For me, vehicles have always been more than machines — they’re part of my family’s story.

My grandfather John and great-uncle Charlie ran a small Plymouth dealership in Spring Valley, Illinois from the 1940s through ’60s, back when the automobile still represented freedom, craftsmanship, and possibility. The dealership stayed in the family, though not with my side, but the love of cars never left us.

After high school, I headed west to California — detailing cars and growing my photography skills. I was shooting arial photographs hanging outside the copilot’s seat, back before we knew better. My time in California led me to importing vehicles from the U.K. for clients, working with machines that carried both history and artistry. Eventually, I came home to study economics and start my photography business.

I had corporate gigs, marketing partnerships, calls from PR firms, shot on construction sites, placed products in textbooks, and created a following at event venues. But I always came back to the allure of aviation, transportation, and my fascination with anything on wheels.

Over the years, I realized what drew me wasn’t just the vehicles themselves, but the stories they carried: the hands that built them, the lives they touched, the roads they’ve seen.

Vehicle Archives Group grew from that realization — that I can help people preserve those stories through photography, film, and sound. Every vehicle photo project I take on is an act of preservation — of the feelings vehicles inspire in us and memories we create with them.

— Jon Muzzarelli, Founder, Vehicle Archives Group

Giovanni “John” and Carlo “Charlie” Muzzarelli’s dealership in Spring Valley, IL