BEHIND THE LENS THE COOLEST CARS WE’VE EVER SHOT Inevitably, it’s happened to all of Mecum’s staff photographers at some point in time: SCOTT MEAD With a little help from his grandfather, Mecum’s senior photographer, Scott, started driving at the age of 3 and was racing go-karts by the time he turned 8. He received his first camera (a Kodak Instamatic) around the same time and started photographing car events, races, rallies and concours. Before coming to Mecum, he was a writer and photographer for Edmunds.com, Motor Trend and spent 15 years in Hawaii photographing the island’s splendor. Scott’s wife swears he gargles with 100-octane race gas and bleeds 20/50 motor oil, and when he’s not on the road, you can find him in his garage, wrenching on their DeTomaso Pantera or Porsche 914. we arrive at a client’s location, and they roll out a vehicle that leaves us slack jawed in awe, trying not to drool over ourselves or our camera gear. Some of these cars are so cool, that while we try to remain composed, many a time we can’t help but to geek out, stammering like a gob-smacked 6 year old standing in front of Santa Claus while fighting to get the next breath of oxygen into our lungs. It could be a one-of-one car we’d only heard rumors about, a vehicle once owned by one of our heroes, a mirror image of the poster we had on the bedroom wall as a kid, or a car that grabbed our hearts early on and never let go. The list of cool cars that we’ve shot over the years isn’t really a list at all, it’s more like a scroll—a very long scroll. Since Mecum’s photo staff is diverse in both age and taste, I asked my fellow shooters to throw their thoughts into the coolness ring. While some members of the team were hard at work and unable to set their cameras down long enough to contribute, here’s what a few of us had to say: DAVID NEWHARDT - CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER In the 34 years that I’ve been a professional automotive photographer, thousands of vehicles have passed in front of my lenses. From a value standpoint, I’ve spent time with an incredible palette of machinery ranging from those bearing subterranean price tags to ones exceeding $36 million. Yet one vehicle stands out to me above all others, and that’s the famed Bullitt. It is the only car that’s given me goosebumps during a photo shoot. To me, it represents much more than just a movie car; the era, the personalities, the vibe all came alive when the key was twisted. Photographing this icon was one of the best 4 hour stretches of my professional life. From the moment it rolled off of the Mecum trailer into the daylight, I had images bouncing inside my head. With an owner who was willing to work with me to get those images onto the camera sensor, it was a morning of photo playtime. Of course, the sound of the exhaust bouncing off the surrounding buildings when moving the car just froze me in my tracks. I normally don’t emphasize nicks, faded paint and dents, but the Bullitt wore them like badges of honor. I knew that Mecum Auctions had a lot riding on this vehicle, but my time with the car was joyous, and I hoped that came through in the images. When people ask me what my favorite car to photograph is, my response, in one word, is Bullitt. SCOTT MEAD - SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER The coolest car I’ve ever shot? Talk about a loaded question; it’s like asking a father who his favorite child is (the one who loves cars, duh!). Like David noted above, the list of cars I’ve shot since 1995 is as diverse as it comes, from Alan Shepherd’s Corvette to a multimillion-dollar Pagani Huayra and God-knows-what in between. Of the several that stand out, there’s one that will probably remain as my all-time unicorn—the car that gave me goosebumps through the entire shoot, the car that wouldn’t let me collect my breath and left me in disbelief that I was afforded the opportunity to photograph it. It’s one of the cars I detailed in a previous Behind the Lens column titled “The Holy Grail Experience”: a prototype that only turned a wheel once in anger, DeTomaso’s 1965 Sport 5000 Group 7 race car. Can-Am cars have always kicked up the cool factor 56 // MECUM.COM
