Preserving Custom Car Photo Collections

10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

The Custom Car Photo Archive started ten year ago, in the first quarter of 2004. It has grown to the worlds best known, and most extensive collection of Custom Car photos and related material, to be found on the internet.

Ten years ago, On March 25, 2004, Rik Hoving started the Custom Car Photo Archive. A photo-site to collect and share the beauty of custom cars. From the very beginning, our goal was to preserve the wonderful history of Custom Cars, Custom Car photos and memorabilia collections. In the near future we will pay some more attention to our first ten years in a few planned CCC-articles. However with this article we would like to pay some attention to the importance of saving, digitalizing and sharing the Custom Car Photo Collections. Collections that are of historic importance to those who were there, when it happened, but also for all those enthusiast who are learning from this history today, and in the future.

Preserving Custom Car Photo Collections

In the last couple of month we have heard several sad stories of wonderful Custom Car photos and even whole collections, that have been disposed, lost for ever. Not really on purpose, but found to be of no interest by the people who were asked to sort out belongings from passed away Custom Car enthusiasts. Material that had not been shared, or digitalized when it was still possible. Friends that might have known about the collections, but did not want to look to eager and “claiming” the collection so soon after their friend passed away. Now realizing there should have been copies or scans made to make sure historic photos would be saved for the future. With the early Custom Car builder and owners getting older and closer to leaving this world it really is time to save these old collections and the stories that go with them.
We would like to urge everybody who knows about collections, or just single photos, famous, or never before seen customs, car shows, or just random snapshot, and the great stories that are told by the photo owners. To try to duplicate the material, write down the stories, or tape them, and scan, copy the photos and other memorabilia… before it is too late.

A few photos from the Jim Street Collection. Many photos of this amazing collection have been shared in the Jack Stewart Ford book (a product of the Custom Car Photo Archive)

The Hot Rod community has the American Hot Rod Foundation.

The AHRF is a foundation who is preserving the Hot Rod history, and sharing as many old Hot Rod photo collections as possible. They are doing an amazing job, and have been able to safe a lot of old collections, and share them with the world wide Hot Rod community.

The Custom Car community has the Custom Car Photo Archive.

Since 2004, the Custom Car Photo Archive, part of the Custom Car Chronicle, has been sharing photo collections from private collectors. Collectors that liked to share their collection that might have taken many decades to grow. Collectors that realized that those collections needed to be shared with those who would enjoy them. Enthusiasts who like to study this material, or get inspired for their next project. We at the Custom Car Photo Archive have always tried to save as many of these photo collections for the future generations. We encouraged people to scan their collection before something bad happened to them. We have great plans for the future of the Photo Archives, and hopefully in the near future we can start working on those, and be able to share these personal collections in an even better way than we do now.

A few samples of the Wally Welch Collection.

We at the Custom Car Chronicle and the Custom Car Photo Archive would of course love to share many more of the collections out there. Help us to save these collections and share them with the world. We would love to share them on the Custom Car Photo Archive and write detailed stories about them and the people who collected this material, on the Custom Car Chronicle. This way our Custom Car enthusiast audience from all over the world can enjoy them. However the most important things is that these collections get scanned, digitalized and saved online or on back up disk for future generations.

From the Marcia Campbell Collection

We are very proud to already have taken part in sharing a wonderful selection of these amazing collections. Saving them for the future, and highlight sections of them with amazing stories on the Custom Car Chronicle, and in various world wide magazines and books. Collections from well know people as Larry Watson, Bill Gaylord, Marcia Campbell, George Barris, Barry Mazza, Jim Roten, Ina Mae Overman, just to name a few. And then many people who just were there at the time, and took photos just becuase they liked doing so. People who loved to share their stories with other enthusiast from around the globe. And found the Custom Car Photo Archive and the Custom Car Chronicle to be the right place to do so.

[box_light]If you know about a collection of old custom car photos. Or perhaps just a few. Please make sure the owner scans them, shared them or at least make a back up in a safe place. So that if something happens to the originals, we at least have a digital copy to enjoy.[/box_light]

The Larry Watson Personal Photo Collection is the largest collection of custom car related photos we have at the Custom Car Photo Archive at this moment. We are extremely proud that Larry Watson decided to share his collection with us.

If you have any questions, or know about a Collection that needs to be saved and shared. Please let us know Email Rik Hoving

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