Burning In: A 72-Year-Old Photographer, a Red '65 Mustang, and 1,200 Miles to France

Another amazing film by Petrolicious!

People smile at this car, which sounds like nothing until you know it lives in England, where drivers do not often smile at each other.

Steve Theo is 72 and has been making photographs since 1970. He wanted a Mustang from the moment he saw the black and gold GT350 in Grand Prix, got his first one in 1988, and found this red 1965 fastback three years ago. Three pedals is more or less the entire specification — he has no use for cars or cameras that do the work for him.

He learned the trade at sixteen under a photographer named John Maltby, built and lit sets in camera for Glamour and Cosmopolitan because there was no fixing things afterward, and spent seven years of weekends photographing Senna and Lauda at Brands Hatch and Silverstone without ever getting a frame published. He printed it all himself, burning in and shading out with his hands under the lens, counting seconds in his head.

The car turned 61 this year. He had it serviced and pointed it at France. 1,200 miles later he came back calling it fantastic.