Review: McKlein calendar

9th December 2011

By Anthony Peacock

More than just a way of counting the mundane passing of the days and the months, the magnificent McKlein calendar – a bit like the one produced by Pirelli – has become a real legend. It's a Christmas present that all the drivers and team principals lust after, but thankfully you can buy it too.

Just beginning to describe it is a challenge – how do you describe any work of art, after all – but let's simply start off with the word 'big'. Once again the calendar adopts the 95-centimetre panoramic format, meaning that you can have nearly a metre of rallying charging across your wall every day. No wonder it's called "The Wider View".

The McKlein calendar is now 33 years old, making it almost as old as the World Rally Championship itself and considerably older than most of its stars.

The artistry of Reinhard Klein and Colin McMaster needs no introduction, but anybody who is still wondering why they are the foremost protagonists in their field will have their questions answered the minute they flick through this lavish calendar.

Rally cars provide both the subject and the backdrop to the images, because as Reinhard points out, the people and the places are just as important than the actual machinery – and probably more so.

The amazing thing about the photographs is that the more you look at them, the more you appreciate the skill behind the lens. The capture of the fleeting moment is exquisitely executed, while the camera seems to act as a mirror of each driver's very soul.

None of this is coincidence of course: the fact that Reinhard and Colin know all the locations and personalities so well is what makes them successful. Underneath each shot are a few notes from the photographer, outlining the settings and place of each creation.

There may be just 12 months in the year, but there are no fewer than 25 sumptuous images in this calendar that will continue to captivate you long after 2012 has faded into distant memory. For each month, you have a choice of two very different photographs, illustrating all the complex facets of the sport we love.

It isn't exclusively the WRC either, as the McKlein team also made the trip to the 100th anniversary Monte Carlo Rally at the start of the year for the opening round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. It won't be long before Monte Carlo kicks off another year of action, but before then there's still plenty of time to look back on the highlights of the 2011 season.

The calendar costs €39.90 or £34.90 and it's available from the Rallywebshop: McKlein's official outlet. Visit http://www.rallywebshop.com or call +44 (0)20 81 33 0605 in the UK or +49 (0)2203-9242570 in Germany.