How I started my first Art Car...

A few years back I had a beater faded Honda Civic hatchback I bought from my roommate’s hairdresser. She was one of those cool scary chicks that turned the back part of her house into a cheesy cool salon; she worked on mostly old blue haired ladies. I thought of that when I drove the old blue colored car away that day for $400.

Shortly after this, I was given a fake severed arm by my boss, Dr. Don Francis, leaving the company Halloween/His Birthday party from work one night. For fun I left it hanging out the back of the hatchback. It was funny, seeing some ridiculous human bloody rubber arm dangling there at a stop light. I would wait for the response from the car behind me…waiting to see if they noticed it. It was so out of place. Most the time they would smile and laugh, or shake there head at me when driving by. I loved that dead arm. I kept in on there for over two years. The arm out lasted the car. : )

I always wanted a VW Camper Bus, and had been doing more camping adventures and Lord knows I needed a better way to haul the sound system for my jazz gigs etc. I finally found an amazing deal on Craigslist, a 1973 Type 2 VW Camper Bus from Berkeley, CA in pretty ugly condition, but no rust and it ran great for $800.

It had some custom interior work done to it inside, but let me tell ya, it was funky, yet I could see the beauty even through the Deadhead stickers. All it needed was a little TLC and she could be amazing. I drove her away happy a hell. I had no idea what I was going to do to it. I’d come home from work and stare at it for hours. Dead arms lingered in my brain as I started cleaning her up. 

My jazz band is called Dangerous Martini; we do cocktail jazz and blues, bebop, swing and straight ahead jazz. One night it hit me, I’ve got to turn this into a Retro Cocktail Lounge! Visions of Leopard fur, martini glasses, and swanky atomic cocktail visions over took my common sense. I began a clandestine affair with the local hardware, fabric and art supply stores. I was shameless. What once was an idea became an obsession. Every night I would come home and work on her a little more in the dimly lit covered apartment garage in Emeryville, CA.

It was like I had to prove something to the world. That there was something beautiful behind that old funky lady from the early 70’s and I was going to uncover it. It was my daily driver to my corporate day job, when I cruised down the road I felt like she was saying “Wake Up – Take a Chance – Don’t be afraid to be different” to all the "Greige" (Grey-Beige) obedient conservative safe mundane cars out there that all look the same.  It seemed more important than just seeing the smiling faces in my rear view mirror.

She has been to many Art car events and parades. I would take naps in her on my lunch break. She was my secret escape pod, my safe refuge and trusted friend. She is a camper, a mobile bar, she is a lifestyle. I always had a cozy place to sleep and was ready to roll for many adventures at a moments notice, and we have.  Over the years she has had her health problems, she is what we diplomatic ladies refer to as “Vintage”. She has spent more times then I would like to mention on tow trucks, injured in dusty fringe towns and has even spent some time in jail. She is seasoned yet wise, but always warm, comfortable delicious and fabulous.

For the past couple years she has been house bound sitting pretty in the driveway. She has had some doctors poke around and clean her engine up a bit, but she needs a good man who knows what he’s doing. She was able to make it for Art car Fest 2009 and briefly was in a movie shoot before her last heart attack. We are seeking a new VW surgeon to help work out the bugs in her 1700 cc Porsche 914 high performance engine, preferably someone who also believes in the importance of cocktail camping and mobile art expression. 

She wields a power for freedom. She gives the world permission to be creative and funny and ridiculous in a beautiful way. I won’t give up on her, no matter what my friends say. The Leopard Lounge aka The Fahrvernpüssy Lounge will live on.

I encourage you to start your own Art Car. It's a liberating exciting fun experience. You meet the most interesting people everywhere you go.