Artist William Burge has found a way to artfully reattach all of the little pieces that have fallen off his 1968 Volkswagen Beetle. The results are far more impressive than the Bug's original and once-ubiquitous countenance. Actually, we counted all 21,000 gigashards of metal, and that's more metal than a '68 Type 1 contained, and even the steady diet of replacement parts doesn't account for the amount of cold-rolled whatever comprising this bodyshell. The car's exhibition at the Essen Motor Show is apropos on a whole bunch of levels.
The gargoyle-themed Volkswagen will fit right in among the cathedrals and castles in the city, which is a future European Capital of Culture for 2010. Being a cultural hub, the intricate suit of armor worn by Burge's once-humble Beetle will be understood for the masterpiece that it is, and the painstaking metal work that went into the car will not be lost on the home of the Krupp Iron Works. There's not much information to be found about the car, which Burge has named "Phantoms," though it's been on display in Essen from November 26th, and will be at the Motor Show until the 9th of December. We're dying for details, particularly how it was put together? What's the interior look like? Is it still being pushed around by a 1500? Can I borrow it to discourage parking in front of my house? One of you astute commenters out there must have more information; please share!
Posted Sep 18th 2007 1:06PM by Chris Tutor Filed under: Etc.
Like many of us at Autoblog, we're pretty sure many of you are life-long computer geeks, which means, if you're old enough, somewhere in your house is a box (or boxes) of never-to-be-used-again floppy disks. Lara Weigand saw potential in those boxes of discarded data and decided her 1998 Honda Civic could use an exterior upgrade.
After painting hundreds of 3.5" and 4.25" floppies, Weigand glued them to the car, upgrading the Honda's storage capacity by at least half a gig. Such a valuable art car needs security, so we're glad to see she write-protected most of them.
Inside, Weigand's car features a dash plastered with sheets of punch cards and windows bordered by computer keys. On the wheels are processor chips and, fittingly, the door handles are covered with ESC keys.
The license plate, of course, reads DSKDRV. Write that down and if you ever see an improper driver taking the car through some bad sectors, it means someone has performed an illegal operation and should immediately be booted.
The Citroen 2CV is already a unique-looking car, with Citroen's distinct mid-century-modern style and flair. The French auto could be considered the opening salvo in a styling onslaught that led to such heights of style as the DS. A regular 2CV could be considered a piece of art, and Andy Saunders saw his French runabout as a canvas for further experimentation. Inspired by Pablo Picasso, pieces of the CV were sliced, diced, moved hither and yon, and repainted to mimic the artist's 1937 portrait of Dora Maar. The car is street legal in England, and we can only imagine the double takes it garners as it motors on down the street. Nighttime visibility must be rather entertaining, with both headlamps on one side of the car, and since turn signals received similar treatment, you'd best know your hand signals if you don't want this art car to suddenly become a collaborative effort, painted by someone else's vehicle-shaped brush. Saunders's car was at Goodwood this year, and Autoblog photographer extraodinaire Frank Filliponio snagged a shot of it. Just like Picasso's work, this Citroen will garner diametrically opposed reactions, but love it or hate it, it is a brilliant homage to an artistic movement that was fresh and vibrant when this humpbacked, bug-eyed voiture first saw the light of day.
Click above or follow the read link for a big gallery of pics of this outrageous Benz
Not sure who took these pics or what the mural depicts exactly, but this is one finely detailed M-Class. A true work of art if you're into REALLY custom paint jobs, this Mercedes from St. Petersburg (Russia, not Florida) is swathed in a mural of epic proportions. Medieval warriors adorn the flanks converging on a lightning-illuminated castle atop the hood. It's really pretty spectacular, as you can see from the gallery. Surely not the best use of a Mercedes-Benz M-Class, but to each his own. And as long as the owner likes it, what do our opinions matter?
The term "art car" is closely associated with BMW, which has a history of letting famous artists use its vehicles as rolling mechanical canvases. And the cars are memorable, too -- the Andy Warhol M1 leaps to mind. Well, late last month, Audi decided to throw its hat in the ring as well by commissioning Brazilian Pop artist Romero Britto to turn an RS4 into an art car for the brand with the interlocking rings.
