Andy Blackmore'S BIO

Name: Andy Blackmore

Websites: andyblackmoredesign.com 

Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada

Previous Locations: UK, (Bristol, Coventry, Bognor Regis, Guildford, Andover)

Career Path: Vehicle Design Director.

Previous Career Paths: Lead Product and Automotive Designer for McLaren Group, Product Designer for Yamaha UK R&D. Lead Car modeller EA UK F1, Shox games.Lead Concept Artist, EA Canada

Also, creatde a number of racecar liveries and race car bodykits. Clients have included Arena International, ALMS, Panoz, Yamaha, Audi Sport UK, Toyota GB , SEAT Sport, MG Rover, BMW-Schnitzer, MBK Bikes, Gulf Oils, Reynard, Creation, Cummfy Banana(!), Halfords, Radio Le Mans, ITV Sport, Radio Le Mans and Speed TV

Notable Projects/Wins: Designed the majority of McLaren F1 GTR Liveries, including the 1995 Le Mans winner. Designed McLaren pit crew helmets, race trucks, various car proposals and most of the pit garage interior you still see today. Also worked on the initial concept, for McLaren 2-seater Formula 1 car.

Designed the livery for the Team Need for Speed racecars

also see

http://speedhunters.com/archive/2009/10/01/retrospective-gt-gt-mclaren-f1-gtr-short-tail-part-1.aspx

http://speedhunters.com/archive/2008/05/28/car-life-gt-gt-andy.aspx

http://speedhunters.com/archive/2010/05/13/behind-the-scenes-gt-gt-designing-the-team-nfs-livery.aspx

Produce Race car Spotter Guides for BTCC, ALMS (official) and F1. ALMS car images also used in yearbook. BTCC used by ITV for their OSD's

Car:  Current:BMW 330i E46 MSport Sedan , Nissan Murano.

Past Cars: 1969 Fiat 500, Audi 80 Sport 16v, VW Golf GTi's, SEAT Leon Cupra R, , Vauxhall Chevette HSR, Mazda MX-5 (Mk1), Mini Cooper 1360 rally car.

Next Car: Maybe new Abarth 500, when it appears in Canada, or a Mustang or Camaro!

Car Passions: Car Design and Motorsport. I have always been interested in cars and motorsport from a young age. Completed a degree at Coventry University, in Transport Design. This including a placement, working on the design of the Yamaha OX99-11 supercar.

Following this, I worked for Arena Motorsport before joining the McLaren Racing Group working in the Grand Prix, Road car and Le Mans divisions.

I follow motorsport religiously. I competed in single-venue rallying in the UK, in a Union Jack Liveried Mini Cooper (as seen in EA's Shox). I am still involved in Motorsport as a consultant/designer with race-car liveries and bodykit design.

Personal Style: jeans type of person....

Favourite Band of the Moment: Depeche Mode, Synth Britannia

Favourite Sport: Sportscar racing

 


2,122 Posted Dec 31 2011, 06:00 AM by Andy Blackmore with 20 comment(s)

RETROSPECTIVE>> DAN WHELDON 1978-2011
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We couldn’t complete our review of 2011 without looking back at Dan Wheldon, one of the most successful British drivers of the recent era. Daniel Clive Wheldon was one of the most popular figures in North American motorsport. He was on a high after winning this year's Indianapolis 500 in a midfield car and was about to start a new chapter in his IndyCar career with a full season drive for Andretti Autosport. Sadly he lost life in October's tragic events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway....

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Posted Dec 20 2011, 02:00 PM by Andy Blackmore with 114 comment(s)

SPEEDHUNTERS AWARDS 2011>> RACE CAR OF THE YEAR
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It's time for you, the Speedhunters to vote for the Race Car of the Year . Which of these nominees impressed you the most in 2011? Was it: the Red Bull RB7 Aston Martin V12 Zagato Audi R8 LMS Audi R18 TDI BMW M3 GT BMW Z4 GT3 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe SCCA Citroen DS3 WRC Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT Chevrolet Cruze Touring Car Ferrari F458 Italia GT3 Ford Fiesta WRC Lola Aston Martin V12 Coupe McLaren MP4-12C GT3 McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes-Benz Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 Mini WRC Nissan R35 GTR GT1 Nissan R35...

