Dutch modern painter and fashion artist Ton Pret reveals Ferrari Art-Car on Open Art Fair

The Ton Pret Ferrari project is an unique art-car project where Dutch modern artist Ton Pret transformed a high-powered Ferrari 355 into 'The Fastest Artwork of Holland'. The project was executed in the summer of 2010.

Ton Pret Artist

Ton Pret started as a painter in 2005. His success emerged fast and work was exposed in the Amsterdam “Beurs van Berlage, the Fortezza da Basso in Florence, in Ascona Italy and the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum. Not only his paintings and sculptures are popular amongst art-lovers and collectors, also his shoes, jeans and watches are in growing demand worldwide. His colorful high-heeled shoes caused a stir in the latest Paris fashion shows.

Ton Pret Ferrari

With this art-car project Ton transformed a high-powered Ferrari 355 into 'The Fastest Artwork of Holland'. Ton comments: ‘’This project was done in assignment of a lover of Dutch modern art, whom I met in the end of 2009. When he proposed to paint his Ferrari in my style I immediately said yes. I never had second thoughts.” The combination of this well-designed car, the speed and the joy of colors can be characterized as explosive. The Ton Pret Ferrari is already causing lots of controversies, especially amongst car lovers. The Ton Pret Ferrari is not meant to be sold but will be on display at selected events.

The Project

The planning for this project started in January 2010. In the beginning of May the car was prepared by Ferrari bodywork specialists. The actual painting of the car took Ton seven weeks. The complete car was hand painted, using a small size brush. To reach the desired depth of the colors all painting had to be done at least three times over. Because of these high working standards, the project demanded far more time than initially planned.

The work was also physically demanding. Because the car is painted top-to-bottom, Ton had to perform most of his creative work from difficult angles. To protect the delicate technology of the car the entire project was executed under the expert supervision of the Ferrari Bodyshop in 's-Graveland, The Netherlands.

Art-car tradition

Ton is not the first Dutch artist creating an exclusive hand painted art-car. With this project Ton follows the footsteps of Cobra artist Karel Appel and rock star and painter Herman Brood. Internationally the BMW-art-car series are well-known, featuring Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and recently Jeff Koons.

Recently more and more cars are being decorated with a special car foil. This process is cost-effective and quick, the foil can be applied within a day. Because the original artwork is copied on foil the result can be easily reproduced. This technique was not an option for this project. The goal of Ton and the owner of the Ferrari was to create a real object of art that is and will always remain a unique piece.

The Ferrari

The Ferrari 355 GTS Competizione is in perfect condition. The car runs over 185 miles per hour. It has a 8 cylinder / 3.5 liter engine and weighs 1350 kilo. The original color was Giallo Modena (Ferrari yellow).

article via open art fair

New Slot It Nissan R390 GT1 coming!

The Phone Car Crushed by Collapsed Roof - Front Side

The world famous Phone Car created by Howard Davis was brutally damaged recently when the roof of the Avon Industrial Park collapsed due to snow build up. The Phone car will not be making any long distance calls anytime soon, but with a little TLC and some bondo it can be up running soon. Our best wished for a speedy recovery goes out to you.

The Phone Car Crushed by Collapsed Roof - Front

The Phone Car Crushed by Collapsed Roof - Rear Side

The Phone Car Crushed by Collapsed Roof - Side

Photos by Howard Davis

Taken FromWill Oursler, "Hot Car King, The American Weekly, January 9, 1955, 7ff.

