Art Car parade shows there's no accounting for taste

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Art Car parade shows there's no accounting for taste

by Frank Filipponio (RSS feed) on Apr 26th 2007 at 10:37AM

Wow. We know that there are millions of people out there who can't stand having a stock vehicle parked in their garage. For these folks, a car isn't theirs until it has been personalized -- vanity plates, bumper stickers, cold air intakes, DUBS, whatever. But for a few people a car is a totally blank canvas. No mere add-ons will sate their hunger for self-expression. For these ~~twisted~~ artistic souls, nothing is off limits when it comes to modifications. And so we have the Art Cars. Outrageous paint jobs depicting just about every conceivable theme are the norm, but for some particularly gifted individuals, paint is so five years ago. Why paint a car when you can cover it with driftwood? Or apply thousands of cigarette butts to it instead? And although huge rear spoilers can be found tacked onto some of the most improbable vehicles in the real world, these cartists (car artists) like to add things like scale models, shells, buildings, and propellers to their rides. Sister blog Gadling recently attended an art car parade in Berkeley (we assume), and posted a few dozen pics for all to see. Click over and check them out for yourselves. We're rather partial to the child's racer bed complete with functioning racetracks, although that Isetta looks splendid as a bubble plane. And while we have no idea what it's supposed to be, the vehicle above certainly takes the cake in the more-is-more category.

[Source: Gadling]

Filed under: Etc.

Tags: art car, Art car parade, ArtCar, ArtCarParade, cartists, custom car, CustomCar

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

ckathens 11:10AM (4/26/2007)

Sure doesn't look like Berkeley to me - i'm pretty sure that's somewhere in Florida, especially since most of the license plates seem to be from Florida.

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p.bubel 11:10AM (4/26/2007)

"Sister blog Gadling recently attended an art car parade in Berkeley (we assume)..."

While usually a safe assumption, this doesn't look like it took place in Berkeley. Besides, the first and largest Art Car Parade was and still is in Houston of all places. They even have an Art Car Museum.

http://www.answers.com/topic/houston-art-car-parade
http://www.answers.com/topic/artcar-museum

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Matt 12:38PM (4/26/2007)

I think that's a 60 or 61 Imperial, i dunno about the rear end of it though... weird.

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BigTeebo 12:57PM (4/26/2007)

I was hoping I would see the stiletto heel car(which is a reverse trike), which blows the doors off of most of those cars. Instead of putting toys,etc on a vehicle, it is a nicely crafted original.

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onefastvw 1:19PM (4/26/2007)

Art Car parade in Houston is on May 11th this year. Haven't been in the museum, but can't be much there. Hard to miss, sticks out like a sore thumb.

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Matt 12:42AM (4/27/2007)

If you expected something convential, then you've chosen the wrong venue to seek it. "Taste" as defined by this group is radically different from what most Autobloggers might consider "taste".

I would consider this perspective before giving the article such an offensive title. Claiming these artists have "no taste" is drastically different from admitting that YOUR taste might not be the same as theirs.

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Barney 5:59PM (4/26/2007)

To bland. Needs more chrome.

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Frank in L.A. 6:39PM (4/26/2007)

hahaha reminds of Ghostbusters!!!!

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Kendall Tawes 9:05PM (4/26/2007)

That's a Mercedes Benz Estate actually. It may contain parts from an Imperial but mostly it's a stretched out Benz.

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Azrael4h 10:36PM (4/26/2007)

That in no way deserves to be mentioned in the same page as Ghostbusters' Ecto-mobile. That took a classic, hacked it apart and added masses of random and insane things to it for the sake of proving that the owner is unfit for society. The Ecto at least had a fictional purpose to the equipment, and the car's lines were left intact. Down to the rear impalers.

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EArtCar 9:45AM (5/03/2007)

This art car event was in Lake Worth, FL. The car in the photo is called the "Finn Jet" and is two Mercedes welded together along with other goodies.

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Kevin 6:09PM (5/03/2007)

Looks like someone spent some time in the philippines oogling Jeepneys

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Art Car parade shows there's no accounting for taste

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

ckathens 11:10AM (4/26/2007)

p.bubel 11:10AM (4/26/2007)

Matt 12:38PM (4/26/2007)

BigTeebo 12:57PM (4/26/2007)

onefastvw 1:19PM (4/26/2007)

Matt 12:42AM (4/27/2007)

Barney 5:59PM (4/26/2007)

Frank in L.A. 6:39PM (4/26/2007)

Kendall Tawes 9:05PM (4/26/2007)

Azrael4h 10:36PM (4/26/2007)

EArtCar 9:45AM (5/03/2007)

Kevin 6:09PM (5/03/2007)

Add your comments

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