Most of the world is well into summer at this point, and while that may mean our vintage cars are running a bit hotter than usual (and possibly throwing some coolant-soaked fits about the whole situation), this is still the prime time for car enthusiasts. Europeans are likely coming up on their extended holidays, but even just having one free weekend during this season can yield more than enough opportunity to spend some time with cars; whether that be washing or fixing your own with cold beers and good friends for company, packing some bags for a mini road trip, finding a race or show nearby (there are seemingly endless rallies and concours and meet-ups of every bent and attitude during the summer months), or even just having some unencumbered hours in front of the A/C to scroll the arcane auction sites and forums looking for that rare part that’s been so shy.
What does Instagram have to do with this? Well if you’ve gathered up a nice set of accounts to follow in the car world, it’s sort of like a look-book for the automotive landscape that stretches vast before you. It’s a place to find inspiration of course, but more so it is a way to start sifting through the bubbling mass of things to choose from. Sometimes—and it’s not a bad thing—there is an almost overwhelming amount of content to consume and activities to be a part of that you can be left with some major choice anxiety. Thankfully we have the ability to share with each other when we finally do decide what we want to do, and looking at the quality work from others helps guide us toward our next pursuit.
It’s not like everyone has the ability to fly around the world on a whim taken from a phone app, but perhaps seeing the gleaming machines on a concours lawn will give you that kick to go detail your own car instead of, you know, not doing it. This is all getting a little too vague and wordy, so let’s let the photos tell their own stories!
Frederik Dulay is a Stuttgart-based photographer who has a perfect account in my opinion. I’m biased toward the Germans that go by BMW and Porsche, so of course the content in that area is a treat for those of a like mind, but beyond just the actual cars in the frame, every shot is expertly taken, and there is juuust the right amount of non-car photos to break up the hordes of pretty cars. Also refreshing is the inclusion of some lo-fi phone captures as well, which give a little bit of humanity to an otherwise very professional page.
Stanly Ok’s work is much more than “ok.” Having met the videographer/photographer/all around good dude a few weeks ago, I know he’d laugh at my lame pun not because it’s funny but because he’s just a nice person in general. And what he can do behind a camera is pretty damn nice too. It’s always a treat to find a portfolio like this with a certain look and feel that pervades everything being shot. The photos and videos on his page (seriously, check out some of the clips, those are the best pieces of an already great pile of content) all share a sort of “wet” and moody look to them, but not in an “it’s underexposed” way.
You may have seen Pedro Ramos Santos’ work on the site recently with the 356 Outlaw build he shot in Lisbon, and the rest of his photographs are just as compelling. What I particularly like about his shots is that he is not at all afraid to shoot into the light source instead of keeping it behind him like so many others never progress out of. It’s tough to get right, but Santos nails it. Expect to find lots of brightness, lots of locations, and of course, lots of cars to ogle on this page.
395north is an Instagram account dedicated to trekking around the eponymous Highway 395 and the surrounding area in western USA, and the resulting photos are a pretty convincing argument to walk out of the whatever you’re currently doing (even reading this article; we won’t mind!) and head out into nature and the kinds of places that make you glad you brought a camera or pissed that you forgot one. I’m not usually a big fan of new Jeep Wranglers as it seems like most of them are driven primarily to and from the beach and Starbucks, but when you’re going out into the veritable desert and actually using the thing in line with the marketing, there’s nothing wrong with that!
Last and as always definitely not least we have Faisal Yaqub’s page. Based in San Francisco, the feed of photos coming from Yaqub should replace anything the Visit California people are putting out to draw people to the state. He captures the dream of the halcyon coastal lifestyle that populates day dreams of the people who actually live here already, it’s that good. Random street scenes are mixed in with sweeping cityscape portraits, and high-dollar and low-dollar architectural aesthetics paired with waves of the classic cars that roam the area is a sublime mixture.
If you can’t get enough Petrolicious from our videos and articles already, there is always our official Instagram account to hold you over with some of our original photos from the journeys we take, as well as work from our friends who inspire us too. We hope you find it as much fun to look at as it is to build!