Underworld intimates called him Blah Blah because he liked to brag about his home, his wife, his kid. And his income, said to be 800,000 a year.
Behind this international hot car network -- according to the story ultimately pieced together -- was the twisted genius of the man called Blah Blah. Product of Brooklyn street gangs, an associate of Joe Adonis in prohibition rackets, Blah Blah began his automotive career by providing cars for robberies. Later he developed the use of hearses as getaway cars.
Accepted in Mafia councils as its automotive representative, he decided in the early 1930s to expand. Mafia leaders spread the word across America: play ball with Blah Blah. Dozens of garages, parking lots, even automotive agencies in several American cities were made available to Vigorito and his aides. But the main reason for Blah Blah's success was his anonymity within the gang itself. His role was only known to a few top lieutenants. They in turn knew only a handful of underlings to whom they transmitted orders. All the way down to the punk kids hired to steal the cars, this secrecy was maintained.
In 1948, European, South American and Central American markets were hungry for cars from the States. Blah Blah and his network set out to meet the international demand.
Already delivering a hundred cars a week on a national scale, he added a hundred a month for export, to be sold at fantastically high prices and through seemingly legitimate "fronts" to reputable shipping agents for resale abroad.
The ring was now a huge, invisible industry. Youths were brought in and trained in stealing cars. They were told what models to steal and in what neighborhoods. They were given the exact location of "drops."
Each operation was specialized. A payoff man gave the kid his $50 at some pre-designated place. Another man switched license plates on the car that "drop point." Still another drove the car to a die-out garage. Here more experts went to work, using specially developed techniques to change serial and engine numbers. The car was given a complete spray-gun paint job -- by an expert.
Locks were removed and replaced by new locks and keys. The interior was vacuumed, pockets and trunks emptied, tires changed or shifted around, every possible identification changed or eliminated.
Other experts provided "paper" -- proper certifications and registration, obtained from licensing bureaus in a number of states by ring operatives providing false dates, names, and addresses.
Changed and unrecognizable, bearing legitimate ownership certificates, the stolen cars poured out of this underworld assembly line in a steady low. They were sold through underworld car lots, black markets, and even legitimate outlets, both in the U.S. and abroad. For a $5000 model, the ring got 16,000 overseas. For a $2000 car, Blah Blah asked and received $7,500.
The FBI ultimately assigned one of its top undercover men to find the boss of the Mafia syndicates car ring. Calling himself Eddie Jones, this man visited four American cities. He talked with hundreds of auto salesmen, garage men, mechanics. His story was that he wanted some particular, hard to get model -- at a good price.
There was no trace of the thieves -- or their boss. AT last the man called Eddie played a long shot -- parking lots. Some of these might be outlets. His hunch paid off. One afternoon in a parking lot in New York City he observed a well-known hoodlum talking with a man Eddie recognized as a top salesmen in a Manhattan auto agency. The following day he called the saelmen with a proposition. He had clients in California, he stated, who wanted three Caddys.
The next day Eddie met the salesmen in an outlying part of the city. He found there Cadillacs lined up at the curb. Eddie said the cars weren’t quite right. The salesmen said he could get the others. There were several additional meetings.
G-men followed these cars and found out where they were kept. They learned that most of the cars had been parked near suburban railroad stations by commuters.
Three weeks later Eddie spotted the Manhattan salesmen talking to a man he recognized as a former Murder, Inc. hoodlum. This time he followed the hood, who ultimately led him to the hole-in-the-wall bar and grill on a backwash Brooklyn street.
Inside, Eddie recognized the bartender as a former strong arm man for "lucky" Luciano. He recognized another mafia mobster at one of the tables. The undercover man made the place a hangout. He talked in his interest in cars. He made friends with the hoodlum lieutenants of the "Big I am ."
Eventually he met Vigorito himself. Blah Blah joked and laughed and showed Eddie pictures of his wife and kids.
Other undercover men worked their way into the confidence of the ring's underlings nad in the fall of 1953 the agents began setting up a big deal. It would involve hundreds of cars for shipment overseas. The agents insisted on closing the deal with the top man. And one afternoon Blah Blah, his aides and these new-found customers met in the back room.
Balh Balh arrested and charged, but the syndicate would take care of everything. When the Mafia bosses saw that 43 witnesses were ready to testify against Blah Blah, they realized that too much would be disclosed if the case went to court. So Blah Blah walked humbly into the court, pleaded guilty and begged the court's mercy.
On February 19, 1954, he was sentenced to five years in prison and fined $5000, hardly an afternoon's pay for a big man like Blah Blah,

PRESS RELEASE
SLOT MINIAUTO 76 –FEBRUARY

Slot MiniAuto magazine highlighted in its February cover the new Ford RS200, the explosive Gr.B of MSC. Our Car of the Year contest has already winner. This is the NSR Porsche 997 Rally. Inside the magazine you can read a complete summary of the votes in the various web sites and forums.
In this review we highlight the track test of the Bill Thomas Cheetah Carrera Digital 124, the Mercedes 540K of Top Slot, Interslot Citroën 2CV and start an interesting series on how to build and decorate your circuits.
Russell Sheldon offers an interview without waste, and we include the most comprehensive updates to all manufacturers for the year 2011.
It also includes a stunning example of all Talbot T26 GS that ran in Le Mans specially decorated for Slot MiniAuto. And finally highlight the exclusive preview of updates for the new Kyosho DSlot 43 range.
The magazine is complete with the usual sections.

