If anyone doubts automotive design as an art form, consider the art of automotive designer Yahn Janou. A 1992 graduate of California’s esteemed Art Centre College of Design, Janou’s extracurricular pursuits were restoring classic racing cars and painting automotive-themed abstracts. He joined Citröen, but found design sketches too constraining. “I decided to express cars in another way, to reveal what is under the skin, as in human painting – the energy, sensation, strength, the emotion of the moment. I do mostly oil painting because the material gives me more time to play with transparency and thickness.” Janou exhibits regularly in Europe and the US and, in a neat turnaround, is often commissioned by car makers. Janou’s paintings typically sell for around $6000-$20,000; get a taste in Yahn Janou: Instantanés, a signed, limited-edition book of 100 images (€50, yahnjanou.com). Yahn’s heart is in his art: when not painting, he co-drives a Porsche 910 and Alpine A110 in classic rallies.

Aston Martin DBR1

Porsche 917K