Gerry Marshall

[Andrew Kitson]

Garry Woodcock and the Formula Saloon Car Club commissioned me to paint a montage of some of the cars their club president Gerry Marshall has driven. His most famous cars such as Big & Baby Bertha and the 'Old Nail' Firenza had to be included. The difficult part was deciding what cars should be left out of the picture as he has driven so many - no room for all of them. His first Mini he raced in 1964 is shown and the latest being the Aston DB4 that he raced at Snetterton to record his 600th win. Trying to work out the colours of some of the earlier cars, stickers, crash helmet etc from old black and white pics was quite a challenge. I could not ask the man who would know as it would spoil his suprise!
It is 35 x 25ins and was presented to a delighted Gerry at Silverstone yesterday. Prints will be made later. Thanks Garry. Photo by David Wick.

[Ian Smith]

Well Done Andrew a fitting tribute to a great driver/ Competitor

[Snapper Baz]

Looks great...and so does the painting! Seeing that "Dolly" do you remember the support race when he had that HUGE shunt at Club Corner (I think) when he cart wheeled into the debris fencing and the seat mounting gave way and he was thrown around the car-nasty stuff!

[Aysedasi]

Looks terrific - as usual!

[petestenning]

One of Gerry Marshalls drives i will always remember is him in a Lotus 61 Formula Ford at Snetterton

[JimW]

Originally posted by Snapper Baz
. . . Seeing that "Dolly" do you remember the support race when he had that HUGE shunt at Club Corner (I think) when he cart wheeled into the debris fencing and the seat mounting gave way and he was thrown around the car-nasty stuff!

If we are talking about the same incident, that was when his helmet came off (a frangible bolt ) and flew out of the car window giving me a severe scare.

Regards

Jim

[Steve Holmes]

Well done Andrew. That looks great! Do you have a better image of the painting so we can see the detail? Have you done many montage's? And do you enjoy doing them?

[Andrew Kitson]

Thanks for the comments guys. Gerry's big shunt in the Dolly was indeed at club corner. He was very lucky to survive it.
I do enjoy these montages, especially as in this case where several old favourites can be included that I have not painted before. I have done several of these over the years, including commissions from Tiff Needell, Alan Minshaw, Benetton Formula, Cyd Williams, Honda, Jack Sears and Mike Jordan.
As I have said, it was difficult to decide which cars should be included. As it was a gift from the Formula Saloons Club, I felt it appropriate to include his important saloon cars, Garry Woodcock left it to me to decide, but other sports cars and the Aston Martin Grand Prix car are also shown. Others that could have been shown (more space permitting) would be the Marsh Plant Lola T70 MkIIIB, he won in Dubai in this car in 1981. Also his brief single seater career in Victor Raysbrook's FF Lotus. There was talk at one stage of an F5000 drive which came to nothing unfortunately. The Willhire Capri's & BMW could have been shown ( he was 2nd three times in the Willhire), the Gulf Oil sponsored Magnum he shared with Lanfranchi at Spa in '76, the Costin Amigo, a one off race in a Fraser Imp, Mustangs at the Goodwood revival, the list goes on and on!
I will post a better photo of the painting later with details of each 'scene'.

[Steve Holmes]

Andrew, how long have you been painting for? And do you work full time as an artist? You've obviously done a very good job of marketing yourself, which is a weakness of many artists.

[Snapper Baz]

Andrew, if you do-could you crop out that dodgy looking bloke on the left!

[Snapper Baz]

Apparently-Gerry should be racing a Miglia at the Silverstone Mini 45th soon!

[Andrew Kitson]

Steve check out my site - lots of info...and Baz, wotch it!
Gerry in a Miglia should be good. When was the last time he raced a Mini I wonder?

[Junior Senior]

Top effort as usual, Andrew.
How big would the montage be if you included ALL of the cars that the big guy has handled through his career....?!

[Andrew Kitson]

Thanks! The montage would be enormous if you included them all!
Add to the cars left out his mid 90s TVR Tuscans, the 1983 ICS prodsports Lotus Esprit plus at least 5 other Firenza/Magnum variants from 1970s prod/Gp1 saloon days!
One off drives in Austin Healeys/MGs/Jaguar MkIIs, Raysbrook's Modsports Elan, Stacy's Mazda last season...as I say the list goes on and on.

[Andrew Kitson]

Here is a better scan of the painting.
From top left:
Big Bertha, Thruxton '74
Escort RS1600, 2nd place Avon Tour of Britain '75
Magnum, Spa 24 hours shared with Peter Brock '77
Austin Mini, Snetterton '64 ( Betts' Jaguar behind)
Lotus Elan, Brands '65
TVR Tuscan, Snetterton '66
Special Saloon Viva GT, Brands '69 ( Whitehead Anglia behind)
Escort Mexico champion , Brands '71 ( Jody Scheckter behind)
Group 1 Dolomite Sprint, Brands '79 ( Lanfranchi behind)
Supersaloon Baby Bertha '75 ( Whiting Escort & Hawker DFVW behind)
BTCC Capri, Abbey Silverstone '78
GP Aston DBR4, Silverstone '80
Aston DBS V8 '89
Aston DB4, Snetterton 2001 ( Gerry's 600th win)
Lotus Cortina vs Rhodes Mini, Goodwood Revival '99
Costin Lister Jaguar, Crystal Palace '72 ( The last car victory at the circuit before closure)
Lola T222 Can-am, Silverstone 1982
Prod Saloon Opel Monza, Silverstone '84
Special Saloon Firenza 'Old Nail', Mallory '72.