Midget For Sale - Yes, its an art car

This King Midget Model II, Micro art car is for sale now on ebay down in Long Beach, California with a only 1,600 miles. I guess with tiny little wheels you cant get far. I think this might be the upgrade you were looking for to replace your kids battery powered plastic toy car, that makes that very annoying crunchy sound of hard plastic wheels on pavement. Your in-laws or your parents decided to get this for your kid and your life has been a living hell ever since. Unfortunately batteries were included this time, Christmas is just around the corner.

Chrysler, GM Cross Shopping

Edmunds has a fascinating analysis of how customers who shop for Chrysler products cross-shop other makes. Read the whole thing here. For example, customers who shopped for Chrysler Town & Country minivans also shopped for:

Top Most Cross-Shopped Against the Chrysler Town & Country
1. Honda Odyssey 43%
2. Dodge Grand Caravan 33%
3. Toyota Sienna 33%
4. Nissan Quest 12%
5. Hyundai Entourage 12%
6. Volkswagen Routan* 9%

The conclusions that Edmunds draws from the analysis is that if GM bought Chrysler, they would want to kill off just about everything except for Jeep and the minivans, where they don't have as much presence. In segments where they do compete, such as mid-sized and compact cars, GM is a frequently cross-shopped brand. This means that if GM killed the Sebring, for example, it would expect to gain some of the volume for itself.

Top Most Cross-shopped Models Against Chrysler Sebring
1. Pontiac G6 13%
2. Chevrolet Malibu 12%
3. Honda Accord 11%
4. Nissan Altima 10%
5. Toyota Camry Solara 10%
6. Dodge Avenger 9%

Nissan is one of the least cross-shopped brands with Chrysler. This implies that a Nissan/Chrysler merger would make more sense for Nissan, because they would pick up more products they don't compete directly against. With the caveat that many of these products aren't doing well. But it might be an opening for Nissan to redevelop Chrysler's cars based on Nissan designs, manufacture them cheaply in Chrysler's plants, and play harder against GM and Ford in the competition for the "domestic" car buyer.

Honda GX Stonewall? Hardly.

According to this piece in TheAutoChannel by one Edwin Black, Honda is pulling an Evil GM (see: EV1) and intentionally limiting the number of Civic GX (compressed natural gas) vehicles it produces and sells.

For all the sinister insinuations, Black doesn't really have an explanation for why it would be that Honda might be producing Civic GXs in limited quantities. That's because Honda clammed up and won't talk to the press about it, which is not surprising. All he can come up with is that Honda is pushing its much thirster Pilot SUV. As if a mid-sized SUV would somehow be hurt by sales of a compact sedan?

There are a number of plausible explanations for why Honda, which is certainly interested in polishing its already good environmental credentials, would be cautious with the Civic GX. Here are a few that are obvious to me:

Quality. Honda is obsessive about quality, and they may want to roll their CNG Civic out slowly until they fully understand how it can fail in the harsh environment of real American drivers.

Cost. Honda may not be making money on these, in fact they could easily be losing money on them, perhaps due to supplier issues. Honda may be treating the program as more of a marketing and product research exercise (like the original Insight?) until they understand the market for CNG better.

Dealerships. Since the CNG Civic has a specialized fuel system, different engine software, and perhaps other changes, special tools and training are required to service it. Since Honda doesn't (can't by law) own dealerships, dealers may have to put up significant capital to get CNG certified. Or perhaps Honda foots the bill, in which case Honda pays significant money for each dealer.

Honda isn't going to spread CNG dealers around the country, if there aren't enough fuelling stations, or customers for that matter, for it to make sense. They will pick a few entry markets, like California and New York, and go there.

And since Honda is obligated to service their CNG Civic, they obviously aren't going to want to sell them in places where they don't have a dealer certified for it yet.

The market is shifting rapidly this way and that. At first, pundits thought diesel was the new way--then the price of diesel shot up so that there was not much of an advantage over gasoline. The ethanol pendulum is swinging one way now, but could swing back the other way again if a backlash builds up. Oil is starting to look cheap again.

Honda isn't being sinister, they're eing cautious in an unpredictible and dangerous economy.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0.2 Vista Bug

I'm posting this to help others find the answer to this bug.

