New Automobilist Prints By Unique & Limited Have Been Added To The Shop

These, and the rest of our selection from Automobilist by Unique & Limited, can be found here, in the Petrolicious Shop

We like just about everything that Unique & Limited produces, and their Automobilist prints fall squarely in line. We’ve just added their new three-part release in celebration of the Porsche 911R’s competitive triumphs to our existing collection of their work on offer, as well as two more pieces from their “Colors of Speed” collection in the shapely Italian forms of the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale and the #26 Ferrari 412 P of 24 Hours of Daytona fame.

The signature Unique & Limited look is immediately evident in all five of these works, with the computer-rendered cars exuding a gloss of perfection even in the patches of carefully created patina. The Porsche designs are especially bright and popping with vivid coloration set against their white bases, and are clearly crafted to be displayed in a triptych format. That’s not an unsubtle suggestion to buy all three though, as each can easily stand alone even on walls without other automotive companions. The saturated flourishes behind the famed 911Rs remind me of vintage Christophorus artwork, and that’s a fitting style for the subjects.

The trio covers important milestones in the 911R’s sporting career, with the first being the 1967 triumph of the car at the 1967 Marathon de la Route. Do you think the Norschleife is a difficult track? Would lapping it a few consecutive times at racing pace be nerve-wracking? How about spending 84 hours racing along both it and the bygone Sudschleife combined? With only two other drivers to share the duty? That’s what Vic Elford, Hans Herrmann, and Jochen Neerpasch achieved in their 1967 effort, and that feat is commemorated in this print featuring the burnt hue of their #14 car.

In that same year, the 911R would also be called in to attempt speed and distance records at Monza after the initial Porsche effort, a Carrera 6, had its suspension bested by the rough surfacing of the track’s steep walls. The red-and-white BP car was hurriedly sent to the course in replacement, and would go on to set sixteen endurance records, including the highest average speed achieved over a distance of 20,000 kilometers: 130.02mph. And all this on a motor that had already clocked over 100 hard testing hours.

To end the trio we skip ahead two years to the 1969 running of the Tour de France Auto. Allowing prototypes after a hiatus, the Tour Auto was won by someone who would also find victory in his class at Le Mans during the same year: Gérard Larrousse. Together with co-driver Maurice Gélin, he would take the overall victory in the multi-part competition that we wish still existed today. The dual nature of the event (with parts occurring on renowned European circuits and others on roadways in point-to-point stages) is nicely hinted at here in the design of the year and model in the background.

Along with these 911R additions are the two redheads. Both undeniable gorgeous representations of their respective brands’ aesthetic virtue in the 1960s, and also very competent in the performance department (especially so the 412 P), the pair of Italians look arguably as good together as the Porsches above. The Tipo 33 is celebrating its 50th birthday this year, and the addition of time has only added to its allure. Though all the variants on the original 33 are deserving of their own works of art given that they are themselves, it is the road-going version that is arguably the best looking of the bunch.

Then we have the Ferrari 412 P. The 412 P was a detuned (carburetors were fitted instead of fuel injection systems used by the works team) version of the P3 that Ferrari sold to customers like Chinetti’s  N.A.R.T. They were sold in this less competitive configuration to protect Ferrari’s factory entries, but they were still handily beating the rest of the competition, as was proven when this car, #26, finished 3rd at the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona, losing only to the factory cars it was meant to. 

These, and the rest of our selection from Automobilist by Unique & Limited, can be found here, in the Petrolicious Shop