RAINBOW ROAD

Rainbow Road

Fully hand-painted, Jan Kaláb’s art car combines all the best colours you could get on a G body 911.

“I’ve been painting since I was a child”, Jan Kaláb explains. Born in what was then Czechoslovakia and based in Prague, Kaláb is a man of colour above all else. Finding his inimitable style was a journey that spanned decades and a multitude of mediums, but it was really forged in the turbulent years of early ‘90s Europe. Back then, a teenage Jan was among the founding generation of the country’s fledgling street art scene. The Czech Republic had only just been formed and Western influences were mixing into the landscape for the first time. For young people like Jan, it meant a whole world of artistic opportunity was making its way east, and it was up to them to show the world what it had been missing for all those decades.

“Graffiti was my biggest passion for more than 20 years. I painted on walls, sidewalks and trains, first in Prague but then around the world. My career highlight back then was probably painting subway cars in New York City. Eventually though I began to search for artistic expressions that could expand beyond the limits of graffiti. After some experimentation, I transitioned to canvas painting. I learned to build my own stretcher frames so I could work with more abstract canvas shapes, so there was an element of sculpture to the work too. The relationship between the general shape and the composition of colours became very important. Finally, it seems these organic shaped paintings have become my signature style.

The idea of painting my 911 came shortly before I purchased it. I was inspired by various historical art cars and I wanted to contribute my own work to this tradition.”

From subway cars to sports cars, Jan’s extensive painting career bridged a new medium when he decided to cross his love of colour with a long held fascination for the Porsche 911. Working with organic forms was something he’d picked up a knack for, but applying those practises to the body of a 1985 Carrera 3.2 was going to be considerably more time consuming, particularly if it was going to be done right.

“We took the car apart so I could paint the engine bay and trunk, but in doing that we found many small parts that needed replacing along the way. The biggest change I made to the outside was the ducktail on the back. I like this ‘contrapunkt’ to the decreasing silhouette line. I also changed the steering wheel and widened the rear wheels, just to improve the stance. The colour motif was going to be simple, a gradient from front to back with a slight skew. Yellow from the front, right through to blue in the back. You’ll find every colour of 911 that I like here. I played with many other variants, but this came out best against the black bumpers and black interior.

It was six months from the moment it arrived to the moment it was finally ready for paint. The challenge then was to paint the gradient so smooth that you couldn’t see the difference between the separate panels. We had to disassemble the car for base paint, then reassemble it to make corrections and then it was carefully disassembled again for varnish. Putting it back together after that took ten more months.”

Now finally in one piece, the car can be seen on public exhibition, provided you’re in the right time and place to spot it roaring through the streets of Prague and the surrounding countryside. Of course it isn’t a static piece yet, not so long as it has fuel in the tank and a willing participant at the wheel.

"The idea of painting my 911 came shortly before I purchased it. I was inspired by various historical art cars and I wanted to contribute my own work to this tradition.”

"Yellow from the front, right through to blue in the back. You’ll find every colour of 911 that I like here. I played with many other variants, but this came out best against the black bumpers and black interior."

“Originally I thought I was going to sell it after finishing it, but then I found out what a wonderful car it is to drive. Until that point I’d only admired Porsches for their exterior beauty. To me, these cars were like sculpture on wheels. It’s the only sports car I’ve ever owned, so I feel like I drive it like a kart sometimes. It brings me pure joy, a great reward for how long it took to build.

When the idea first came to me, I was inspired by other art cars by various artists. I wanted to make my own mark on the genre and pay tribute to the shape of a 911 in my own style. I have to admit, I’d like to do more now. Maybe a modern 911, or a Singer would be the dream. Maybe a commission will come up or maybe I’ll have to sell this one to build the next, I don’t know. Until then I’ll just enjoy driving it.”