Just Writing Through: Classic cars, antique cars and sports cars ... and the incredible people who own them

Recently I’ve spent some time around cars -- vintage, classic, sports, etc. -- and I’ve had the opportunity to photograph them all.

Cars are interesting subjects to photograph, but the stories that come from the owners of these cars make them all the more interesting to me.

The first of my car stops was a classic car show/cruise night on the Historic Woodstock Square with my family. As we walked around, we happened upon Ken Ehrenhofer and his 1920s-era fire engine. He very kindly invited my girls to hop into the engine and shared some stories about the restoration process.

Ken told us about a Model A Ford swap, and he invited us to this semi-private event. I wasn’t sure if we would fit in with a group of Model A and Model T collectors. It seemed a bit out of our league, but Ken was so kind that we thought we’d make an attempt to check it out.

Ken is the director of membership and pubic relations for the national Model A Restorers Club and a regular contributor to The Model A News magazine. I was honored that he invited my husband and I (and our children) to come see what this event was all about ~ even though we weren’t part of this Model A club.

On the property of 40 Horse Farm, I saw some historic Model A automobiles and even took a ride in a Model T Ford. I learned a little about this man’s life, but I learned a lesson in humility. As we walked through his office, he showed my husband and I memorabilia, awards and some photos. “This is me and Mike Ditka. This is me and the Bishop. This is me and Tom Hanks. This is me with my daughter. This is me with a group of high school students…”

“Wait, um, can we go back to you and Tom Hanks?” His car was a featured car in Hanks’ Road to Perdition. I got to photograph that car.

Ken Ehrenhofer's Model A featured in Tom Hanks' Road to Perdition.

But he was equally as excited about his car being a part of a high school group’s movie – The Key of Capone – and he had a poster size picture of those actors. And that is what Ken chose to highlight on our office tour.

Ken also let us see some of the remodeling underway on his property – antique cars awaiting paint jobs, Model As ready for brake jobs, a huge vintage bus that Ken won at auction, the Model A that Ken went cross country in with his brother and his friends when they were college students … there was a lot to take in.

Also at the swap, I met a lawyer from Chicago who has taken his very young children to Canada in the family Model A. I met a gentleman who uses his Model A as his primary car. I learned a lot about what modifications owners have made, but I learned even more that what I had anticipated as being a very select group of car owners actually were very willing to talk about their cars and were extremely friendly even though we weren’t part of the club. One swapper even gave my children a Model A Ford hubcap and a nameplate ~ he explained that everyone has to start somewhere, so we could start building now. Actually, my husband has been lusting after Model A's now....

That article ran here: http://www.thewoodstockindependent.com/September-2016/Woodstock-Man-Hosts-Model-A-Enthusiasts/

Not but a few weeks later, there was another local car show. I swung by with my camera just to take some pictures, but as I spoke with some of the other exhibitors, I thought there might be a story there, so I called my editor and this story ran. You can read it here: http://www.thewoodstockindependent.com/September-2016/Churchs-Third-Annual-Car-Show-Draws-Crowd/

Again, it was the people behind the cars who really drew me in. One gentleman spoke at length about how he restored his Super Bee to its original color – one that was so unique there were only about 17 cars produced in that color. He was a U.S. Veteran and shared a unique story about his career and holding true to his word.

One funny story from that day, though, is that I had been shooting a lot of blue cars {as evidenced by my photos}, and I happened to mention to one of the owners that I remembered shooting his Bonneville earlier because I really like blue cars. It was a running joke on that side of the show that if you didn’t have a blue car, you wouldn’t get an interview. That obviously wasn’t true, but we all had a little laugh over it.

Overwhelmingly, I experienced such kindness and gained so much knowledge through these events. More importantly, I learned that, despite what club you belong to, most car-owners are genuinely willing to let you in ~ as long as you are open to stepping outside your box and are willing to listen and to learn.

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Classic Cars on the Historic Woodstock Square: