A WORLD CLASS WINNER

But do you know him?

Part Two We continue the saga of Mr. David Schnorr of Schnorr Graphic Arts.

(Part One - Can be found in Die Porsche Kassette April 2023 issue)

The Schnorr Art warehouse shop space is overflowing with scale models, posters, photos, and mementos from a life of creative efforts. Eyes flit in every direction to a myriad examples of David’s graphic achievements. When we ask questions, David dutifully answers, as his son continues to caress the graphics on bodywork for the Creech P3 car. From simple questions, stories flow endlessly. The stories roll out like a twisting mountain road. We traverse car graphic designs and race results, the people, the races, the destinations, and the nature of car livery. David does not talk about himself, even though he could talk for hours about his accomplishments. The man is humble and has simply loved what he has done. His satisfaction lay in seeing his work hit the track, and then the winner’s circle.

here are a couple photos, models and a poster that garner significant attention. These are the photos of Paul Newman. Newman was the voice of Doc Hudson, the Hudson Hornet, from the movie Cars. The animated film was produced by Pixar Animation Studios, released

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by Mark Johnson by Walt Disney Pictures in 2006. How did the legendary actor and accomplished racecar driver come to voice the Hornet—and to drive an “actual” Hudson Hornet race car? It is a wonderful story of movie magic, opportunity, and a great deal of serendipity.

Newman was a natural choice for Pixar and Disney. Doc Hudson was an integral part of the story for Cars. As the mentor for the Lightning McQueen lead racecar character, the Hudson

Hornet was the older, wiser ex-racer himself. Newman, with his legendary acting profile, distinctive voice, and substantial race pedigree, was the natural choice for Doc Hudson in the animated feature.

Virtually any NASCAR shop could build a replica Hudson Hornet race car. However, it was simple fate that Kevin Jeannette of Gunnar Racing in Riviera Beach created a real lifesize version of the movie car. Gunnar Racing used a Petty Enterprises NASCAR chassis, a Rousch big block motor, and the fabricated fiberglass bodywork replica of a Hudson Hornet. But who should provide the look of the 1950s vintage period correct vehicle? For Jeannette, the answer was simple, call his friend Dave.

David Schnorr provided the livery graphics to present the vehicle exactly as it would have looked on a NASCAR racetrack in the early 1950s. The Gunnar Racing “Doc Holiday” was track-worthy. Seizing the opportunity, Paul Newman got behind the wheel of “Doc Hornet” on Charlotte Motor Speedway. Wearing a racing fire suit, he proceeded to give the film crew members rides around the track at 170 MPH.

The two photos which stand out in the shop are Newman at the wheel of the Hudson (in race suit and harnessed in) with a huge grin on his face. The second picture shows a brief moment during a break at Charlotte Motor Speedway with David Schnorr and Paul Newman just relaxing on the pit wall, catching up on the day’s activities. The poster hanging high in the garage space is a photo of David Schnorr standing next to the Gunnarprepared full-size Hudson, wrapped in character as for the movie.

One interesting additional note. Doc Hudson’s expressive “eyes” were animated. The photo of David with the Doc Hudson at the Charlotte track show one of those Newman expressions. When making the real car David would print up different eye expressions and mount them in different stages of the build, as if Doc himself was involved in the process.

For several hours as guests we are enthralled at the broad and immense nature of race automotive graphics. The history of race graphic development from hand-cut vinyl applications to full vehicle wraps is the story of David Schnorr’s life of innovation regarding racing livery. But it is time to go.

In parting we offer to return to the shop after Christmas to assist David in packing up the memorabilia. David has the space until the end of the year, when it all has to be boxed and carted to storage. As luck, time, and the vast amount to be done is assessed, the guys are invited back between the winter holidays to assist.

After Christmas and before New Year’s 2022 the three GCR members return to the Schnorr Art shop. They arrive camera in hand and mental notebook ready to capture much of what is to be seen and heard. The guys help wrap up nearly 500 scale model cars and box them for placement into storage containers. They pull endless photos, posters, mementos, t-shirt logo proofs, Le Mans and Daytona access tickets and multitude of other racingrelated materials for David to save and eventually catalog as his personal collection of thirty-five-plus years in sports car racing.

Over two days David and the volunteer crew manage to box up about 75% of the materials so they may be moved. During these hours of packing each of the three willing assistants realize that there is so much more to be told regarding David Schnorr and his life. While the guys pack, David shares stories and Jesse completes the wrap effort of the #33 Sean Creech car.

