What began as a casual interest in picturesque photographic subjects has become in just a few years a fascination and a sort of treasure hunt while I’m prowling about with camera. This developed in part because it provides a distraction for me to pursue during my annual road trips between Virginia and the Southwest—across the so-called flyover country where there is not a lot of inherent scenic diversity. But the fascination is also fueled by my increasing awareness of how popular these iconic vehicles have become as classic examples of Americana. Everywhere I go now I see more elder trucks being restored or used as rusty-dusty yard art, daily drivers, signs and advertising platforms, planter boxes, farmer’s market booths, and in myriad other creative ways. It seems any use for an old truck is way cool nowadays.

I start this volume with historic examples of the diverse genre of old truck art. These range from 1930’s era Navajo petroglyphs of vintage pickups (the Iron Horse that competes with equine fascination in that culture), to odd little antique trucks, psychedelic hippie vans, modern poster art, bumper stickers, pot holders, and murals along old Route 66. But the bulk of the book is simply more of my favorite images of the old trucks themselves. Most of these photos were made in two road trips (in my nineteen-year-old truck) around the Southwest during the fall of 2017 and winter of 2018.

On a cross-country drive, in rural Oklahoma I saw an old pickup down a side road. Investigating, I found more of them at a garage dedicated to restoring old trucks. The owner had moved here from Switzerland to follow his passion about old trucks. Asking why he left spectacular Switzerland to live in Oklahoma, he said the trucks were here and that in Switzerland he couldn’t collect decrepit vehicles on his property. Maybe we take old trucks and freedom for granted. It says something about the powerful mystique these vehicles have for us.