My favourite is a Graham Turner print of Fangio in his 250F outwitting the two Ferraris at the Nurburgring in 1957. That section of track at the Adenau Bridge is still recognisable today. I think he was 47 by the time of that race. He certainly saved the best till the end of his career.

I have a love of art and I remain an obligate petrolhead so I thought I might bore you all with a little ramble through some of my favourite motoring art.
When I was in Rome earlier this year I found a small museum that specialised in bringing Da Vinci drawings to life. It had all sorts of unworkable machines but they were a triumph of design, he just needed the technology and materials to catch up with his brain. I saw a very nice differential, possibly suitable for a Jedi.

There was also a working model of a new Monoposto class . The tank. The rotating knives machine is for our saloon car racing friends.

When I was a boy I read anything available to me that was about cars, I still have scrap books cut from Autocar magazines from the sixties (yes I know, it’s sad isn’t it?). I particularly admired the skill of the cutaway artist. I remember Theo Page being the artist in residence at that magazine. I tried to emulate his work, after one attempt to do a cutaway drawing of my Dad’s Fordson tractor and I realised that my skills lay elsewhere. Here is one of his startlingly clear and succinct cutaways of a Formula 3 Cooper with what I guess was a double-knocker Norton motorcycle engine.

There are plenty of more modern cutaway artists, this BMW CSL Batmobile racer is beautifully drawn, the exhausts are so elegant. Were they really like that on the car? If so I want one.

This drawing of the mighty Ilmor Indycar engine is a testament to thoroughness. Not one for the mantle piece though.

Racing posters have always been a place where motoring artists can display their skills. Many of them evoke the spirit of the times. Mr Mosley senior's friends were always good at using art to support their rather deranged view on the world. The poster from the 1937 German grand Prix shows the style of the time. It shows a clever use of focus.

I suppose that is Nuvalari being overtaken by one of the cars of the Fatherland. They didn’t show the Englishman driving it. Perhaps it wasn’t Seaman, perhaps it was Hans Stuck’s Dad in the Mercedes? I have a poster from the 2006 Nurburgring 24 Hour race in front of me and that little castle in the background is still evident.

That sunny place for shady people Monaco is always good for posters.

The rush up the hill from Ste Devote to the Casino is still one of the great challenges of that track.

This poster by Michael Turner shows JYS in a BRM leading Chris Amon in a Ferrari. Poor Lorenzo Bandini had been fried to a cinder the previous year in a Ferrari and they didn’t even stop the race.

Motoring and racing were never covered by the old masters but as the twentieth century fell in love with the car so did its artists. For most of his waking moments Andy Warhol was too stoned to drive but he understood the iconic nature (I had to get the icon word in somewhere) of the automobile in post war life. He ‘did a Marilyn’ with these Caddies.

Later he was employed by our well-travelled friends to paint their Le Mans entry. The M1 was well outclassed on speed but looked fabulous until it rained… Did he use emulsion?

The master of Pop Art, Lichtenstein painted the best in-car painting of all time. What are these two up to? He appears to have something in mind and she seems happy to go along for the ride. I think I would like her.

Again the Bavarians understand art. Here is a gorgeous little M3 decorated by Mr L.

Picasso nude

Although the big daddy of modern art never painted cars his ideas on the repositioning of body parts had obvious affected.....

.......the owner of this 2CV. The realignment of the external organs of his nudes were famous.

Never wanting to be out done by anyone, the film industry has often employed artists to promote their films. The above effort for the 1967 film Grand Prix is notable. Yves Montand, James Garner and Eve Marie Saint are among a cast of forgotten stars alongside some very hammy acting from contemporary drivers. It has taken F1 forty years to catch up on the camera angles. Could anyone ever forget the old Monza banking footage?

My second favourite film car chase (after the Blues Brothers in the Shopping Mall) has to be Steve McQueen in his Mustang negotiating the steep streets of San Francisco. That Dodge looks a handful too. Is that fourteen litres of engine in two cars? I liked this Japanese poster.

Cartoonists can be found trying their hand at motoring art. The best known must be the Michelin man. I like the fact that in days gone by the public were expected to know their Latin and their French.

‘Time for a drink. To your heath, the tyre that will drink all obstacles’ Not exactly ‘Beats while it sweeps’ or ‘helps work rest and play’ but it was a long time ago. What a man though! He is fat, smoking and drinking but still looks healthier than M. Tyre X and M. Tyre Y.

Some Marques seem to bring out the artwork. Ferrari and Bugatti being the most prominent. There are too many to choose from for the cars from Maranello but this P4 is very special. Courage and Attwood at Le Mans.

The Isadora Duncan scarf looks very dangerous in this Bugatti image. Is he dead or just doing that thing politicians do with scarves when their wives are out?

Sadly I cannot get Banksy or Peter Blake to paint my cars so one is plain black and the other is plain red. Always something with cars, never perfect….

Steven Griffin

If Banksy won't paint Steve's cars, we thought it appropriate to pay homage to the great man by producing a pastiche of the piece "Applause" (right), if only because that's what Steve deserves. The above piece is called "Clap" by its originator.

Grumman F14 "Tomcat" and Lockheed S3 "Viking" in Banksy's "Applause".