Nearly cars 300 have registered to participate in the Art Car parade on Sunday, drawing inspiration from everything from political causes to childhood toys.
Here are 10 of our favorite pieces of art on wheels:
Made almost entirely of debris from Hurricane Ike, Joe Haden says he loves to drive his van — which looks as though it was preserved mid-Marlin attack — to the beach and to his East Texas ranch. He's taking his brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law along for the ride, and has his art car tricked out with lights for a freaky fishy nighttime look.
Long-time Art Car Parade participant The Women Rock this year honors breast cancer survivors and women still fighting the disease.
It seems only appropriate, given the rumors about the impending Rapture. Creator David Best fixed beads, toys, old auto parts, an enormous chrome madonna and much more onto a 1990 GMC Suburban. This is Best's 39th Art Car.
Owned by Heights hair salon Venus Hair and painted by local artist Beans Barton, this 1975 Cadillac Hearse is covered in portraits of colorful felines (hence the name). It's a favorite of ours because anyone who's been attending the Art Car Parade for a decade remembers the car's former incarnation as the Venus Hairse.
Two Mercedes-Benzes have been welded together, along with 86 lights, 36 mirrors and various auto parts from 40 different vehicles to create the Finne Jet. Hailing from Florida, it won first place in the 2007 parade.
Submitted by VISKER at the insistence of his girlfriend, who demanded a car with "eyes on stalks and pointy teeth," Stumper was originally a 1984 Dodge Ram. He also has a flamethrower.
Seriously, what is cuter??
Conceived by artist Smitty Regula as a sort of Trojan Horse-esque defense mechanism for his chickens, the Hen-a-Tron worked successfully . . . for a time. Now it's more art car than chicken defense vehicle.
Created by Rex Rosenberg, the Chewbaru is aptly named for its hundreds of pounds of affixed dentures, dental impressions, rental tools, toothbrushes and other artifacts of dentistry.
#257 The Real Housewives of Pasadena
In honor of women who take care of their families without nannies, house managers and personal chefs, a real housewife of Pasadena turned her 2000 Prizm into a tongue-in-cheek tribute to her hometown and real housewives everywhere.
Wanna pick your own top 10? Cruise on over to CultureMap's Art Car Parade mobile guide to put the parade in the palm of your hand. You can get details on every art car and locate the best viewing spots for one of Houston's most unique events.