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2,122 Posted Dec 19 2011, 05:00 AM by Andy Blackmore with 11 comment(s)

PHOTOS OF THE YEAR 2011>> ANDY B
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My 'Photos of the Year' post is a short one this time, as I didn't get the chance to venture out in 2011; mainly due to my 'day job' at Need for Speed. My year started on a big high at the Dubai Autodrome for the 24 hour endurance race. A relatively new event, it came of age in 2011 with Schubert, Black Falcon, AF Corse and Lotus all sending entries. Dubai Autodrome Pitlane, Dubai 24Hrs, Dubai,UAE (above) Team Need for Speed and Schubert Motorsport debuted a new livery at Dubai;...

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Posted Dec 12 2011, 09:30 AM by Andy Blackmore with 112 comment(s)

SPEEDHUNTERS AWARDS 2011>> NEW CAR OF THE YEAR
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The next category in our annual Speedhunters Awards focuses on New Car of the Year. As the title implies, this award is for production cars that were announced or went on sale during the year. 2011 has seen some inspiring new cars, ranging from affordable sports cars all the way through to high-end exotics. The question is, which is your pick? To start off, we have the Lamborghini Aventador . Audi S7 BMW M5 BMW 1M Coupe BMW 1 series hatch Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Dodge Charger SRT8 Ferrari FF Ford Mustang...

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2,122 Posted Dec 09 2011, 12:10 PM by Andy Blackmore with 100 comment(s)

SPEEDHUNTERS AWARDS 2011>> CONCEPT CAR OF THE YEAR
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It's time to kick off the 2011 Speedhunters Awards. As Charles mentioned in his editorial, the beauty of the Speedhunters Awards is that all 16 winners will have been decided by you, the reader. And the first category to vote on is Concept Car of the Year . Car manufacturers use concepts to showcase new design language, technology and trends. Other times, they're simply a taster for a forthcoming vehicle. The term 'concept car' covers a broad range of vehicles, from this BMW i8 Concept...

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Posted Nov 17 2011, 06:00 AM by Andy Blackmore with 29 comment(s)

BEHIND THE SCENES>> CREATING THE CARS FOR NEED FOR SPEED THE RUN
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Most of you will know of Carl Jarrett and I through our Speedhunters contributions, however our day jobs are as part of Need for Speed's car team. Carl is NFS's Vehicle Art Director while I'm the Vehicle Styling Director and, together with our talented team, we take real world cars and transform them into virtual replicas. If you've ever wondered how cars are modeled into games, read on. AB: As the Need for Speed franchise has a global following of both diehard and casual gamers alike...

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2,122 Posted Nov 14 2011, 09:30 AM by Andy Blackmore with 22 comment(s)

CAR SPOTLIGHT>> RINGBROTHERS CHEVY CAMARO 'DIVERSION'
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It has become a tradition of mine at SEMA to seek out the BASF stand and the latest Ringbrothers creation. In recent years, the Ring Brothers have managed to create some unique muscle car builds. This year was no exception. This 1970 Chevrolet Camaro 'Diversion' was one of the stars of the show and was faultless. Mike and Jim Ring, based out of Wisconsin, started rebuilding cars as kids. They have earned themselves a reputation in first class builds and often include their signature custom...

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Posted Nov 13 2011, 09:30 PM by Andy Blackmore with 27 comment(s)

CAR SPOTLIGHT>> '63 CHEVY IMPALA LOWRIDER
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And now for something completely different... One of the best things about SEMA is the eclectic mix of vehicles at the show. One of the biggest shows of any kind in North America, you get everything from rat rods to supercars, sub compacts to lowriders. This particular 1963 Chevrolet Impala 'El Rey’ stood out from the crowd and this was a great opportunity to touch on a a genre that we don't regularly cover. This was one of the stars of the show for me, even if this is not my usual...