(On-Sale 30/01/2011)
Now Slot MiniAuto in Facebook
(More information on www.revistasprofesionales.com)




COMUNICADO DE PRENSA

SLOT MINIAUTO 75 – FEBRERO

La revista Slot MiniAuto de febrero destaca en su portada el nuevo Ford RS200, el explosivo Gr.B de MSC. Nuestro concurso del Coche del Año ya tiene ganador absoluto. Se trata del Porsche 997 Rally de NSR. En el interior de la revista se puede leer un completo resumen de las votaciones emitidas en los diferentes portales.

En esta revista destacamos las pruebas del Bill Thomas Cheetah de Carrera Digital 124, el Mercedes 540K de Top Slot, 2CV de Interslot y empieza una interesante serie sobre como construir y decorar tus circuitos.

Russell Sheldon no ofrece una entrevista sin desperdicio, y además incluimos el avance más completo de las novedades de todos los fabricantes para este año 2011.

También incluye una sensacional muestra de todos los Talbot T26 que corrieron en Le Mans especialmente decorados para Slot MiniAuto. Y finalmente destacar el avance exclusivo de las novedades de Kyosho para su gama DSlot 43.

Se completa la revista con las secciones habituales.
(A la venta el 30-01-2011)
Slot MiniAuto en Facebook
(Más información en www.revistasprofesionales.com)

Dias de los Muertos Taco Truck - In Parade

The Kinetic Grand Championship is a 3-day, 42-mile bicycle race over land, sand, mud and water. Many refer to the Kinetic Grand Championship as the “Triathlon of the Art World.”

The race began 40 years ago in 1969, when world-renowned sculpture artist Hobart Brown challenged Ferndale artist Jack Mays to a race down Ferndale’s Mainstreet. In their kinetic contraptions they started a 40-year Humboldt tradition that has spread to Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Baltimore, Maryland and all the way to Perth, Australia. But it all began here among the majestic redwood groves of Humboldt County.

Day 1 of the Kinetic Grand Championship starts on the Plaza in Arcata, California at the noon whistle every Memorial Day weekend. The racers take off to the Manila dunes, where they race through miles of sand to the great and inevitable “Deadman’s Drop.” Then on to Eureka’s downtown gazebo.

Dias de los Muertos Taco Truck - More Parade

Day 2 starts in Eureka at the waterfront on the Humboldt Bay, where brave Kinetic Pilots race their crafts through the water (most float). Then back on land where kinetic sculptures go up Hookton Hill, a 1 mile-7% incline and decline. Day 2 ends with a private campout for racers and volunteers only.

Dias de los Muertos Taco Truck - Floating

Day 3 starts from the mouth of the Eel River, through Morgan slough and onto dry land. Racers cross the finish line on Ferndale’s historic Mainstreet, where racers park and head up to the Final Awards Dinner at Ferndale’s Fireman’s Hall.

Dias de los Muertos Taco Truck - Land Race

Dias de los Muertos Taco Truck - Beach Race

What is a Kinetic Sculpture?

Kinetic Sculptures are all-terrain human-powered art sculptures that are engineered to race over road, water, mud and sand. Kinetic sculptures are amazing works of art; many are animated with moving parts like blinking eyes, opening mouths, heads that move side to side and up and down.

Kinetic Sculptures are usually made from what some people consider “junk”. But one man’s junk is another racer’s raw material. Each Kinetic Sculpture is a work of art and each racing team has its own theme.

The teams consist of pilots, pit crew and pee-ons. Kinetic Pilots pedal the sculpture and steer, the pit crew assists the pilots in transforming the vehicle for the various elements and fixing mechanical issues, and pee-ons, well, they do whatever is needed for the team to get glory. The teams give out “bribes” to their adoring spectators, judges and Rutabaga Royalty.

Spectators are encouraged to follow the race on their bikes (obeying all traffic laws that apply please). Seeing these marvels of art and engineering turns many people on to bike culture and reminds people how much fun riding your bike can be!

Who Wins?

Good question! Well when Hobart Brown started the Kinetic Sculpture Race 40 years ago, he lost the race he created! Now one of the most coveted awards is the “Mediocre Award.”

Other awards include “The Golden Dinosaur,” which is the first sculpture to break down after the start line, “The Golden Flipper,” for the best flip of a sculpture in sand and water, and “Poor Pitiful Me.” Racers can also “Ace” the race, which means they race the entire course for 42 miles without pushing or ''getting caught'' cheating. Each award is handmade by a local artist!

via Kinetic Sculpture Race
Photos by Tina Kerrigan Photography

The Sauna was built from a Volvo 240 and taken on CzechWrecks 2009, a 1500 mile 4 day journey starting from Calais, France through Swiss and Italian Alps all the way to Prague, Czech Republic.