The morning of the second day of packing up the shop, LMP3 is collected by the Creech race team. The vehicle is transported back to the race shop for the engine to be installed and the car prepared for the 2022 Rolex 24 at Daytona. The Schnorr Art shop has open floor space for the first time in a very long time.

David’s stories and accomplishments would fill a book. There are many in the race world who would appreciate learning of his efforts and his extensive contribution to modern race history. Photos of the multitude of vehicles to which he applied his art could easily fill hundreds of pages, each with a short description of the design, if so written.

As we pack and talk, a general plan is conceived to write a detailed article about David. The article would be submitted it to a major auto sport magazine, such as Road & Track or Porsche Panorama, for publication. (Ed: GCR readers get an early look with this Kassette story.) At the same time, David will begin to develop an autobiographical type of book regarding his race graphic efforts and the various stages of race graphics from shelf paper to solvent jet printing on vinyl. Those two main themes would easily encompass a large volume of material.

David traversed six stages of production technology during his career while applying livery designs to race cars. Starting in 1986 until he retired from active design at the end of 2021 those stages were: 1) ’8692, when materials were all vinyl and hand-cut; 2) ’92-96, with machine-cut single-color items smaller than 30”; 3) ’96-99, with machine-cut larger singlecolor items; 4) ’99-04, when small multi-color logos were made possible; 5) ’04-07, with large-scale, full-color printing on vinyl; and 6) ’07-present, Full-size printing of 54” x 20’, enough to cover a complete car. Throughout these six stages David was ever the innovator for expressing new ways to decorate a racecar.

At the outset in 1986, as noted above, everything was hand cut, including the smaller decals. A seemingly simple “Hillshire Farms” logo of 6 to 7 colors would be cut from individual components, based on colors and shapes needed. Then each color/ shape was painstakingly layered onto the car as necessary. Of course, the car would sometimes have five, six or more of the decals plastered over the body, each one hand-cut and applied. A constant hope for drivers? “Please don’t wreck the body panels or we do it all over again . . . and again.” Fortunately, the technology progressed to allow multi-color printing and logo design, so it became faster and easier to do the work.

As race graphics and technology improved David stayed ahead of the progress waves. He was the first to “paint” a car using colored adhesive vinyl. In 2005 he worked with a German firm (Orafol) to introduce wrap product to North American racing and wrapped the first race car. The next year he used the vehicle wrapping technique to prepare five cars for the 2006 Daytona 24 Hour race.

Porsche is where David Schnorr’s heart and soul reside. When Champion Porsche of Pompano Beach first entered the race scene, it was David Schnorr who created the long-lasting and stunning Champion Motorsport livery. Every Champion-sponsored Porsche has been adorned with this consistent multi-color design element.

The simple and effective graphics allow the car to become negative space and the applied color to outline the sweeping beauty of the Porsche vehicle line. Colors and car merge into one. But it isn’t only the color and shape of the Champion that make the livery distinctive. The vinyl material used had a reflective element which gave pause to fans and photographers alike. With a unique and very dynamic design, using highly reflective material, the Champion Porsche cars became among the most highly photographed vehicles of all time, and virtually remain so today.

Champion Porsche racecars have been successful at LeMans, Daytona, Sebring, and virtually every IMSA event. Champion Porsches are frequent visitors to the Pikes Peak Hillclimb, as well. For the 2021 Pikes Peak event Champion brought a specially prepared Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport adorned in David Schnorr graphics. Romain Dumas drove this vehicle to a first-place finish in the Time Attack 1 Division, and a second overall behind an Unlimited Division competitor. The Pikes Peak Porsche was a featured guest at the 2022 48 Hours at Sebring Club Race, the 2023 DRT in Miami and several other venues in the South Florida area.

Champion Porsche race vehicles are instantly recognizable, which is the essential goal of race livery. David Schnorr created that iconic look, that Champion Porsche livery, and there is no other like it.

And here is a personal note from David on which to close: “I’d like to thank the three Gold Coast Region members for coming to the shop and helping me. They made something so impossible to comprehend a very enjoyable and memorable event because it brought back the joy of what I’ve been doing all these years. At the same time, it helped me achieve closure of this chapter of my life and start a new adventure. I am so thankful for these three fine gentlemen I did not know. They came to the shop, jumped in, and helped me overcome a huge hurtle, and they have become good friends.”

…… End of Part Two. Look for Part Three, the Conclusion, in the June issue of Die Porsche Kassette.