StreetSafari Rally Art Cars from the UK Now a Regular Feature!!!

StreetSafari, organizer of the world's best banger rallies, has teamed with Art Car Central to showcase some of the countless creations of our teams over the years.

For those unfamiliar with banger rallies, here is a quick introduction: buy a car on a budget (£250 or $500), repair it, make it legal for the road, take it on a journey across Europe or the States with other like minded people. Whether the car will end up in a foreign scrap yard or be taken back home is up to the team and is usually anybody's guess.

As one might imagine, part of the challenge is simply getting the car to the finish line. For most teams, the challenge starts much earlier. What seems to happen between buying the car and getting it ready for the start line is subject to paint, imagination and -- probably -- alcohol.

We get to see everything. You name it, we've seen it. If there was ever a famous car on television or cinema, we've seen at least five examples of it on our events. General Lee, Starsky & Hutch, the A Team, Ghostbusters, all done to death. We see rally themes from Audi, Skoda, Martini, Pink Pig, and just about any other you can think of. The quality of the theme seems to vary with the quantity of what the team has drunk, as much as with their creative ability.

Sometimes a team will just paint or decorate the car to a theme they made up. That's where we get the stand out cars.

Today's fabulous art car is a 1992 Volvo 480, with possibly the most intricate design we have ever seen in all the years and events that we've done. Its nickname on the event was simply "the Rorschach car" and everyone knew which that meant. When we first saw this car we made enquiries that it was being brought back to the UK after event, as it would be a crying shame to send this car to the crusher before it had enough time to be appreciated for the masterpiece that it was.

The story behind this art car is that two friends had bought it but had no idea what to do for a theme until they bumped into a rather talented artist friend. He then proceeded to draw all over the car and took about three weeks to do it. We believe the car was then sealed in a lacquer to give it a lasting finish, and we think the car is now in Glasgow somewhere.

From a distance, the drawing appears as one giant doodle. The closer you look, however, the more diverse and detailed the images become. A real piece of car art if ever we saw one.

By Justin Clements of StreetSafari
 

17 Crazy Ways To Prank Your Friends Car

Is it late night, feeling mischievous, and have nothing better to do on Saturday night? Why not prank your friends car next time you and your friends are out and about hanging out at Dennis at 1 o'clock in the morning. What better way to say "You rock dude" than to cover your buddies car with a bunch of TP or plastic wrap. Or show your boss how much you appreciate him by covering his car in post-it notes. Better yet, freak out your mom at grocery store by surrounding her car with shopping cars.  There is a car prank for every season, autumn leafs in the fall, snow in the winter, sand moats in the summer, pumpkins for Halloween. There is also a pick axe prank for the angry ex-girlfriend which I don't recommend. Have fun enjoy.

Surround Cart Car Prank

Police Tape Cop Car Prank - Better be a cop to do this

TP Car Prank

Tin Foil Car Prank

Car Filled with Pumpkin in Car

Principal's Car covered in hall passes Car Prank

Car filled with receipts and friends Car Prank

Car buried in autumn leaves Car Prank

cotton wool car prank

Plastic wrap and cone car prank

Cardboard covered car prank

Classic post-it note car prank

Paper mache car prank

Truck moat car prank

Filled with snow car prank

Plastic wrap car wrap

Angry ex-girlfriend pick axe car prank - ACC does not condone this one at all.

Vanadu Ford - Post Apocalypse Gothic Hunter Camper

I am not sure which category to put this Ford Van called "Vanadu" in, but its definitely Post Apocalypse Gothic Hunter Camper.

You start with the fencing up on the roof with a broken spire that looks like a grave site. And various decorative flourishes scattered around to give it the Gothic retro look.

You continue with various car parts welded together, fins, grill, lights, vases, horns, chimneys, lamps, and bars over the windows to give it the "I just survived an atomic blast" apocalypse look.

You then move to the rustic hunter elements with large moose antlers on the roof, mounted fish and deer antlers on the inside. I think I saw an old pistol hanging there to round out the hunter "I am going to get those mutants" motif.

All this wrapped up in a ford Econoline camper that looks like it has some empty spaces to be completed at a later time. I contacted this person for more info but did not get word back, so I made up my own story. Don't get me wrong, this art van rocks and I am sure its very cozy in a Post Apocalyptic Gothic Hunter way.

Retro Vinyl SSR Art Car - Artefacts

"Artifacts" art car was sent in by Graphic Designer Gary Grayson who covered his really cool Chevy SSR pickup truck in a vinyl wrap to advertise his Art Print Business. Some work with paint some work with pixels on vinyl:)

Art Car submitted by Ghetto MySpace

Its not so much about this graffiti art car and the guy sitting pretty on the roof with the Gatorade bottle, as it is about guy who sent this picture. Dan Goodman stand up comic is the creator of a web site called Ghetto Myspace with real pics from the web's worst hood that is both both fascinating and terrifying at the same time. I warn you, I got sucked into it 20 pages deep and viewer discretion is advised due to the mature nature of the photos.

