History on wheels

Old, big red
Deerfield Beach, FL, December 2008
[Click all photos to enlarge]

About these photos: Thematic Photographic explores "well aged" this week, and I thought this lovingly preserved set of wheels qualified in spades. If you've seen something - or someone - with experience through your lens, please head here to let the sharing begin.

I often wonder if the folks who designed and assembled this car a lifetime ago knew that decades later it would become an object of desire for those who appreciate history. Just as often, I shift my timeline a little and wonder if the folks who designed and assembled my neighbor's Chevrolet Impala ever wonder the same thing. Then I wonder if said Impala will ever become as unique in some future time as this vehicle is in ours.

Probably not.

There aren't any formulae that dictate what becomes collectible and what becomes forgettable junk, but I'm willing to go on record as saying a nearly invisible design that sells in the six figures to folks who buy cars by the pound won't likely show up on a far-in-the-future high-end auction turntable. No disrespect to the Impala, but it just doesn't have "it". Whatever "it" is.

I realize this may make me seem like a bit of a hypocrite, as I once wrote about making the Toyota Yaris seem sexy (oops, make that twice.) I guess the Impala can be sexy, too (even caught my rental in this moody nighttime shoot) but neither of these vehicles will ever be considered a collectible antique. I guess it depends how you choose to look at it. And you can find loveliness in something even if someone doesn't ever want to pay ridiculous sums of money for it.

Whatever the subject - old, lovely car or new, kinda-forgettable-but-still-potentially-sexy-t0-us one - I keep learning new things as I spend more time staring through my lens. Funny how that works.

Your turn: What does photography teach you?