Britto responded with what you see above. A colorful painting of a woman adorns the hood of the muscle sedan and extends through the rest of its bodywork. It made its debut at the Art Chicago fair in the Windy City at the end of April, and will tour other locations in North America before ending its run in Miami Beach, where it will be auctioned for charity. Full details after the jump.
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.
As much as we love the roadgoing rallycars from Subaru and Mitsubishi, it's because of the way they drive, not necessarily for their handsome silhouettes. But beauty is, as they say, in the eye of the keyholder. Artist Benedict Radcliffe, head of experimental design at the Glasgow consultancy Stand, fashioned this wireframe outline of a Subaru WRX as an objet d'art. It sits outside the Paul Smith gallery on Albemarle Street in Glasgow, Scotland London, England (Thanks, Tony). And showing they have no love of fine art, the local constabulary has repeatedly ticketed the offending vehicle. Tickets are alternately written out to The Invisible Man or Wonder Woman, apparently. Well, it does take up a parking space, but come on guys. We remember seeing VW Beetles with intricate ironwork "bodies" in place of traditional panels, but this is a bit more extreme. It actually looks like a styling buck at first glance, but click here or here to see that it is indeed the real deal.
Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. One man's artistic expression in vehicular form may make another man vomit uncontrollably. While this particular vehicle probably falls on the latter end of the spectrum for most, we felt like we had to share. Perhaps it will inspire other designers to come up with something less hideous more to their liking. Bangladeshi automotive artist Leepu Awila created his RMX-1 as more of a design study than a functional concept. Awila originally hand sketched the RMX-1 after being inspired by a trip to an aquarium. "I'm giving it big side-windows. People are gonna want to see the driver of this car," says Leepu Awila, "not just their face but what they're wearing, their trousers or skirt. I got the idea at the aquarium. I thought: if I can see the fish, the fish can definitely see me."
In just six short weeks, he managed to gather all of the parts and materials he needed and hammer the car into shape. He used raw sheet metal if needed, but also used many parts salvaged from used car markets. A chassis from an old Capri and the greenhouse from a mangled Calibra to name but two. Awila developed his coachbuilding skills by building replicas of his favorite cars after he had seen them at auto shows. His first project was a replica of the Lamborghini Countach that he built on a Volkswagen Beetle chassis.
Over the years he got really good at it, but it eventually struck him that he didn't want to fake it any more and that he "felt like a thief". He wanted to come up with his own designs, allowing his creative juices to flow. For Awila the end product isn't the most important thing. The actual creation of the piece itself, the construction process that turns scrap into a thing of beauty, is the reward.
A group of BMW Art Cars is headed to Gallery Petronas in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this month for the start of a museum tour that will keep the cars on the road until 2010. The Malaysian display runs from from September 14 to October 22 and includes cars by Frank Stella, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Ken Done. After Malaysia, the cars will head to Singapore, the Philippines, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand -- the end of the line for that particular group.
At the same time, Art Cars by Alexander Calder, Matazao Kayama, David Hockney and Jenny Holzer will be making the rounds through Taiwan, China, Russia and Africa. From there, a group of Art Cars (BMW doesn't specify which ones) will go to Turkey and then tour the United States and head back to Europe, where France, Spain and Portugal all have events in the works so far.
We'd love to tell you what the US stops will be but we're guessing they aren't finalized (BMW doesn't give any details). They aren't going to arrive here for quite a while anyway. Regardless, we're looking forward to checking out the exhibit when it does. Significant cars by significant artists? We're there.
American Honda Motor has unveiled this Fit "art car" as part of a new "Fit in the House" promotion in partnership with the House of Blues entertainment company. Folk artist Jack Poppitz, whose work is on display at HOB clubs across the U.S., was commissioned to create the "drivable art," which depicts the history of blues music. The custom Fit will be sold in a charity auction.
There are lots of "Fit in the House" promotional events planned, including a sweepstakes to win a 2007 Honda Fit Sport. Check out www.fitinthehouse.com for all the details if you're interested.
GM shrinks Volt's gas tank, range drops from 600 to 360 miles
MINI dealers to sell Alfa Romeos in the U.S.
Honda to reveal OSM open-top concept in London
With crisis looming, GM may unveil Volt for 100th anniversary
Next BMW M5 will nix V10 in favor of twin-turbo V8
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First Drive: 2009 Chevrolet Traverse
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