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2,122 Posted Nov 10 2011, 02:00 AM by Andy Blackmore with 20 comment(s)

CAR SPOTLIGHT>> PASSIONATELY PINK CAMARO
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I've noticed a resurgence in 70s Chevrolet Camaros at recent SEMA Shows, and this year's event was no exception. One example was this clean 1972 Camaro that has been owned by the same family since the late 70s. Jerry Fernandez Sr has owned this Camaro since the last 70s. When he started a family, he decided to store it rather than sell it. A wise move as it turned out. Once his first son came of age, he took over the Camaro. Over the course of the last ten years, the Camaro has gone through...

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Posted Nov 09 2011, 01:00 AM by Andy Blackmore with 20 comment(s)

EVENT>> SEMA 2011 - OEM, PART TWO
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Time for our second look at the car manufacturers that were part of SEMA. You can read Part One here , where we looked at Chevrolet and Scion amongst others. Although small, Mazda had a great line-up of cars on their stand. Tucked away from the main halls, the North American Division showed two MX-5 concepts, both of which were great executions. Similar in concept to the recent Porsche Boxster Spyder, the Mazda MX-5 Spyder has a simple canopy roof, which transforms the profile of the car. The new...

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2,122 Posted Nov 03 2011, 04:00 PM by Andy Blackmore with 7 comment(s)

EVENT>> SEMA 2011 - THE RACE CARS
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Time to take a look at some of the race cars at SEMA 2011. Falken was proudly displaying their ALMS Porsche 911 GT3 RSR at the show. The company has really stepped up its game this year with Walker Racing, taking two GT wins at Mid Ohio and the new Baltimore Street circuit. This is a huge achievement for the tire manufactures. Historically Michelin and to a lesser extent Dunlop have dominated in this field. The American Le Mans Series was also represented by the championship winning BMW M3 GT of...

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Posted Nov 02 2011, 05:30 PM by Andy Blackmore with 19 comment(s)

EVENT>>SEMA 2011 - OEM, PART ONE
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The SEMA Show is a huge event. This year is no exception. After a couple of slow years with the recession, business does seem to have picked up as the show floor is now packed with exhibits and the crowds yesterday, traditionally a quieter day, were huge. Different exhibitors use SEMA for different reasons, at one end of the scale, you have the individual who brings their prized proession to the show, all the way through to OEM Manufactures who want to show their latest cars and aftermarket products...

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2,122 Posted Sep 07 2011, 04:00 PM by Andy Blackmore with 37 comment(s)

NEW CARS>>JAGUAR C-X16 CONCEPT
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We will be covering the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show in more detail soon, but we thought the stunning new Jaguar C-X16 Concept deserved its own post. The Jaguar C-X16 Concept is the latest design in the reinvention of Jaguar and their design language and follows the XF, XJ and the C-X75 Concept last year. The new car is a compact rear wheel drive and is the smallest Jaguar coupe produced. With an all aluminum construction and a new 380hp 3.0l V8, it's capable of of 0-100km/h in 4.4sec and a...

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Posted Aug 09 2011, 05:45 AM by Andy Blackmore with 17 comment(s)

DRIVER BLOG: PETER CATE>> DRIVING THE ASTON MARTIN V12 ZAGATO
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There are only two Aston Martin V12 Zagato race cars on the planet, and I’m the lucky guy who has raced them both! The Zagato is effectively an evolution of the factory V12 Vantage that we campaigned at the Nurburgring Nordschleife in 2010 and early 2011, but from the outside, very little gives away that heritage. To have the opportunity to drive with Aston Martin, in this car, on this track, is the stuff dreams are made of. Let me share a little of how this dream came true. I’ve been...