Vista is running fine, but Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 had me pulling my hair out... after patching it up to v5.0.2 like Adobe says, and importing my catalog from my old computer, like Adobe says... the Organizer application wouldn't run. It showed me a splash screen, then disappeared.

Task Manager told me that it was running, but it wouldn't open a UI.

After much fooling around, un-installing and re-installing PSE, I finally found this article on Adobe's support site.

Apparently, the file monitor service breaks Organizer on some Vista sysems (like mine). To fix it, I simply turned off the service. From Adobe:

Solution

Turn off the Active File Monitor service.

1. Choose Start, type msconfig in the Search box, and then press Enter.
2. On the Services tab, deselect Adobe Active File Monitor V5.
3. Click OK, and then click Restart.

Note: You may not be able to use the Watch Folders function if you turn off the Active File Monitor service.

This fixed my problem, but now the Organizer won't be able to find new photo files that are dropped in disk folders.

M. C. Escher Art Car - Good Childhood Memories:)

When I was a kid my dad got me an M.C. Escher book and took me to see Woody Allen movies and haven't been the same since. I used to spend hours staring a those amazing mind bending images, so in memory to the good childhood memories, here is the M.C Escher Art Car.

Painted Mini Art Car by Alan Aldridge

Mini Cooper painted by the artist Alan Aldridge, a graphic designer known for his work in the 1960s on album covers and posters. (Design Museum)

By coincidence, another painted car went on display on Oct. 10 at the Design Museum in London, as part of an exhibition called “The Man With Kaleidoscope Eyes,” devoted to the work of Alan Aldridge, an artist and graphic designer known for his work in the 1960s on album covers and posters for the Beatles, Rolling Stones, the Who and other groups.

Mr. Aldridge has painted a new Mini. It is divided down the middle with male images on one side and female images on the other. It is the driver’s side that is the blue male side and the passenger side is the pink-themed female side.

The new Mini recapitulates an earlier project by Mr. Aldridge, carried out in 1965. Mr. Aldridge painted an original Mini for The Sunday Times Magazine in London to illustrate a story called Automania, contrasting the auto lifestyles of a boy racer and a suburban housewife. The Design Museum show continues through Jan. 25.

Article via wheels blog NYTimes

Donut Art Car a Bit Tricky to Eat - SF Soapbox Races

This video was sent in by my father-in-law which I might add is a great cook. Erik Glass and Richard Kirby recently participated in the Red Bull Soap Box Derby in San Francisco with their bright pink donut race art car with sprinkles and a spoiler on top. Its your typical keystone cops scene, robber steals donut from cops, cops tripping over themselves, robber takes off down the hill, cops chase in hot pursuit. Very Funny.

WIndows Vista: Not So Bad

I needed to buy a new PC, and I found a pretty good deal on a Dell Optiplex 330 (dual core, 2GB ram, 160GB HDD). I decided to take a risk and get Windows Vista (Business), even though I read all kinds of horror stories about how unstable, slow, annoying, buggy it is.

Here is my experience so far (after using it for a few hours)

Good:

• UI is nice. Lots of eye candy, Aero interface is a bit blingy but effective. Decently organized. Lots of options for different views.
  
• Boot time is OK for me (my old XP machine took about 45 seconds to boot up, the new one takes about 30)
• Ubiquitous search boxes are neat.
• Sidebar is neat.
  
• Lots of built in goodies like scan/fax, system backup.

Bad:

• The User Account Control thing, the box that comes up and asks you "are you sure" for every little thing is annoying. I appreciate the added security, but I am tempted to turn it off.
• If I ran Windows XP on this machine, I bet it would boot in like 20s.
  

I also heard that much of my old software would not work in Vista. Not true, so far all this stuff seems to be working fine:

• WordPerfect Office 12 SP1 (but SP2 won't install!) I may break down and upgrade to the latest WP Office anyway.
• Microsoft Office XP
  
• Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 (with patch)
  
• FireFox 3.0
• Mozilla Thunderbird
• Ad-Aware
• Antivir Free Antivirus
• Quicken 2007 (with patch)
  
• Roxio Media Creator 10
• Apple iTunes

Software that won't work:

• Epson Smart Panel (don't care, Vista has nice built-in scanning functions anyway)
• WP 12 SP2 won't install.

