The creative talents behind Racing & Emotion breathes new life into familiar motoring designs
[Not a valid template]Longer term readers may already be familiar with Racing & Emotion, designers and developers of the awesome ‘Egg Cup’ chairs, previous design for which have included Gulf Racing and Ayrton Senna, James Hunt, Porsche Mission 2014 and even crankandpiston.com (for those of you who aren’t, have a quick read-through and catch us up). What you may not be aware of is that Racing & Emotion is indelibly linked with Arabic-born W Motors – producers of the Lykan Hypersport we were first introduced to at the 2013 Dubai Motor Show – sharing as they do the creative talents of Benoit Fraylon. As you can probably tell by the design both above and below, the man has a keen eye for both detail and distinctive aerodynamics.
Take this for example, the Chevrolet-FNR, penned in tribute to the ‘Echoes of Nearby Future’ design series vision of Formula 1 machines to come and what we might readily expect the World Touring Car Championship regulations to incorporate if we all cross our fingers and wish really hard. As well as a futuristic ‘capsule’ in place of a cockpit, the FNR boasts crystal laser headlights and taillights, magnetic hub-less wheel electric motors and a wireless auto-charge system, as well as a livery inspired by the WTCC’s Campos Racing, whom Racing & Emotion sponsors.
Speaking of the ‘Nearby Future’ the legendary McLaren MP4/8 – that of ’88 Senna and Prost fame – gets another redesign with more exaggerated dimensions, enclosed wheels and bigger tyres, and a more compact rear wing. The MP4/4X also includes a closed cockpit, a hot topic of debate in single seater racing this year.
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While this may look like an earlier draft of Chevrolet’s Chaparral 2X Vision Gran Turismo concept, this is actually one of Benoit’s earlier designs (indeed his final project as a student of Coventry university). This Ferrari Chinetti concept is a tribute to both Ferrari and Luigi Chinetti, lynchpin behind Ferrari’s imports to America in the early 1950s and a competitor in 12 consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans races, of which he won three with the Alfa Romeo 8C and the Ferrari 166MM. To this day, he remains the only man to win at Le Mans representing two different nationalities (as an American citizen and as a native Italian).
Since Christopher Nolan didn’t quite have the budget left, Benoit has even envisioned what the Dark Knight’s memorable duel with The Joker might have looked like had Ken Block got the nod for the role over Christian Bale. Chaos of an entirely different sort in Gotham City by the Ghymkhana specialist in a tank with the Hoonicorn_RTR livery…
And as Head of Graphics and Visuals at W Motors, there’s also a lot of Lykan designs on Benoit’s ArtStation page, so be sure to check it out.
*Shots courtesy of Benoit Fraylon
