Jim Bamber is the world's leading Formula One cartoonist.
Those words were first said more years ago than Jim cares to remember. He can't recall who first said them but to this day he gives the same reply: "There aren't that many about."
Over the years, numerous members of motorsport's elite have passed equally flattering comments about him. Sir Jackie Stewart OBE has complimented him "on the wit and wisdom of his cartoons" and George Harrison, Murray Walker, Nigel Mansell, Ross Brawn and the late Colin McRae, amongst others, have all echoed the same sort of admiration for his humour. Many of them have originals of his work. Even Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, has been presented with one of his cartoons.
Capping all that, in Jim`s eyes, Stirling Moss once asked him for his autograph!
For someone so involved in such a high profile sport, Jim is surprisingly shy of the limelight and so his story is not well known. For the record then, here is how it goes...
Jim Bamber was born in Preston in 1948. He never set out to be a cartoonist but was always interested in art and the publishing world. He studied for 5 years at the Harris Art College in Preston, Lancashire (UK), which he thought would set him up for a career as a book designer.
Jim moved to London in the mid 60's and worked for several of the large publishing houses. His first senior appointment was as Art Editor of CAR magazine. He followed that with eight years as Art Director of Autocourse and Rallycourse, which were two of the top motorsport annuals at the time. That put him directly in touch with the world of motorsport, working with top journalists like Maurice Hamilton, Alan Henry and Mike Greasley.
It was during this period, the early 1980's, that Jim first drew the simple, plain faced character that has become his trademark. He first used it to depict his hero, the Swedish rally driver Stig Blomqvist, and the cartoons were immediately snapped up by editor Peter Newton who ran them on the back pages of Cars and Car Conversions magazine under the title "Yumping Yarns". That was in 1981 and since then his subjects must have included almost every well known member of the F1 and World Rally communities. Someone once said, "The only thing worse than being in a Jim Bamber cartoon, is not being in one!"
Jim is often asked why he depicts his subjects with a plain face. Here`s his answer,
"Having 'doodled' the first sketch of it, I quickly realised that most of the drivers I wanted to feature all wore full faced helmets and it seemed so easy just to put the names on them and dot the eyes in. It wasn't until years later that I realised it had become a character in itself."
As the saying goes, the best ideas are the simple ones and Jim has built a long career out of his. His cartoons have appeared weekly in the 'bible' of motorsport in the UK, Autosport magazine, since 1989 and compilations of his work are published annually in his "Pits" books. He receives commissions, like his safety projects for the RACC club in Spain and a cyclist`s club in California, from all over the world and his work is often featured as far afield as India, in Car India magazine.
Paintings
In addition to his skills as a cartoonist , Jim Bamber is also one of the World`s foremost painters of motoring art.
As well know as Jim is for his cartoons, few of his fans know of this `other side` but that is only because most of it is by private commission and goes straight into the hands of collectors.
Painting has always been Jim's passion and it was a chance to illustrate a feature in the Rallycourse annual that he was putting together in the 80's that lead him to paint a series of highly technical paintings of famous Rally cars. One of these was featured in the SUN newspaper at the time and a later rendition of the Championship winning Peugeot 205 of 1985 was bought by Peugeot France.
One of Jim's happiest memories is discovering months later that this painting which he had been paid 3000 for, had been stolen from Peugeot's offices in Paris. 
"The fact that somebody had thought it good enough to steal was a real boost for my confidence. There is a happy rally fan living in Paris who probably still has it hanging in his flat".
More commissions followed and his work now ranges from early Bugattis to the lastest Ferrari 599. As most of this is by private commission, only a few pieces have come on to the open market. Of those that do, most sell in London but there is a market further afield, one piece recently selling in California where it reached $6000 at auction.
Commissions range in price between 3000 and 5000 depending on the size and work required. The process starts with a briefing on the subject vehicle, together with a short photoshoot for useable images as Jim likes to see every facet of the car before deciding on the finished viewpoint. The photos will also include items in the foreground and background, which Jim incorporates into the paintings in amazing detail.