What we have here is about 1/3rd of a ton of wood paneling being applied to the Volvo.

If you are wondering whether this wood had any impact on performance, I am assured it did. What performance they had to start with, remember that Volvo 240 are agricultural at best, that performance was soon zeroed.

Chris and Tom and their team built this car to raise money for charity and an opportunity to travel in their bath towels riding the sauna over some of the highest passes in Europe.

The new "RAW" Slot It McLaren.

The two "Gone in Sixty Seconds" films of the post-1970s era celebrated both the professional thief and the high performance, elegantly styled automobile. And while the story was appropriately centered in car-culture dominated southern California, it was written by an unlikely outsider originally from Dunkirk, New York (located on Lake Erie not terribly far from Buffalo), H.B. "Toby" Halicki (1940-1989). Halicki, with no formal education in film or practical experience in the industry, conceived, wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the version that was released in 1974. From a rough and tumble Polish-American family, Toby began his work life as a tow truck driver before migrating to California, where he succeeded in a number of businesses, including automotive recycling, body shop repairs, and real estate. It comes as no surprise then, when in an early scene in the film, Halicki handles a tow truck pulling a car like an expert driver behind the wheel of a sports car. Halicki put tougher a remarkable low budget independent film, relying on friends, family, everyday police, firemen, and pedestrians to play supporting roles. And quite modestly, Halicki lists the star of the film as the 1973 Mustang Mach I named Eleanor.
Halicki plays the part of Maindrain Pace, a respected insurance investigator and owner of Chase Research by day. At night and in and around parking lots, streets, the chop shop, and dealerships, however, Pace is the head of a highly organized car theft ring. Yet despite what one might think of his illegal activities, Pace is a criminal with principles, for he will not steal any car that is not insured (ironic given his day job!). AS the film opens, the work of a chop shop is detailed, as valuable and tagged parts, along with the VIN identification sticker, is transferred from a wrecked red Dodge Challenger to one stolen from an airport parking lot. A bit later, with an order from an Argentine General to steal 48 cars in four days, Pace and his associates quickly get to work. Here the film illustrates the many ways in which a professional thief can steal a car without making a mark on it. Mistakes are not made by members of this outfit; Pace tells one of his associates that "The amateurs are in jail. Professionals never are caught." The only professionals who are in jail are those who were sloppy. Each associate is given a specially equipped briefcase, containing tools, magnetic license plates, and anything else that one might need to quickly and cleanly "boost" a car. And a number of these devices are shown in action -- the slim Jim, door button pry bar, and separate ignition switch. Newer additions to thecase include a walkie-talkie and a compact key cutter. A number of car culture notables from the era play minor roles in the film -- Parnelli Jones, J.C. Agajanian, and Tony Bettenhausen -- and given the fact that there was no script he flow of the film is rather remarkable, culminating with a 34 minute car chase and a jump that left Halicki with 10 crushed vertebrae and a limp. Among the cars stolen were a : 1924 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost (Eileen); 1970 Jaguar E-type (Claudia); 1959 Rolls-Royce Phantom V (Rosie); 1972 Ferarri Daytona 365 GTB 4 (Sharon); 1973 Jensen Interceptor (Betty); 1971 Citroen SM (Patti); 1962 Ferrari 340 America (Judy); 1971 Chevrolet Vega (Christy); and a 1967 Lamborghini (Tracy). As to the why of the Vega, I have no answer! And despite the low budget, absence of professional actors, and organizational methods that children have exceeded when making home movies, Halicki succeeded in ways perhaps that the 2000 sequel fell short. And while it may be argued that Halicki was far more interested in making a chase movie than one illustrating the nature of auto theft, perhaps the most enduring message is one that features a battered Eleanor at the conclusion of the film still running. Detroit iron was tough back then!

The Lipstick Art Car is a 2003 Pontiac Vibe embellished with kisses and other items installed solely in celebration of lipstick. Minneasota artist Patti Paulson created the car in 2010. During parades, Patti leaves her mark when she "lays the smack down" on the crowd to the beat of well known kissing songs blaring from her radio.

A fun video from the recent NSR event at S&S Speedway in Dallas, Pa.

Tons more photos and coverage at this link.

Alex Harrah could possible have created the worlds first electric art scooter. He took your basic scooter and replaced the handle bars with goats head or possibly a rams head. Either way horns for handlebars and cup holder is a nice Gothic touch.

Alex uses this scooter to get around due to being diagnosed with Alpha-1 as a result of having been a heavy smoker in the past. He now campaigns against smoking with his two other art cars.

