It Started Out As a Hobby Gainesville, Florida is the home of Freck's Auto Art, Inc., a publisher and distributor of original limited edition racing art and memorabilia products. "It started out as a hobby back in 1998", says Joe Freck, founder and company president. " I have always been an avid race fan, which led me to begin collecting autographed racing prints, photos, team cards and other types of things. Eventually, I began trading and making swaps with other collectors and dealers. The day came when I was invited by a print dealer to enter into a joint venture for a limited edition print taken from an original painting. The edition would be limited to 850 copies to be hand signed by all four of the drivers depicted in the scene. How exciting! Nearly ten years later I have a warehouse full of racing memorabilia and collectibles and a fully incorporated company with our own web site. Before you could say "gentleman, start your engines", we were shipping stuff to people in countries all over the world."
Okay, that sounds like fun. But how is a limited edition racing print conceived and produced? What makes it different from any other type of car poster? "We like to dig around in the history of Motorsports and find races where something historic, interesting or unusual happened", says Freck. "Our research leads us to a racing scene that has a story to tell. Not just a picture of a race car necessarily, but something really significant and worthy of note. Once we find that defining moment, we commission a talented artist to create an original painting depicting it. The painting is then reproduced as a high-quality lithographic print edition under our supervision here in Gainesville. Each edition is limited in number, never exceeding 850 copies, which go on to be signed and sequentially numbered by the artist. The real challenges after that are to locate the drivers who are memorialized in the print and arrange to have them personally autograph copies of the edition. Once we achieve that, not only does our customer get a beautiful piece of artwork, but a unique and valuable memorabilia product as well".
To date Freck's Auto Art, Inc. has produced original print editions which have been autographed by racing legends such as Phil Hill, America's first Formula One World Champion, Sir Stirling Moss, considered by many to be the greatest race driver of all time, American racing icon Mario Andretti, and many others. "Perhaps the most interesting thing about our business is having the opportunity to meet personally with these guys and spend a couple of hours with them while they autograph the edition for us", says Freck. "We recently met with Mario Andretti at his offices in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, which was very exciting. A while back, we did an autograph session with 1997 Formula One World Champion Jacques Villeneuve. He liked the print so much that he asked to have the original painting for his own collection. We have traveled to the south Florida home of Stirling Moss, to the Barber Motorsports Complex in Birmingham, Alabama, and to the Daytona Superspeedway to get our prints signed. We've also had to crate them up and ship them as far away as Australia, where an edition was autographed by Sir Jack Brabham, and to California to have our "Battle At Sebring" print signed by Dan Gurney". Getting the drivers to sit and sign the prints is a lot of fun, but the process does not come easy, and believe me, it doesn't come cheap."
"Sometimes, we have to produce limited edition prints under corporate license. Our "Minardi Ford" print featuring Formula One pilot Marc Gene was officially licensed from Team Minardi. Our "Born To Race" print autographed by Richie Hearn was officially licensed by Anheuser-Busch." Apparently it is getting more and more difficult to get through to the really famous drivers, now that they all have agents and handlers. "We have been shot down by some of the biggest names in racing", chuckles Joe, "but we keep coming back".
"Our motto is that If you love racing and you love cars, you have found the right place", says race fan, car guy and art publisher Joe Freck.
Contact P.O. Box 357688
Gainesville, Florida 32635-7688
Toll-Free 888-928-8672
Phone 352-375-5899
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