Stunning original artwork depicting the start of the Third Annual Stardust Grand Prix in 1967.

This race was held at the Stardust International Raceway in Spring Valley, Nevada. 1967 saw the second year of the Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am Series as it was known then.

During its formal years, the series was as close as you could get to an “anything goes” formula with very few engine capacity and technical restrictions. This lead to some of the most powerful and innovative race cars ever built. Many of the ideas that went into the construction of these machines paved the way for the technology in most of today’s race cars. Two of the biggest innovators of early Can-Am cars were Jim Hall (Chaparral Cars) and Bruce McLaren (McLaren Racing) whose self-built and self-funded race teams dominated the early years of the series. Both were experts at aerodynamics and ground effects and both pushed the boundaries of their respective machines to make them go faster at each race.

This artwork depicts Jim Hall in his #66 Chaparral, leading #4 Denny Hulme in a McLaren M6A. Just behind them is #6 Mark Donohue in a Penske Lola and #5 Bruce McLaren in another McLaren M6A. It’s done in an abstract style that depicts the illusion of speed, so much so that you can almost hear the thunder of the monstrous  V8 engines these machines were powered by.

This work was done by Ron Burton and slightly unfinished before by the talented young Canadian artist Abriella Sammy finished the artwork at the Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame Induction Dinner in Toronto on February 12th, 2020. This was in celebration of Bruce McLaren and McLaren Racing being inducted into the Hall of Fame in the International category.

Sammy explains the process of creating the artwork: “The painting style is meant to emphasis the speed and the movement of the cars with paint lines extending from the tires. The oil paint is layered and textured throughout certain parts of the vehicles to accentuate the vibrance and beauty of these iconic racing cars. The background landscape is drawn from an actual photograph from the race displaying the beautiful mountainous backdrop behind the track”

Don’t miss out on acquiring this rare piece of Motorsport Art History.