Considering how blazing fast the new machine is compared to my old Dell 3000 (P4), and that it cost all of about $500, I'm very pleased.

7 things I missed at Burning Man - But Mutant Vehicles Rock!!!

In spite of being denied entry into this years Burning Man with my Mercedes Pens Art Car for not being "mutant" enough, I will post this video about mutant vehicles on the playa. These Mutant Vehicles are amazing and wonderful and a big thumbs up for all who make them possible. The time and dedication that goes into these creations is commendable. On the other hand being denied entry by the "DMV Hotties" probably was a blessing in disguise because I was able to:

1) Not have to go into debt to finance the trip and entry into Burning Man
2) Not have to look at naked people
3) Not have my bike stolen
4) Not have to use a portable toilet
5) Not have to deal with yahoos (of the obnoxious variety)
6) Not have to eat dust
7) Not have to spend a month cleaning my art car

Overall I stayed home, had fun, took lots of showers, got lots of rest, spend valuable time with my family and my car wasn't ruined by playa dust. If your like me and have had enough with "burn-a-man-ia" you might find this article called 10 Things I Hate About Burning Man a good read. I also found another event called Burning Toast Man, that might be the answer to the Burning Man dilemma.

Pedal Powered Buick Art Car gets puled over by cops

Artist Michel de Broin, is the creator of this pedal-powered 1986 Buick Regal art car, outfitted with 4 independent pedal and gear mechanisms. This was an art piece that was being exhibited at the Mercer Union Gallery (24 October - 8 December).The video was taken in downtown Toronto, Canada, when they decided to take to take out for a spin. All was going well until the cops pulled these guys over for dangerous pedaling. The funny part is that the cop wanted to look under the hood for some strange reason, unfortunately for them they could not produce an engine and the right paperwork. And in the end were stuck with an expensive towing bill

Two Very Funny Cardboard Art Car Videos

With the price of gas what it is I think cardboard art cars are the future. Very cheap to make, easy to paint, repairs are a snap with a bit of duct tape and you are off and running again. A bit tricky when it rains, but once you get to work, you just make another one for the commute back. Safety is an issue, basically you die even if you get hit with a bicycle. These two cardboard art car videos are funny, well done, and a great overview of life with one of these cardboard vehicles.


via Dark Roasted Blend

Cardboard Car video fun and artistic


Cardboard Car from England driven by four ladys, very very funny

Clean Russian in a Bathtub Art Car

I was minding my own business surfing the internet when I run into this busy Russian taking a bath on the way to work. Unfortunate he was late to work that day because the cop had zero sense of humor. Here is what I think the dialogue went like:


via Jalopnik

Cop: May I see you license and registration please.

Driver: Sorry I left in my pants, hanging up at home.

Cop: Do you know how fast you were going?

Driver: about 7 m.p.h.

Cop: I had you doing 9m.p.h. in a 5m.p.h. bath zone.

Driver: I am sorry, my speedometer had soap on it.

Cop: And another thing, I saw you weaving a bit, have you had any thing to drink this morning?

Driver: I was scrubbing my back and dropped the soap in the tub.

Cop: OK I am going to let you off with a warning this time, make sure you scrub before you get on the road and keep both hands on the 10 and 2 position at all times.

Driver: Thank you, it wont happen again.

And others like him

by nutted


by 0.02€


by markydeedroppics


2005 Houston Art Car Parade

Mercedes Money Art Car - The art of inflation

When you see the Europeans cover a car in money and especially this Mercedes Money Art Car, it probably means that the economy is tanking and inflation is now here. This art car is brought to you by the criminals on Wall Street and their buddies in the government, that wasn't too bitter and cynical was it:) Next up the Bentley covered in $100 bills.

by karenrobinfrey

Video: Motorcycle Wreck On Board

I don't think the guy was seriously hurt, maybe he learned a lesson?


Crazy Motorcycle Crash Caught on Dash Cam - Watch more free videos

The Ultimate Taxi Art Car- Totally Crazy Disco Ride

The Ultimate, Ultimate Taxi Art Car award goes to Jon Barnes from Aspen Colorado who transformed a "Plain Jane" checkered taxi cab in 1996 into a " Rock & Roll Concert, Roller Coaster/Movie Ride, Laser Light/Magic Show with a Photo Shoot and Store to boot" experience of a life time. (take a breath). The only way to do justice to this ride is to watch the video, so watch it all ready.