The first was an art car called Cigs Kill created using the body of 1951 Nash Statesman and the frame of a 1978 Lincoln Mark V with extreme detail that took him seven years to complete.

Cigs Kill Art Car by Alex Harrah - Photo by T. Mitchell Jones

The most recent art car is a 1968 Cadillac hearse painted with cigs cigarettes called Home Grown Terror.

Home Grown Terror Art Car by Alex Harrah - Photo by Tim Klein

I found a site tonight that has totally stolen the entire content of Art Car Central.But don't be fooled by the impostor "art car zone" because it will never measure up to Art Car Central. I cant get a hold of the author of that so I am posting this for their benefit, so if you get this "please quit stealing and scarping the material found on Art Car Central. I wonder how long it will take to post to there site. art car zone sucks.

In a word... WOW. The Ferrari FF.

Every party needs atleast one Model T -- the car that changed the world!

Ludwig Erhard, the architect of the German post-WWII miracle, would be proud of this M-B from the 1950s!

A rare 1954 MG ZA

a 1940 Lincoln Zephyr -- Edsel's baby!

A late (?) 1920s Auburn.

Hi folks, after lunch today I took a quick trip to the Coronado Library to get a few DVDs. As it turned out, about two blocks from where I live, a group was having a patio luncheon. And the carsthey parked on the side of the road were pretty incredible! So here are a few of these beautiful and noteworthy cars.

StreetSafari, organizer of the world's best banger rallies, has teamed with Art Car Central to showcase some of the countless creations of our teams over the years.

For those unfamiliar with banger rallies, here is a quick introduction: buy a car on a budget (£250 or $500), repair it, make it legal for the road, take it on a journey across Europe or the States with other like minded people. Whether the car will end up in a foreign scrap yard or be taken back home is up to the team and is usually anybody's guess.

As one might imagine, part of the challenge is simply getting the car to the finish line. For most teams, the challenge starts much earlier. What seems to happen between buying the car and getting it ready for the start line is subject to paint, imagination and -- probably -- alcohol.

We get to see everything. You name it, we've seen it. If there was ever a famous car on television or cinema, we've seen at least five examples of it on our events. General Lee, Starsky & Hutch, the A Team, Ghostbusters, all done to death. We see rally themes from Audi, Skoda, Martini, Pink Pig, and just about any other you can think of. The quality of the theme seems to vary with the quantity of what the team has drunk, as much as with their creative ability.

Sometimes a team will just paint or decorate the car to a theme they made up. That's where we get the stand out cars.

Today's fabulous art car is a 1992 Volvo 480, with possibly the most intricate design we have ever seen in all the years and events that we've done. Its nickname on the event was simply "the Rorschach car" and everyone knew which that meant. When we first saw this car we made enquiries that it was being brought back to the UK after event, as it would be a crying shame to send this car to the crusher before it had enough time to be appreciated for the masterpiece that it was.

The story behind this art car is that two friends had bought it but had no idea what to do for a theme until they bumped into a rather talented artist friend. He then proceeded to draw all over the car and took about three weeks to do it. We believe the car was then sealed in a lacquer to give it a lasting finish, and we think the car is now in Glasgow somewhere.

From a distance, the drawing appears as one giant doodle. The closer you look, however, the more diverse and detailed the images become. A real piece of car art if ever we saw one.

By Justin Clements of StreetSafari
 

Is it late night, feeling mischievous, and have nothing better to do on Saturday night? Why not prank your friends car next time you and your friends are out and about hanging out at Dennis at 1 o'clock in the morning. What better way to say "You rock dude" than to cover your buddies car with a bunch of TP or plastic wrap. Or show your boss how much you appreciate him by covering his car in post-it notes. Better yet, freak out your mom at grocery store by surrounding her car with shopping cars.  There is a car prank for every season, autumn leafs in the fall, snow in the winter, sand moats in the summer, pumpkins for Halloween. There is also a pick axe prank for the angry ex-girlfriend which I don't recommend. Have fun enjoy.

Surround Cart Car Prank

Police Tape Cop Car Prank - Better be a cop to do this

TP Car Prank

Tin Foil Car Prank

Car Filled with Pumpkin in Car

Principal's Car covered in hall passes Car Prank

Car filled with receipts and friends Car Prank

Car buried in autumn leaves Car Prank

cotton wool car prank

Plastic wrap and cone car prank

Cardboard covered car prank

Classic post-it note car prank

Paper mache car prank

Truck moat car prank

Filled with snow car prank

Plastic wrap car wrap

Angry ex-girlfriend pick axe car prank - ACC does not condone this one at all.