MAGAZINE

ART DEPARTMENT

In his words:

Jerry Helwig's '40 Coupe was customized sometime in the 50's and although the history is somewhat sketchy on who did the work, it is true hot rod material, especially running on the salt with a Kinsler injected flathead. The first time I saw the coupe was at Pleasanton in '89 or '90. It was sitting in the middle of a bunch of polished and billeted 'don't touch me' street rods and it pulled me in like a magnet. Black primer (before it had been repopularized), flames, early custom touches like the sectioning, chopped top and molded fenders, all the way back to the Stude taillights.

Jumping ahead to Speedweek of '92 tells the story of one of the most interesting photo sessions I have ever had. Sunday afternoon Jerry & I had set up a time to photograph the '40 just outside the pits later in the day. We had just started back when the black clouds blew in. Horozontal wind & blinding rain for 20 to 30 minutes that left us in 2-4 inches of water, everywhere. The storm blew past in true desert fashion and the sun broke through shortly after. We almost pulled out, but, both of us realized it was too good to pass up. Photographing the '40 on 'Lake Bonneville', into a sunset, standing in 3 inches of salt water, ended a day that I still think about. Hot Rods in a classic landscape. The other part of the story is what it did to my Camaro. The line into the one Wendover car wash was way too long that night to wait around. The lowered stance of the car had caused the fan to catch water just before pulling up to the pavement, blowing salt water back through the engine compartment and out through the hood louvers. All for photography.......I'd do it again, in a minute. The Camaro could be fixed; the photographs could never be retaken.

Peter Vincent

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