Watch Ultimate Taxi in News Online  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

PezCar Art Car Project - How Sweet the Ride

The PezCar Art Car Project begun with a dedicated PezHead named Cliff Lee back in 1997, who was also featured in Harrod Blank's Art Cars book. He bought a 1977 Dodge Apsen for $500 with the words "Runs Good" on the windshield and thus begun his journey into pezmania. Today, Gary Plunkett has taken on the responsibility of restoring this art car, making sure many more will be able to enjoy it for years to come. This art car has also been used in many charity events so be sure to go to their web site and support this worthy cause.

The Famous PezCar Art Car


Pez Heads Unite

More Thoughts on GM-Chrysler Merger

A few more thoughts on the possible merger of GM and Chrysler.

It sounds preposterous because it would add even more brands to GM's already confusing portfolio.  Consider:

• Cadillac - Luxury
  
• Saab - Euro Luxury
  
• Buick - Soft near-luxury
  
• Saturn - Euro basic / near luxury
  
• Pontiac - "Sporty"
  
• Jeep - Rugged go-anywhere SUVs and some rugged looking cars
• Hummer - Rugged go-anywhere SUVs
• Dodge - "Sporty" cars, manly trucks
  
• GMC - manly trucks
  
• Chevrolet - full line of basic transportation from small cars to trucks
  
• Chrysler - full line of basic transportation from small cars to trucks
  

Chop too many brands and you starve your dealer network.  Keep too many and you get a big badge engineered mess, or lose efficiency.  The new religion in the industry is to be lean, simple, agile--picking up more brands is like going back to the 1990's.  

On the radio this morning, I heard an interview with the guy who broke the story in the New York Times, Bill Vlasic.  One theory, mentioned in the paper,  is that GM may be after a cash-out deal, where they get a pile of cash along with Chrysler.  This may make short term sense, but it would leave GM with the albatross of Chrysler's crummy products, legacy costs, UAW contracts.

Another possibility is that, somewhat like a star expanding into a huge red giant as it begins the final stages of its life, GM may be trying to grow into a company so huge it can not be allowed to fail.  The government would have to come with support, or risk an economic supernova (or black hole?).   

Also, it would make strategic sense in the long run for GM to off a major competitor.  By removing capacity from the system, it may ensure more business for GM in the future.

Video: Old Guy Backs Up Onto Cop Car

A 70 year old guy in Illinois is upset that he got a speeding ticket. He intends to speed away, but is in reverse, and winds up backing up onto the hood of the cop's car.


How To Get Jail Time For A Speeding Ticket - Watch more free videos

GM Acquiring Chrysler?

The WSJ reports from unnamed sources "familiar with the matter" that GM was in talks with Cerberus to trade the rest of GM's stake in GMAC with Cerberus for the car (not finance) part of Chrysler.

This seems like a bizarre idea to me. GM would be picking up a big portfolio of non-competitive products (Sebring, Caliber, etc.) and redundant products (Ram). GM would also get lots of deflated real estate, such as the sprawling Auburn Hills headquarters, not to mention the plants, such as Belividere, which make the weak products. GM would also wind up with more UAW workers, and more UAW pension obligations. And GM would wind up with Chrysler's dealer network, compounding the problem of having too many dealers making too little money.

But GM's management would have some business reason to want Chrysler, what would those reasons be? Here's my theory.

1) Minivans. GM got killed in the minivan segment, and this would put them back in the game.
2) Truck dominance. GM could kill off the separate Ram platform and sell a Ram based on the Silverado, taking the truck sales crown from Ford once and for all.
3) Jeep. Even though Jeep has been watered down somewhat by Chrysler's attempt to grow Jeep into small crossovers (Compass), it is still a strong brand.

But all of these strengths are in the light truck and SUV sector, precisely where GM is already too heavy. With the coming tightening of CAFE rules, what business case would there be for GM to acquire more trucks and SUVs?

The idea just doesn't make much sense to me, as the armchair CEO.

How Do You Make An Art Car?

Today Art Car Central got a link from a blog called ILUSARTCAR which is dedicated to documenting the creation of an Art Car Van by a group of artists from beginning to end. If you have ever wanted to know what goes into making an art car, I think this blog could be a good place to start. I cant wait to feature this car on ACC when its done. Have Fun!!!!

