Remember when the "service" in service station really meant something? Eager attendants fueled your tank, checked the oil, cleaned the windshield. Often the local station became a social center for car lovers and their pals. I miss those days and if you're old enough you may, as well. Fortunately artist Jack Schmitt has captured similar magic moments with a series of gas station paintings. Some feature Fords, some Chevrolets, a few Plymouths; all are sure to cause a lump in your throat. Or, for younger drivers, an appreciation of the way things used to be (and ought to be).

Jack Schmitt worked in gas stations part-time, taking photographs that years later became invaluable reference material. After attending the University of Illinois he earned a degree in Industrial Design at Pasadena's Art Center College of Design and was hired by Ford as a car designer. Jack later became a freelancer, using watercolor and gouache to illustrate his ideas ...and occasionally create paintings of the Midwest landscape with those 1940s cars he grew up with. He's a new edition to Carartinc.com's roster of talented artists.