Mark the date on your calendar...
For motor racing art, artefacts and ephemera, including the collectibles here, visit the Motor Sport shop – https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/shop/
Motor Sport Calendar 2025: 75 Years of the F1 World Championship
The new Motor Sport calendar for 2025 celebrates 75 years since that formative British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1950 kick-started the Formula 1 World Championship. Our selection of images are a snapshot of F1 history – from those early days of Italian dominance thanks to Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Ferrari, through the sleek ’60s with Lotus, BRM, Cooper and Brabham, the ’70s where feathered hair and billowing trousers ruled, power-hungry ’80s turbo monsters, right through to the precision-tuned racing instruments that make up the grid we know today. Measuring a hulking 594mm x 420mm (A2 size) and printed on premium gloss paper, the Motor Sport 2025 calendar is a glorious thing, and available now to pre-order. Deliveries expected from December 12. £32.99
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Nigel Mansell Signed ‘Taxi for Senna’ sculpture
It’s been 33 years since a weary Ayrton Senna hopped onto the sidepod of Nigel Mansell’s winning Williams for an impromptu lift back to the pits after the finish of the 1991 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. It gave us one of the sport’s most endearing and enduring images, which has now been immortalised with this 1:18 scale chrome sculpture. Strictly limited edition, each is numbered, comes in a presentation box and is hand-signed by Mansell, inset. £199.95
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Motor Sport 12-Issue Binder
With the year’s end approaching, you’re probably wondering how best to keep your collection of 2024 Motor Sport magazines safe and sound. Helpfully, we have the perfect solution with our branded binder, which fits a full year’s worth of mags in perfect comfort. Finished in our signature green leather. £19.99
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Derek Bell signed Le Mans 1987 lithograph
What room couldn’t be enhanced by a big ol’ 1987 Le Mans print? The answer is none. And that’s why we love this. Signed Group C imagery doesn’t come around that often, so this limited edition print of the Rothmans Porsche team tending to the 962C in the pits at Le Mans is a beauty. Porsche would finish 1-2 in the race, with Derek Bell, Hans Stuck and Al Holbert sharing the winning No17 car in what would be the last of Bell’s five victories at the great race. Signed by Bell with COA. £99.95
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About the Motor Sport shop
With numerous special and unique racing-themed products, and many new items regularly added, the Motor Sport shop is aimed at both serious and casual collectors with a wide range of prices to suit your budget. Visit motorsportmagazine.com/shop
The expert view
Ink-redible!
Sometimes it’s so easy to get the simplest of things wrong, such as an autograph. Getting signings right commercially and for fans, is important in motorsport, especially to us with a name like The Signature Store. After 20 years doing this, we know a thing or two about achieving the perfect autograph, so here are some gold standards.
F1 teams could learn a thing or two, considering they usually get their PR or marketing teams to have drivers hastily sign caps or models, often doing it completely wrong – so the item is either signed poorly or illegibly in the first place, or doomed to fade into obscurity.
The choice of pen is hugely important. A few years ago we did an ink test where we wrote on some plaques and stuck them in direct sunlight to see which would fade. The standout pen was the Staedtler Lumocolor Permanent Special. At £9 a pop they are pricey, but the ink does not fade, ensuring your signature sticks around. Of course, Sharpies are good too, but they’re not as permanent as they say and can fade over a long time, but are fine for most items.
They also come in varying widths. For signing fabric you want a thicker marker, as otherwise the nib doesn’t contact properly and the pen catches on the material, or signature gets lost.
The industry standard is sign in black, but otherwise use gold or silver, but be warned – these markers use paint, not ink, so must be allowed time to dry, especially if you’re signing something lacquered like a canvas, model box or piece of bodywork as it can take ages to dry and is prone to smudging or bleeding.
With fine art prints, we normally use pencil. Odd as it sounds, pencil is almost permanent as graphite doesn’t fade, and it leaves a subtle signature that doesn’t detract from the artwork itself.
Top tip: don’t sign in blue, red or green – these colours are the most prone to fading, and make it easy: have your items ready with the right pen. It’s an art.
Andrew Francis is director at The Signature Store. thesignaturestore.co.uk