RIP Mike Key

[HoTWire]

It is hard to overstate the impact photographer Mike Key has had on the UK custom car scene. Having photographed extensively for car magazines, including VW World, Custom Car, Street Machine and many others over the years. He built great cars too, fully inhabiting the scene he also documented.

For me though he has an even more special place. When I was in school I was identified as being dyslexic, at the time a thing that wasn't widely understood. One of the ways this shows itself is in the quality of writing that one does. In order to practice both reading and writing every evening I would write a section out from Mike Key's 1932 Ford Street Rods book. I'm not sure how much it helped my writing, but I sure did learn a lot about 32 Fords.




Thanks Mike Key for everything you bought to the custom car world.

[Seth]

Oh, sorry to hear that news. As you say, his work illustrated all those magazines I was buying from my teens on. A sad loss.

[pistonpopper]

Thats very sad news, just looking on my bookshelf I can see several of his books on a variety of cars including the 1932 Ford Street Rods book. I actualy saw him on several occasions photographing cars at shows over the years, and although he was clearly busy he would always happily indulge in a quick chat, and he always came across as a genuinely nice fella. R.I.P. Mike.

[moggyman]

RIP Mike, you were a legend in the field of British rodding

[moggyman]

RIP Mike, you were a legend in the field of British rodding

[hannahthomas]

It's very sad news. Mike, together with wife June, has left a lasting legacy not only for us involved in hotrodding but the wider classic vehicle scene too. RIP.

[mrbounce]

Sad news indeed. Loved the fact that when I was reading Street Machine in the late 80s and early 90s that at least half of the features were photographed by Mike, and to a suitably high standard. A huge talent. RIP.

[tonycocacola]

Very sad.
RIP.

[keithyboy]

Unlike Hotwire, I don't think SM or Mr Key did anything for my education because I would much rather read car magazines than read Shakespeare, or do my maths homework.

A sad loss but a decent legacy.

[Jonny69]

Wow, wasn’t expecting to read that today.

Mike Key photographed the cars in almost every mag I opened from my teens into my 20s. Like you say Hotwire, it’s impossible to overstate his impact on the UK car scene.