My art car

The art car is one of my favorite forms of art expression. I like them because they are literally traveling museums. They tell the world that you are an artist no matter where you go. There are even huge festivals for art car enthusiasts.

I made my art car from a 1994 ford ranger. Most art cars are made from older vehicles for reasons I'm sure you can guess. My car had a horrible red and green paint job as seen in the picture. I decided to make my ugly car into a beautiful desert storm military vehicle. The upside-down "V" on the side was used on humvee's in the Desert Storm War so that the U.S. would not fire on its own vehicles. The "V" stands for victory. (All of the "V" information was provided by a friend of mine that served in the war.)

Other special features and future plans for my art car:

The picture doesn't show the details but I have popped rivets all along the body, hood and camper to imitate armor. This was a long process as rivets have to have a hole to go into before the rivet can be set. So I had to drill tons of holes before beginning the difficult task of riveting.

The custom flat khaki paint job was no small task either. It took several hours of masking windows before I began the difficult task of using spray paint to cover the entire surface of the car. Before spraying the car I had to sand the existing clear coat to make sure the paint would stick. Since the rivets were exposed aluminum I had to spray them with a primer.

I also painted all the chrome surfaces which was a process in itself. Painting the chrome rims and bumpers required me to sand them, spray them with a special etch primer then paint them khaki. The entire paint job took 8 cans of spray paint and two cans of primer.

Along the body there are custom stencils I painted using spray paint. This required some time as I had to make sure the stencils were level and properly spaced.

The Inside cab is next on the to-do list. I want to customize all the interior to match the grungy military style. I currently have installed a CB radio and have camo seat covers. I also plan to add bullet holes (not from a real gun) and a smallish dragon to the front of each side. I want to add areas that look like they have taken some damage as well.

So get out there and make your clunker into a masterpiece!