16.45 BST), on Thursday 27 September 2012.

McLaren Automotive