parkednabandoned
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1989 Ford Bronco II XLT - the beginning
It's August, 2021. I just moved to New York and have no idea what I am doing other than chasing a beautiful woman I met in Arizona, my previous home, while she was on vacation. I live on the fifth floor in Bed-Stuy. Down 5 flights of stairs and around the first corner is this 1989 Ford Bronco XLT. It's sitting with the front tires angled toward the street. A week goes by, then another and another. The truck hasn't moved an inch. It's beautiful. Is the owner only moving it when the sweepers come by or are they eating the parking tickets? I took my first picture from the side. I loved the car, I loved the picture. That's when I started taking pictures of cars I admired with the same idea, from the side, with the car right in the middle of the frame. A few weeks go by, I'm a month or two into my new home in New York City. Sitting in a coffee shop trying to come up with an idea for these pictures. Ideas came and went that day. Thinking about this classic car that hasn't moved in weeks, I came around to the name that would evolve into more than I ever imagined. PARKEDnABANDONED. Why? Because in New York I quickly realized finding parking is almost a second job. Sometimes when you find a spot so sweet, you'd rather leave the car and take the subway than give up that spot. This name, this Bronco, all evolved into what is now known as one of my favorite creations I've brought to life, PARKEDnABANDONED.
Coffee and Carburetors
Do you remember that beautiful girl I told you about? The reason I moved to New York city. Well, her family is from Connecticut. Growing up they would go to this car show that took place a couple times a year in an adjacent town next to theirs. Her father, Harry, a well rounded car enthusiast with beautiful toys of his own, invited me to this known but also hidden car show. Coffee and Carburetors houses anywhere from 100's to 1000s of beautiful antiques, supercars, and 1 of 10s. Just some rad people with rad whips.
Kirby
It's January 31st, 2023, I'm on my lunch break scrolling through craigslist like any other day when I came across this 1984 Chevrolet Corvette. I messaged the owner, his name was Bruce. The next day we had planned to meet but I let my coworkers talk me out of it with all the costs that come with buying a 40-year-old car. The rest of that day I had this feeling in my stomach, a gut feeling, and I couldn't shake it. I couldn't work, not with a level head that is. I called Bruce and asked if the car was still available, luckily he said yes. I met him immediately after work. It was dark out, I checked it out, took it for a quick drive and bought it.
Thrifted in NYC
The source for the material? It's a big question when youre looking to create a materialistic version of your idea. I looked straight to finding clothes in New York City that were second hand. I wanted to use the love I already had for thrifting and let that feed into what could be the starting point for my ideas.
The Inspiration
Growing up I remember driving around town with my dad and he would sit there naming every car from a quarter mile away. As a kid I viewed him as if he had superpowers. This instilled a passion for cars throughout my young life as I collected hot wheel after hot wheel and small scale replicas of specialty cars. I carried this passion to present day and now have over 200 hot wheels in my apartment as well as a corvette sitting outside, with a constant urge to finding car #2. This is only the beginning of my car collection.