Realm of the Wombat

Here’s a first: the owner of an art car featured on this site found her car and left a comment about it! Emily is a potter in Chicago who writes a pottery blog. So if you need any pottery done in the Chicagoland area, she’s who I recommend.

I like the bandages where this car has been dinged up. A few more cars like this, and I might have to rethink my opinion of this city…

Jesus Car found at Clemson

Last week, I started a new incarnation of the Jere improvement plan. It involves riding my bike to work, a 17 mile trip from Lincoln Square to Hyde Park. I’m hoping to do this three times per week until the weather stops cooperating. It’s a pretty nice ride along Lake Shore, except for the wind in the morning. There are even outdoor showers at the 57th Street beach that I can jump under for a minute so I’m not so disgusting when I get to lab. Unlike some other improvement plans I know, this one’s got legs.

I received a sign that this was a good idea when I came picked up my first Chicago art car on my first ride. It’s no shark or tocalo, but for the midwest, I’ll take it.

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Surprise! Just when you thought there would be no more Berkeley cars at the ol’ Realm of the Wombat… I picked up this polka dotted Mercedes when I was in Berkeley trying to file my thesis. At least I was able to take this picture for myself.

This was one of the first art cars I ever saw in Berkeley, and it would pop up on occasion during the pre-collection days. But once I started snapping pictures of Berkeley cars, it disappeared. After two years, I spotted it at the Albany Library one evening, and thankfully it didn’t escape while I went home to grab my camera. Unfortunately, however, the artist removed all markings of the make and model, which are required info for any posting on the Realm of the Wombat. It looks like a Dodge Aries, but Google images of Aries K’s from the 1980’s didn’t seem to match up. With the help of Wikipedia, I think I have it pinned as a Nissan Stanza.

The car is also listed with ArtCarAgency.com as the “Mondrian Mobile.” Piet Mondrian was a Dutch artist in the De Stijl movement, whose style was typified by blocks of primary colors (and black and white) separated by thick, black lines.

See another pic of the Nissan Stanza…

Is this the producer of Toy Story 2 or just a big fan? I don’t know, but they did spring for the vanity plates. Classy.

Stache has been telling me about this car for more than a year. The car has Alaska plates and seems to appear in Oakland sporatically, so I’m glad I was able to catch it. The detail in the beading is quite remarkable (third picture is more closeup). I didn’t get a very good picture of the interior, but it’s covered in butterflies as well.

See more pictures of the butterfly Civic…

I’ve seen this van a few times, always on near the Berkeley marina or Albany waterfront, appropriately enough. It’s not as vibrant as this sea-scape van, but I’m happy to bring it into the fold.

See more pictures of the Ford Econoline…

As a side benefit of seeing the Life Sized Mouse Trap show, I scoped out this minivan accross the street. This is one of the most intricate and detailed vehicles I’ve seen. It seems to be a model of the SF Bay Area sprawled over the surface of the van. I couldn’t find my house, but an impressive display nonetheless.

See more pictures of the Dodge Caravan…

I need your help, o fans of Berkeley cars! I scoped this econo-box parked on campus, and in my haste to get to work, I neglected to determine its make and model. The label above the grill says “Spitfire,” but its clearly not a Triumph Spitfire. Further Google image searches were unsuccessful as well, so I’m enlisting the power of the internets. In the spirit of Jim Dandy, the first person to identify this car will receive a big big (sur)prize!

Below is a relative of the 1930’s Plymouth cloud car I posted last year. For more info on the Dart, see the Wikipedia entry or Muscle Car Club. Notice also the building in the background. I don’t know what Subway is, but apparently clouds are their theme.

See more pictures of the Dodge Dart…