Weekend Art Car Project - Art Car Kits for Sale

Have you been stuck in traffic and wondered " I hate my boringcar and I want to make into an art car but I don't want to spend a life time collecting junk" well, worry no more because you art car dream is just a click away from becoming a reality. There is now a web site where you can just purchase an entire art car kit complete with all the junk you need to cover your car. All you need is a few gallons of industrial strength adhesive a free weekend and enough O.C.D to get you through the completion of your very own art car. Below are the kits available.

Baby's First Art Car Kit


Swarm of Skulls Art Car Kit


Banjo Art Car Kit


Flatware Art Car Kit


Toy Truck Art Car Kit

Via Playazon DIY Art Car Kits

Mercedes Art Car - Overcoming Cancer with "Unchain My Love"

Artist Geraldine O. Lloyd is the creator of this beautiful 1975 Mercedes Benz called "Unchain My Love" which is also featured in Harrod Blank's Automorphosis. Her art car journey is very inspiring to me and especially those who have fought cancer for many years. She said that the reason she overcame cancer so many times is because she wanted to share her art car with others. Every time she was diagnosed with cancer she would work on her car and she would get through it one more time. The car is painted green with chain gold trim, and has a quite a few mannequins riding, also covered with ornate gold trim. Her car was recently featured at the Mercedes-Benz Museum, in Stuttgart, Germany, and the pictures taken by lindsey on her visit there, thank you!!!! Click on here name for more writings.


Photo by Harrod Blank from his new film Automorphosis





Photos by lindsey

Space Junk Art Car by Rot N Hell

After six years Mr Rot N Hell a Canadian artist transformed this 76 Ford Maverick into the most incredible art car I have seen in a very long time. Its a masterpiece and it deserves a place here on Art Car Central. He spent two months a year and around $3,000 to attach virtually everything he could scavenge onto the body of his art car. There was no welding involved but instead used screws, caulking, bondo and fibereglass to attach all the junk he found. It started as something he just wanted to do as an answer to boredom and snowballed into the Space Junk Art Car. I saw this car at my first Art Car Fest in 05 and in 07 it was completed. By the way, never ever, ever, ever call his car the batmobile or he will "punch you in the neck":) Thanks for doing an amazing job.

Space Junk Exterior

by Rot-N-Hell

by St Vincent Harvestore

by Frank Synopsis

Space Junk Interior

Photo by s7ere0

Space Junk Art Car Close Up

by Dawn Endico



by conformer

WOW!!!!!!!!!

Can Art Car- Mustang Made from 5,000 beer cans

Jack Kirby collected 5,000 beer cans and made his very own non mobile mustang can art car. He did it to enter a Budweiser contest for a chance to win a real 1965 Ford Mustang.

Janis Joplin Porsche Art Car - And two tribute vans

by Glyn1

by rachel.citron

Janis Joplin paid about $3500 for this 1965 Porsche 356c Cabriolet when she bought it from a Beverly Hills auto dealer in September 1968. Prior to the sale, the dealer had painted the car oyster white. Joplin, however, wanted something more dramatic, and Dave Richards, a friend and Big Brother roadie, created this psychedelic design, which includes an image of Janis and Big Brother on the front left fender.

The car quickly became identified with Joplin, who drove it around San Francisco, where she lived, and down to Los Angeles, where she recorded. Whenever she parked it somewhere, fans would leave notes under the wipers. Once, while Joplin was at a gig, the car was stolen. The thief spray painted it gray, but when it was retuned, Joplin found an auto shop that was able to recover the psychedelic finish.

A few months after Joplin’s death in 1970, her family gave the car to Albert Grossman, Janis’ manager. He kept it in Bearsville, New York, where it was used by visiting artists, friends and clients. In 1973, he returned the car to the Joplins, who used it as a family car.

The car has been restored several times over the years. Most of the engine and body parts are original. The seats have been re-covered, and the cloth on the convertible top is new. The body was repainted as close as possible to the original design by the Denver Center Theatre Company paint shop in 1994.

entire article via rockhall

Janis Joplin Art Van Tribute





photos by Tonsils

Janis Joplin VW Art Car Tribute



photos by eduardo kobra
artist studio kobra