Here are a couple of Max's 1968 vintage posters that you can buy at petermax.com.
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| "Dove," $1,260 |
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| "The Different Drummer," $1,660 |
Mr. Max has continued to make art since then, but his 1960s work defined him and his subsequent pieces reflect a similar orientation.
Born Jewish in Berlin, Mr. Max and his family fled the Nazis, and he was raised in Shanghai and Haifa, Israel.
It surprised me to learn that he collected iconic American sports cars, since he reportedly does not have a driver's license.
Plus, there is nothing I have observed in his work, then or since,that suggests an interest in things mechanical.
I do not possess a photo of the Peter Max Corvette collection, but if you are curious, a quick online search will turn up pictures of very, very dusty cars that have been sitting, unused and unmaintained, in garages for 25 years.
Corvette History
By the 1950s, sports cars were popular in Europe, but there had never been a lasting American model. In 1951, an engineer at General Motors began plumping for the company to produce a snazzy two-seater. Not surprisingly, the engineers and executives of America's largest automotive company -- all car guys themselves -- liked the idea very much and were eager to diversify beyond the familymobiles that had been Detroit staples for, well, forever.
The initial plan was to use stock frames and motor elements and top them with a sporty exterior, all to be marketed at about $2,000, then the average price of an American car.
Thus the Corvette was cobbled together, given its name, and introduced as a concept car in January 1953 at a Motorama display in New York. Reaction was great. Eventually, 300 Corvettes were sold that year at a price 50 percent higher than was first anticipated. All were white convertibles with red interiors and black canvas tops.
The first Corvette was not a fast, well-engineered car, but because so few were built, their value has only grown. If you want to buy one now, it will cost you several hundred thousand dollars.
By 1963, Corvette sales totaled more than 20,000 units for the first time. Over the years, the car had grown sleeker with a more powerful engine, and there were coupe and convertible models. The sports car had arrived in America.
Over the next two years, Porsche began marketing its popular 911 sports car in the United States.
A nice 1963 Corvette, if you can find one, would fetch anywhere from $45,000 to $250,000.
Advertisements of the car in 1973 pitched it not just as a cool car but an aspirational one. It had become a prototypical all-American guy car; 30,464 were sold.
By 1978, perhaps in response to increased competition, Corvette commemorated its 25th anniversary -- "men, machines and memories" -- and, I think subliminally -- its American tradition.
Sales just kept increasing -- to almost 47,000 units in 1978 -- but so did the competition. There were the Datsun (now Nissan) Z cars; British Jaguars, MGs and Triumphs, and a new Porsche, the 928.
The next 10 years were not glory years for Corvette. An auto blog, edmunds.com, called five Corvettes released between 1979 and 1988 among the "Ten Worst Corvettes of All Time."
These cars in the Peter Max collection are not expected to be worth a great deal, especially after the maintenance required after they have sat for 25 years in garages.
I still don't have an idea why Mr. Max collected all those Corvettes. He doesn't seem to have regarded them as investments. It makes me suspect that he may have other unsuspected collections of Americana that will be uncovered in the coming years. Those, too, would be something to see.
Corvettes Today
I am not a sports car enthusiast, but reading about Corvettes made me curious. It seems that the 2014 edition has been well received. A driving review is posted below
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