The Holden Monaro Series
Stack of Holden Monaros V2 and VZ by Tom Mayer, Monkey Crisis On Mars ©2016
The Holden-Series available at Redbubble.com
Sometimes I get asked why I don’t do more of everybody’s darlings. My usual answer is: Because the other cars want T-Shirts too. It is actually a reason why I started the Volvo series in the beginning, because I wanted a certain style of T-Shirts with wagons on it, but couldn’t find anything I liked. So yes, I feel dedicated to the cars in the second row. The ones that, if they are lucky, become cult, decades later. The ones that are loved only by a few enthusiasts. But there is something else: These cars thought me more about automobile history than any Ferrari or Porsche. I learned about brilliant engineering and great stories from cars I barely knew before. And there are of course the fans. People pointing out details to me, changes in model years or rare colors. Stories about their own cars with links to forum posts that are more capturing than a season of ‘Breaking Bad’.
I mentioned the Holden Monaro earlier. Now I finalized the stack here is what I learned about a car I took as a rebadged Pontiac GTO with ill fitting hood scoops: That a big car company put a concept car into production because people loved it. That this car was so hot that other GM brands wanted it with non or just little changes. And I learned about Peter Brock – A racing legend who drove the red Monaro into 1st position at the Bathurst 24 hour race.
So this is a big thank you to all the people filling the internet with facts, photos, and stories of cars I learned to love and to draw in the recent years.
T. Mayer, Illustrations 
Hey Tom I loved reading this post, thank you for sharing about your personal journey with creating these drawings. Finding out about more obscure car models is something I really enjoy, too.