This desk is said to have been directly inspired by the Porsche 917K, a formidable endurance race car that was used by Steve McQueen during the production of his 1973 film Le Mans.
The desk is the creation of French artist Jean-Michel Bliard, also known as JM Bliard, who formed it out of fiberglass and finished it in the unmistakable Gulf Oil livery – Pantone Blue (PMS 301) and Pantone Orange (PMS 165).
The desk was shaped by French artist Jean-Michel Bliard as an homage of sorts to the legendary Porsche 917K in Gulf Oil livery.
Jean-Michel Bliard is based in Saint Laurent de Terregatte, in Normandy, France. Here we works out of an old carpenter’s workshop with high ceilings held aloft by aged wooden beams resting on cinder block walls that were built in 1959.
Bliard has had a lifelong fascinating with classic cars, and racing cars in particular. He’s worked on restoring them in the past, and they’ve always had some influence on his artwork.
His art largely consists of avant garde furniture that wouldn’t look a whisker out of place in a mid-century Palm Springs home designed by the likes of Richard Neutra. Unusually, Bliard’s work would also look perfectly at home sitting in the captain’s quarters on the Starship Enterprise.
The desk features a single drawer with an aluminum knob, and wood internals designed for document storage.
The desk shown in this article was purchased directly from Jean-Michel Bliard in 2010, and it comes with its official certificate of authenticity. It measures in at 237 cm x 106 cm x 76 cm or approximately 93″ ×42″ × 30″ and it has a single drawer that faces to the back so it can be accessed by the person sitting at it.
It’s now due to cross the auction block with Bonhams on the 10th of May with a price guide of €6,000 – €8,000 or approximately $6,412 – $8,550 USD. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bonhams
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
