Before the book one could make the case Cole's personality and aesthetic was due greatly to his father, the legendary racecar builder and driver Pat Foster. But now it's an undeniable association. By outlining the relationships with his mentors, among them his dad and Lil' John Buttera, who both passed away last year, we see the foundation of Cole's aesthetic philosophy and attention to detail. And by way of both vintage and finely crafted modern photography, there's a lot to see.
We admit we were struck a little funny when we heard that Cole wrote a book about himself. But upon reading it, the idea makes sense; Cole Foster has a lot to say--trust us, it's in the book.
How to find it:
Motorbooks ISBN 978-0-7603-3167-5
What it's called:
Kustomland: The Custom Car Photography of James Potter, 1955-1959
What it's about:It's a collection of images of custom cars built in the Los Angeles area in the late 1950s.
Notes:
If you grew up in 1950s Los Angeles, you witnessed a grand place at its finest era as far as custom cars were concerned. Liberated by nearly endless combinations of new paint and free to apply it to some of the finest factory-custom shapes the car world has ever seen, customizers of the time produced some of the most exquisite machines ever to float along the boulevard. And right there among them was James Potter, twin-lens reflex in hand. Lucky for us he kept it loaded with highly exotic film for the time: Kodachrome color transparency.
Potter led quite possibly one of the coolest lives for the time. When fellow former Douglas Aircraft worker Walt Woron hatched his idea for Motor Trend, he tapped Potter for his managing editor; he owned Power Boat magazine for a spell, and when he returned to Petersen Publishing he came back in a publisher capacity. But for that half-decade in the latter part of the '50s his assignment was to chronicle the expanding custom-car movement happening along Long Beach Boulevard.
Along that stretch from Long Beach to Lynwood were some of the most notable car customizers: Barris brothers, Bill Gaylord, Larry Watson, Ed Roth, Dean Jeffries, Junior Conway, Dick Jackson, Link Paola, and brothers Chrisman and Ayala. So too were there clubs: Renegades, Cut Outs, Lancers, and Satan's Angels, just to name a few.
Spearheading this collection is illustrator, designer, and sometimes editor Thom Taylor. In fact, as Taylor points out, the project's birth was incredibly mundane: NHRA's Greg Sharp gave him James Potter's widow's phone number, and by way of her son, Jim, Taylor had access to Potter's meticulously organized archive.
Though that archive includes everything from sports cars to speedboats, the photos Taylor homed in on are a special breed. Most cars were shot for Hot Rod, Car Craft, Custom Cars, and Rod & Custom--publications with relatively young readership. Simply for the fact that the majority of people building these cars and who were interested in copying them were relatively bucks-down, the cars are fairly simple. While elaborate and extensive modifications were the hallmark of late '40s and early '50s cars, these are uncannily close to stock body-wise. Beyond wheels, tires, and stance, it's really paint that makes these cars unique.
Though these images are half a century and older, there's probably no better time than now for a book like this to surface. With the resurgence of historically themed cars and with the availability of easy-to-apply, environmentally friendly paints, this book becomes a smorgasbord of great ideas.
And you might just learn a thing or two about history while you're at it.
How to find it:
Motorbooks ISBN: 978-0-7603-2259-8
What it's called:
Hot Rod Pin-Ups II
Who done it:David Perry, with foreword by COOP
What it's about:Hot rod pinup photography.