***MATURE CONTENT WARNING*** 

Explicit Material Depicting:
men with guns, women with guns, kids with guns, guns with guns, lots of cash, art made with cash, more cash, people eating cash, gold teeth, booty shots, guns and cash, drugs and guns, drugs, cash and guns, art made with guns, guns pointed at you, dead gang members in coffins, tattoos and guns, tattoos guns and cash, tattoos and cash, strippers with cash, strippers with cash and guns, corn rows with guns, corn rows with tattoos cash and guns, the bird with guns, the bird with cash, the bird with booty guns cash and tattoos, babies and guns, dogs cash and guns and the one that freaked me out...babies with guns and cash.

You have been warned...

4 Startfish + 4 Barbies = TWCRV aka The Worlds Cutest RV

I got an "art car" submission the other day for an RV owner who had about 4 star fish, 4 barbies,  one shark, three fish, one Easter bunny, one seagull, two happy faces, a cat painted tire cover, a bunch of burning man stickers, and two bikes. The rest of the RV is totally bare. At first I rejected the submission which I rarely do but I had a change of heart after I looked up the definition of an Art Car.

An art car is a vehicle that has had its appearance modified as an act of personal artistic expression. Art cars are often driven and owned by their creators, who are sometimes referred to as "Cartists"

I guess by definition the "TWCRV" AKA The Worlds Cutest RV is an Art Car. OK Sheldon, you made it to ACC, but promise me you will be adding more stuff and then send me a picture of your progress.

My definition of an art car here on Art Car Central is the same as the above definition BUT, I was looking for something that was a bit more "covered". Like the Art Car Campers below.

Double Decker RV at Burning Man

Wesley Dezern's RV, by artist Pat Waldron

Graffiti RV

Drive by Paintball RV Art Car

Remarkable 22ft Mercedes Finn Jet Art Car Limo- Video

I was just go another remarkable "Finnjet" art car video that really gives you a much better idea of the magnitide of this car. The Finn Jet, created by Antti Rahko, is a 22-foot-long, 7,500-pound compilation of chrome made from 40 different cars, based on two Mercedes-Benz station wagons welded together. There are also parts from a 1962 Chrysler Imperial thrown in the mix, plus 86 lights and 36 mirrors added over six years. It also has three axles, two of which are steerable, a stove, microwave, freezer, TV, two air conditioning and even a sauna (Finns are very serious about their saunas).

Finnish-born Rahko, who is from Kurikka, a town of about 10,000 in western Finland, emigrated to the United States in 1984. He left his son in charge of the furniture business he'd built in Europe. He retired from the business and with lots of free time and his interest in old cars he bought and scoured from junkyards. He mainly built this car to amuse him self but due to health issues the Finnjet is now available for sale for only $950,000. He was discovered at a Florida art car parade and since then has been a giant hit and was even featured on the Discover Channel.

The name “Finn Jet” traces back to 1976, when the Finns launched the longest and largest car ferry in the world, and the only one powered by gas turbines. The original Finnjet is said to still be the fastest conventional ferry in service, with a recorded top speed of 33.5 knots.

Photo by Paul McRae



Photo by Kay and Kevin Rolfes

Hot Westcoaster Mailster Art Car For Sale

This hot 1965 Westcoaster Mailster Art Car is now for sale right on craiglist for only $2500 in Phoenix AZ. This old mail truck in phoenix runs great and still has the original v twin motor with a 3 speed manual transmission. Its a must have for this years art car parade season.

Miami EV Project - VW Golf Art Car by LEBO Studios

Have you ever sat around with your friend and though, "hey, we should make our car an electric car"?

Danny Alva and Donato Helbling woke up one day and decided to turn their VW into an electric car. This DIY project can be found Miami EV Project for all to see and keep up on their journey.

They took a Volkswagen Golf III, gave it an amazing paint job by LEBO Studios, called the Buzz and swapped out the engine and fuel tank for an electric motor and batteries. After about 70 days of hard work, the final product was on display at the Green Art Fair Miami 2008. Even though the two were a bit exhausted by the challenge, they were ready to tackle more conversions soon.

Their mission is to research and develop electric vehicles and to provide public education and promotion of this alternative way of transportation. Helbling's big question is this: "If we can do it, why can't everybody? Do we really need to wait for car companies to sell us a new electric car?" To answer that, keep an eye out for Alva and Helbling to possibly work on a reality show or documentary series called "Green Your Ride."

Best Man Mobile Wedding Chapel Art Car for the Busy

If you’d like to get married in a special place that doesn’t have a church or chapel nearby, you can always call upon the services of the Best Man mobile wedding chapel. This Art Car is a 1942 American la France, converted by professional tuners, on a TV show called “Trick My Truck”. It belongs to Darrell Best, an ordained minister who uses it to get people married, wherever they like. Based in Shelbyville, Illinois, the Best family travels across the Midwest, at various wedding destinations. Once the service is over why not go over to Florida and rent the Nautilimo, a pink boat that looks like stretch limo.

On the Move Mobile Wedding Chapel Art Car Photo by Rex Features

Wedding taking place on the Mobile Wedding Chapel Art Car Photo by Rex Features

Mobile Wedding Chapel Art Car Pipes Above photos via CMT

15 ways to freak people out while driving - Double Trouble Art Car

If you are the kind of person who wants it both ways then welding two front ends of a car together might be your cup of tea or coffee. Or maybe you just happen to have two cars of the same make that were recently rear ended. These cars definitely have a better turning radius and definitely can get themselfs in and out of tight parking spots. Besides, they make it really easy to freak people out.