With this year’s F1 championship in the bag, Lewis Hamilton has joined the ranks of Grand Prix racing’s all-time greats. To celebrate this living legend, artist Paul Karslake has created a Hamilton-themed art car. The results are… interesting.
Being a tribute to Lewis, it had to be a Mercedes-Benz, right? What steed for art car duty, then? An AMG SL? Maybe an AMG GT? Not quite, although the 2002 CLK 500 selected does at least pack V8 power.
Paul’s masterstroke, if you will, is the livery. It’s designed to ape Hamilton’s 2018 Formula 1 car, complete with a detailed portrait of Lewis on the bonnet.
The scheme required a mixture of Paul’s hand-painting and airbrush skills. Six layers of clear lacquer followed, locking down the livery beneath a glossy finish.
The CLK itself is far from standard. It sits on uprated Bilstein suspension with Cosmis Racing wheels, has a raucous performance exhaust and a raft of outlandish aero accoutrements to ramp up the racing appeal.
“The addition of the full bodykit and a specially-designed rear spoiler before I started added nicely to the look I wanted to achieve,” said Paul.
“But there are also some serious tweaks hiding beneath the surface, and it’s a brilliant fun car to drive.”
The car will be going up for sale with Historics on Saturday, November 24th at Mercedes-Benz World in Surrey. The estimated take? They’re expecting this ‘one-off masterpiece’ to go for between £20,000 and £25,000.
Would you add this unique tribute to Lewis Hamilton to your collection? Could it be worth a small fortune in 50 years time? Stranger things have happened.
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