Lion's Rest has just been sold to another wildlife enthusiast. What an incredible moment when you find a kindred soul that shares your love for the beauty of these majestic creatures. Truly a magnificent moment! 

Wild Dog Lookout was the first painting in #TheVanishing series that sold at the Contemporary Arts Fair that's on at Windsor Race Course this weekend. I could not be more pleased that this painting, which is one of my favourites in the series, has found a forever home with such a passionate Wild Dog enthusiast. 

This particular series is really close to my heart because it's all about placing the spotlight on animals that is on the path of extinction - either really far along, like Wild Dogs and Rhinos, or on its way, like Lions. Whenever the creation of a painting connects with a core value, in my case Conservation of wild life, it's always a little hard to let the works go. And so, when it is sold to someone that is not just in love with the painting but with the cause of the animal, it's a great feeling!

'Tank' 150cm x 60cm
Acrylic paint on canvas was used to celebrate that famous polished aluminum look of the 1950's Porsche 550 Spyder. To create this painting was much more challenging than I envisioned ... it always is.

It was a HARD battle to get it to look the way I wanted... but, as my figure drawing lecturer Carl Jeppe always says, "There comes a time ..." Then I knew I had to wrap it up and move on. Also, I humbly include the words of the master Michelangelo: "If you knew how much work went into it, you wouldn't call it genius." Selling a painting for the amount of hours that went into it, is still a long way off, but I suppose that is what passion is all about... I absolutely love doing this. And I have loved doing this since I can remember. When I was still a kid, I used to crawl underneath my parents bed and drew pictures on their bed base... sometimes till I fell asleep. Those where the days:)

I've put a young Alois Klesse in the driving seat to show the early days of the Spyder's racing. The generous use of red is for obvious reasons. Racing was not safe in those days. It still isn't, but back then it was near disastrous.
This specific angle was chosen as it really shows off the unerring beauty of this classic Porsche.

Producing this documentary has taken me on an unexpectedly pleasant journey, winding through many different places and meeting interesting people. Through my travels I realized this was not just any old classic vehicle. It had a huge influence on motor racing and really helped put Porsche on the map as a race car builder. But it had something more ... it stole people's hearts. So about a year after reading the article which inspired me to work on this documentary, I tracked down one of the brothers of our buried local Spyder, an odd 13 000km up north. I simply had to go...

When I finally fixed my eyes on this beautifully crafted motor vehicle, it felt as though a thousand butterflies were competing for space in my stomach!  After doing months of research and interviewing people who actually owned and raced a 550, the moment was bigger than I anticipated ... To see this aluminum super car of yesteryear in the 'flesh' is not easy to describe.

This 1957 Porsche 550A Spyder is proudly owned by 'Porsche Cars Great Britain' and kept in perfect condition at the Silverstone Race Track. There are very few of these still around, and it was a great privilege to be able to finally touch an original. This classic Porsche, which did not draw a lot of attention compared to the new Porsches on the showroom floor, was probably worth more than all the new models combined. It has so much character! I was allowed to take pictures from every imaginable angle and inspect all the nooks and crannies of this classic oldie. They unfortunately would not allow me to drive it ;-) but there was a surprise for me later...

What a well balanced sports car, with comfort and sport settings changing the vehicle's suspension from a sedan-like car to a very sporty race-like car at the flick of a button. Porsche specifically chose the manual Boxter for my driving day, as this was the closest modern day Porsche to the classic 550A Spyder with the mid-engined layout and open top.
Eventually, the curvy farm roads made way for the most amazing 5 course meal at the Porsche Center. What a treat!

After the fantastic lunch an instructor was assigned to me for the rest of the day to give me a few lessons on the track in the Boxter. This was new to me. I only did some karting at school, years ago, but no real racing on an actual track. The adrenaline made me sweat so much the windows fogged up and I had to switch on the aircon in the middle of the english winter! But what great fun. That thing just sticks to the road like you would not believe.

After a few laps and a lot of aircon, it was time to do the Kickplate. This was a flat metal plate with a lot of grip connected to a sensor which picked up the exact time when your vehicle's rear wheels was on top of it. The plate then mechanically shifted very fast either left or right while you are driving over it to attempt to spin the car around. The area was prepared as an ice road, so wet and slippery does not even begin to describe it. The trick is to keep the car straight and not slow down (no lifting!), correcting the steering as fast as possible in the RIGHT (or left) direction... easier said than done. Eventually I managed to save the vehicle every time, even after we switched off all the driver assist buttons, but in the beginning it was chaos :)

This was a day on another level. Right up there. Another BIG thank you to the guys and girls at the 'Porsche Experience Centre Silverstone'.

I stayed another 2 weeks in the UK to do an in depth course at the highly acclaimed 'National Film and Television School' in Beaconsfield, on documentary shooting and directing. Two award winning filmmakers ( Colin Spector and Zillah Bowes ) really put me through my paces. All in all a great learning experience making me a better filmmaker, storyteller and artist.

Switch on the interior lights. I had a cloudy day outside so every bit of light helps to capture better images.
The trip was a lot of fun (once I relaxed about all my equipment) and considered a huge success - with a different and very interesting result.

More on this later... stay tuned.

Cheers
Frank

Every story has a beginning. That moment when a spark hits the gas. For me, this journey of documenting the life and times of the Porsche 550A RS #0140, started the day I read a fascinating article (Accelerate Magazine, February 2014 p.56-62) written by Mr John Bentley, editor of said magazine and a confirmed petrol head (although Porsche is undoubtedly the 'blue eyed child' in his books) . His passion for oom Mervin's story and the history of this Spyder was contagious, and I found myself thinking about a possible documentary on the topic. Many, many months down the line, it's a fully fledged film project. What a privilege to be working on this one.  

In a recent interview with John he recalled seeing the 550 Spyder for the first time in 1959 at the opening national race meeting on the Grand Prix circuit in East-London where Ian Fraser-Jones won the race (Border 100) in this 550 Spyder. This event is forever marked by John as the moment in time when his love for Porsches started. I guess we all have those spark to a flame moments, that become the sum of our life's work.

I am indeed deeply grateful to John for his help and guidance in continuously finding more information on the Porsche Spyder for the purpose of this documentary film. It's going to be epic.

The original "Driver's Manual" of the missing Porsche 550A RS Spyder #0140 is in the care of Mr. Peter Dorfer, also known as 'Mr Porsche Classic' South Africa. It was a privilege to page through this distinctively characterful document and be transported back in time. The deep oil stains, handwritten notes and sketches scribbled all over the document just adds to the feeling of eminence. Some of these notes on cam-timings and other engine settings might have been made by Mr Al Gibson or Mr Alois Klesse working late nights to get the engine ready for racing. Hopefully one day the Manual might be reunited with the Spyder.

A big thank you to Mr Dorfer who hosted me at Carrera motors. He sure is one of the most knowledgeable persons on Classic Porsches with a passion for these amazing motorcars.