When I was growing up my dad named each car we owned by their color. There was the red car, the white car, the yellow car (above), and finally the blue car. This year I finally found out the reason why.
It wasn't because it was easy to call the cars by their color, but that he purposefully didn't want any of his children to identify with any brand. Cars would just be anonymous, wheeled, motorized conveyances. In spite of this almost anti-car attitude, I ended up becoming a complete obsessive.
We brought in artist Donnie Molls to answer questions today and we got some great responses. My favorite was when he explained how his dad got him into what he does today.
I first got inspired watching my Dad, going with him to junkyards and salvage parts for the projects he was undertaking in our garage. Then later, when I got my own 1973 Charger, I'd go to swap meets and find parts and think all of the possibilities to rebuilt and remake its body and engine. You could kinda do anything with it.
I am constantly looking at new ways to see the automobile. I still go to swap meets and junk yards to get inspired, find parts — meet other people who also share our passions in order to get to know the various communities of "custom" car addicts. With this, is also my passion to create great works of art that are timeless — so the challenge is to bridge my interests and my craft to carry both of these to successful resolution.
There are many roundabout paths to finding car culture, and we're glad at least one of those paths leads to an art gallery filled with the rich, fragrant smell of a heap of old tires.
Photo Credit: Raphael Orlove