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All about Art Cars

Most people in the car world can agree on a few criteria. Some of those are there is a certain degree of craft and dedication to the project involved. They also believe that car with a few painted handprints slapped on the hood is not a proper art car.

The important factor to begin with is that a person should be able to drive the car if the car comes under the category of an art car. As the name itself suggests, an art car is a creation in itself with a lot of creativity involved in that.

Art cars fall under a few categories like that of paint cars, glue cars, message cars, sculpted cars and interactive cars. Let us discuss these categories in detail further down in the article.

Paint Cars: Cars that are painted with words or patterns on the surface of the vehicle. Cars that come under this category are very common with the artists who make the cars as canvass to showcase their art.
Glue Cars: Cars that have items pasted to the vehicle, usually from fender to fender. This sort of art work on the car is very common in the countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Message Cars: Cars that usually convey a message. These kind of art work on the cars are quite common with commercial brands that use the cars for promotional events. It also serves as mobile billboards or hoardings.
Sculpted Cars: Cars that are more than glue cars and add towering sculptures and shapes to the body of the vehicle.
Interactive Cars: Cars that encourage people to play with the car, write on it, push buttons and more. These cars are also called as gamers cars as video game buffs from various countries customise their cars with the theme of their favourite games or even build a mobile gaming device inside the car.

History of Art cars: Art cars are the stock cars which the art enthusiasts started working on in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The first Houston Art Car Parade was held in 1988, and it is now the largest gathering of art cars in the world. In the mid-1990s, art cars began participating in the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert. In the past decade, art car festivals have sprung up around the country, with various degrees of success.

For building the most expensive art car “Big Horn”, Hyler Bracey has spent more than half a million dollars. Even famed entertainer Uri Geller has created an art car that has been covered with spoons and forks that he has bent with his mind.

Artists have even created art car for someone else. Lyles has painted a Toyota Prius with peacocks, parrots, and herons for a client. But most do it for themselves, and the creative process is as personal as the finished product.

While a lot of art car creators enjoy the attention they receive, some are surprised by the number of people who smile, wave and ask questions. A lot of art car creators love the attention and make costumes to match their art cars. While driving her car “Leopard Bernstein”, Lyles wore leopard print. Blank wears a suit covered in flash bulbs when he appears with his “Camera Van”.

People are just curious on how these artists wash their art cars. One needs to be extra careful while driving an art car. Lyles says she only washes her art cars once a year.

There are a few things that one needs to consider while building an art car. First, those practiced in the art recommend not starting with a clunker. After you've put in hours and hours of work and as much money as your bank account can stand, you're not going to want to ditch the car when you find you need an engine rebuild.

The surface of the car has to be properly prepped. For the glue to have the desired effect, the car should be cleaned properly. Older cars have an upper hand over here, as their surfaces are usually scuffed up a bit or even dull, in some cases. Newer cars have to have their shiny topcoats taken down a notch in order to get a good stick from the glue.

The initial preparations will make the car ready to be worked. Paint intended for use on road signs works great and lasts through the weather, especially if a clear coat is applied on top of a paint car. Silicone glue holds the best for most of the things people want to attach to their cars, though pop rivets can attach heavier items.

The average art car takes about a year to fabricate to the creator's satisfaction. With some cars, like glue cars, it can be a challenge to know when the car is complete.

There are many problems that an art car owner will have to face. People touch, steal and break glue-on items, or bits and pieces might fly off on the road if they're not attached with the right glue.

For years, there was no official festival for art car enthusiasts. It was in 1988, the Houston Art Car Parade held its inaugural event in Texas, with 10 or 15 cars in attendance. Now, more than 20 years later, it is the largest art car event in the country, with 250 to 300 vehicles representing all the variations in the art car world.

n the mid-1990s, art cars also became part of the Burning Man Project, a temporary arts festival that sets up camp each summer in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. The organizers even created a Department of Mutant Vehicles to approve cars of sufficient artiness for the festival.