Rob Roy was born in Mont-de-Marsan, France on October 3rd, 1909. His father a successful painter who specialized in horses was one of the first owners of an automobiles in France, a De Dion-Bouton. Growing up in this environment nurtured Roy's twin passions, drawing and automobiles. In 1926 he saw his first major race, the 24-Hours of Le Mans. It was love at first sight and Rob Roy became a devoted chronicler of this famous endurance race. In 1930 he received his first commission covering the Bordeaux GP for the French newspaper La Petite Gironde. His work would later appear on the covers of Moto Revue, Action Auto and L'Equipe. After World War II he continued providing illustrations for many specialized magazines. During the 50's he discontinued drawing current racing cars as many of his old friends had either died or retired. He did though continue to paint cars of the Golden Era until his death in 1992.
Today his paintings once again are available through the efforts of the Automobile Club De L'Ouest and the Association Des Amis De Rob Roy. Published in 1998 this 144 page book gives the history of the 24 Heures du Mans from 1926 to 1959. The stirring writing style of Pierre Fouquet-Hatevilain matched with the evocative illustrations of Rob Roy serve up an unbeatable combination that caught the eye of this writer as few new books on motor racing have. A French/English edition is available through the Association's website.
http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/roy.htm
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Regards,
Dennis David
Grand Prix History
Life is racing, the rest is waiting
[This message has been edited by Dennis David (edited 04-22-2000).]
... More later.
