My Memories of the 1992 New York Auto Show | Forever Studios
Despite being the General Manager of Forever Studios, it wasn’t until very recently that I actually had my own VHS tapes from the early 1990’s captured and converted. I had always been meaning to do it, dating back well before my tenure here with the company. But upon joining the team, it was obvious that we needed to focus all of our attention on customer orders, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to have mine worked on instead of theirs, so I waited patiently for the right opportunity.
Preserving my Personal History with Forever Studios Gold Transfers
After a few months, it looked like that opportunity had arrived, and the production staff got to have a good laugh watching back hours of footage from my childhood. We had just rolled out our Gold Videotape Transfers, and I couldn’t wait anymore. If you’re not familiar with the Forever Studios Gold Transfers, we actually developed the first process in the business which enhances not only resolution, but de-interlaces old footage, increases frame rates, and dramatically expands the color depth. In other words, these tapes were going to look better than they ever could have, even when new.
A TRIP THROUGH AN ICONIC TIME IN AUTOMOTIVE HISTORY
I’ve always been a total sucker for anything having to do with cars. My dad has been the General Manager of a car dealership for my entire life. I was literally born into the hobby, and fed a steady diet of information, pictures, videos, and experiences that only made that fascination stronger. I was that kid who not only knew the make and model of any passing car, but watched auto racing and knew all of the famous drivers. So imagine my surprise when one of the first videos I spin up is myself at 5 years old, running around the 1992 NY Auto Show with my dad, and both grandfathers.
Nostalgia, Hobbies, and Knowing Yourself
Needless to say, this experience was surreal, because once I got past the initial shock of getting to relive that moment, I had another powerful realization: I have literally never seen, despite being a huge fan of 1990’s cars, any footage of this event. Forget good footage of it. I have literally never seen this moment in history on video anywhere else. And if I were to find this on YouTube, I would sit there and gleefully watch all of it regardless of who the family in the video happened to be.
Here was top quality restored footage of every car I have ever thought was cool, brand new, right in its natural habitat. As kids today would say “the vibe was immaculate”. The Acura NSX, Ferrari Testarossa, Lamborghini Countach… Concept cars that history has likely forgotten. All right there. And that feeling of being interested in the video because that event was, in and of itself, a formative experience for you. That’s a weird feeling. You’re interested in seeing it because you always have been. And there you are, in that video.
HOW FOREVER STUDIOS WORKS TO PRESERVE EVERYONE’S HISTORY
After I was done reliving this experience, it occurred to me that we likely work on hundreds of videos like this in a given week. That just because a memory belongs to a specific person or family, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have some other sort of historical relevance. And just by the very nature of converting and digitizing tapes of this footage, we are effectively making sure that this important part of American history is preserved properly.
The latter half of the 20th century was undeniably one of the most important periods of social development for us as a country. And it’s actually kind of rare to hear people talk about the idea of making sure that all of our media from that era is preserved. One has to wonder if the insane preponderance of 21st century media might actually place it all under some manner of threat, with the absolute avalanche of new content could serve to erase this important period from our collective consciousness. And with that realization, I came to feel as though the work we’re doing here is some sort of “duty” to make sure that all of these great pieces of history are not forgotten.
Highlighting Memorable Media in the 21st Century
So I actually have a request for all of you. I’m hoping that as we continue to work on these memories, and find more great pieces of lost media, that we’ll be willing to share them. I happen to have a blog column to write here, so I’ll be happy to continue to highlight cool events through the lens of my own videos (I can’t wait to talk about Y2K). But I would like to learn more about what these moments in time looked like for the other people who were there, and hopefully get to highlight some of your own cool historical memories.
For now? Enjoy a trip to the 1992 New York Auto Show.
