As time has gone on and cars have gone through changes both aesthetically and mechanically, the world of cart art has been able as a result to detail changes and reflect the wonder of the automobile in new and different ways. These days we have Formula 1, NASCAR, Concours and a whole galaxy of other settings which showcase the look and feel of cars in their most appropriate settings. Back at the start of the 20th Century, though, there were fewer options. This did not stop Peter Helck from becoming a car artist par excellence, and the father of car art in many people’s estimation.

Helck was caught by the automotive bug at an early age, and his early experience with cars included copping a ride with a test driver on the early Simplex cars. This had a profound effect on him, as did attendance at the Vanderbilt Cup in 1906. When he went on to study art it was in New York City, which gave him the chance to see the new autos on display in the city’s showrooms. As a result he became more and more interested in mixing his two great pleasures – cars and art, and when Esquire magazine commissioned him to create eight paintings depicting early motor racing, he fused his reputation as a car artist.

His early experience of the Vanderbilt Cup informed much of his later activity, including his purchase in 1941 of the Old 16 race car, which he donated to the Henry Ford Museum on his death in 1988. Though there have been many car artists of note since, Peter Helck was a true trailblazer.