Perhaps the best known of the British racing artists, Michael Turner has been closely associated with The Motorsport Collector since we began operations in 1985. For more than 40 years,Turner artwork has chronicled the history of international motor racing. In the 1950's, his drawings decorated the legendary Steering Wheel Club in London and graced numerous enthusiast magazine and book covers. In the 60's and 70's his work appeared on the official posters for such prestigious races as the Grand Prix of Monaco, Sebring, LeMans, Nurburgring and many other Grand Prix and World Championship sports car events. He is perhaps best known to American fans for his series of Watkins Glen event posters, beginning with the 1969 US Grand Prix and continuing on through the final GP at The Glen in 1980.
In the early 60's, Turner launched his own company, 'Studio 88', to publish his aviation and motor racing prints, as well as his annual set of Christmas Cards, collected by enthusiasts world wide. Turner is the primary artist for our own Road Racing Legends Series of Limited Edition Prints, the latest of which is the Autumn Thunder Portfolio, our tribute to the Can Am series of 1967. Turner had close ties to the original Can Am, having penned the preliminary styling drawing for the McLaren M1B Can Am car. Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme were among Turner's closest friends. Turner also designed the familiar logo for Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Ltd. and the paint scheme for the team's first Formula One car in 1966. That design was changed before the Monaco GP when the producers of the film 'Grand Prix' wanted to cast the McLarens in the white and blue livery of the fictional 'Yamura' team as they incorporated actual race footage from the '66 season into the epic Cinerama production. On the upside, three Turner paintings were commissioned and featured prominently in 'Grand Prix,' serving as a valuable billboard for his considerable talent.
More recently, Turner was commissioned to product the first Official Print for Sir Richard Noble's highly successful Thrust SSC Project. Andy Green became the first driver to go supersonic on land earlier this year.
Turner is as well known in the aviation art community as he is amongst racing fans. He serves as President of the Guild of Aviation Artists in England and has had several books of his aircraft paintings published over the years. His reputation has brought him several invitations to fly with Britain's 'Red Arrows' demonstration team and his work has been featured in exhibitions at the RAF Museum at Hendon, the US Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson AFB as well as the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum. Many of Turner's Aviation Prints are available here at TMC.
In addition to prints, TMC offers a selection of Original Michael Turner Artwork and can assist in the arrangement of commissioned paintings, event posters and print projects. For further information, contact Paul Zimmermann at 630.515.1440.
