June 21st, 2016

Honda has partnered with the Jean Graton Foundation to give the Honda Civic WTCC car an all-new look at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. The Honda Civic WTCC will be one of four WTCC machines carrying a one-off artist livery and will feature within the FIA World Touring Car Championships ‘Art Car Contest’ debuting at the annual motoring event

The car’s livery was designed by Dominique Graton, Art Director at the Jean Graton Foundation, and Philippe Ghielmetti and was inspired by Jean Graton’s most famous creation, Michel Vaillant. Graton created motor racing comic book hero Michel Vaillant in 1957 and has gained a cult following. The Honda Art Car Jean Graton, as it will be known, will feature a design inspired by the Michel Vaillant Art Strip ‘A Fond!’ in which Michel Vaillant is depicted chasing a Ferrari through the Monaco tunnel during the 1974 Grand Prix.
 
The Honda Civic WTCC will be on display inside the F1 Paddock at the Goodwood estate near Chichester, England. Car enthusiasts will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite livery via social media and the website. The winning design will be awarded at the Festival of Speed’s closing ceremony.
 
The Jean Graton Foundation showcases Jean Graton’s work to a new audience in a larger scale in a series of exhibitions. Dominique Graton, the Art Director at the Foundation said “Jean Graton’s work is unique in two ways: how he recreates speed in still drawings, and how his fictional stories mixed with reality throughout his work. The concept idea of the Honda Art Car Jean Graton is to summarise these two principles by wrapping an actual racing car into the artwork, and putting it in motion.”
 
William De Braekeleer, Autosport Manager Honda Motor Europe Ltd, commented: “We’re delighted to have partnered with the Jean Graton Foundation to create a truly unique design for the WTCC Art Car Contest at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Jean Graton’s Vaillante brand and Honda share many similarities, not least that racing is in our DNA”