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2,122 Posted Jul 15 2011, 12:45 PM by Andy Blackmore with 31 comment(s)

NEW CARS>>BMW M3 DTM 2012 CONCEPT
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BMW rolled out their concept for the new look 2012 DTM series this evening in Munich, ahead of this weekend's DTM round. New regulations for next year have been introduced to reduce costs with a standardized chassis and other parts. Aero changes will also lead to more exciting racing, back to the Golden era of 90’s DTM. This also allows 2 door coupes such as this M3 and Audi’s S5. These new regulations have already resulted in BMW Motorsport returning to the German series. The carbon...

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Posted Jul 08 2011, 05:27 AM by Andy Blackmore with 18 comment(s)

CAR FEATURE>>AN INSIDE LOOK AT ASTON MARTIN'S V12 ZAGATO
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One of the most popular cars at the recent Nürburgring 24 Hours was the new Aston Martin V12 Zagato. And, believe it or not, all of their race cars which race at the Nürburgring are street registered, bringing a whole new meaning to the term 'race on Sunday, sell on Monday'. Aston Martin granted Speedhunters full access to bring you this insight into the only two Zagatos in existence. Aston Martin fielded two cars at the event, having previously completed a couple of VLN rounds...

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2,122 Posted Jul 01 2011, 08:42 AM by Andy Blackmore with 19 comment(s)

EVENT>> 2011 NÜRBURGRING 24 HOURS IN REVIEW
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While the ADAC 2011 Nürburgring 24 Hours may not have brought Team Need for Speed the results it desired, it was still a classic race which highlighted why this event is so special and unique. Over 200 cars took to the track at 4pm on Saturday June 25th, from full GT2 cars to near showroom spec road legal racers on road tyres. 24 Hours later and Manthey Racing took the flag with their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, five wins out of six. Manthey took the unusual step of fielding two cars for its drivers...

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Posted Jun 30 2011, 09:00 AM by Andy Blackmore with 16 comment(s)

NEWS>>PORSCHE RETURN TO LE MANS IN 2014
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The most successful manufacturer in Le Mans, Porsche have announced they will be returning to Le Mans with a Le Mans Prototype racecar in time for the 2014 running of the legendary event. Regulations for the 2014 season still need to be confirmed, but it would not be a surprise if Hybrid technology was employed given the Porsche 911 GT3 Hybrid and the recent Porsche 918 RSR Concept.

Reports suggest the decision is independent of Audi AG who have yet to confirm their future.

Porsche's Le Mans victories were recently celebrated by an Art Car livery on the Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR at Le Mans... obviously a prelude to this announcement.

 

-Andy Blackmore

 

 

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2,122 Posted Jun 26 2011, 04:10 AM by Andy Blackmore with 3 comment(s)

EVENT>>2011 NURBURGRING - GREEN HELL BITES BACK
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It was to become a frustrating morning for Team Need for Speed Schubert Motorsport as the remaining two cars also succumb to the Green Hell. With the #76 car stuck out on the circuit, Team Need for Speed had to regroup and focus on the other cars, the #4 Need for Speed/Dunlop sponsored car and #77 'Norweigan'car. The rescue crews eventually brought the #76 car back to the Schubert pit and it was a sorry state. The team immediately started removing parts as the chassis has to be repaired,...

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Posted Jun 25 2011, 02:40 PM by Andy Blackmore with 4 comment(s)

BEHIND THE SCENES>>PIT GARAGE MAYHEM
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Its my turn for a Behind the Scenes feature and I thought I would share with you the madness of the pit lane! It is my first time at the race and previously and simply wasn’t prepared for how busy and tight the pit lane and paddock are. Each garage houses around 6 cars each, all tightly packed with little room for the mechanics to work. To put this into some perspective, in my previous life, I use to help lay out the pit garages for the McLaren Formula One team. Each F1 team would be given...

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Andy Blackmore