Art car

The art car subculture started with several influences - the hippie-themed VWs of the late 1960s, the lowrider, as well as a Merry Pranksters' creation, the decorated school bus known as Furthur.

The illuminated parade also drew the attention of the Galveston, Texas-based business Yaga's Entertainment, Inc. (the contract holder of Mardi Gras!

Galveston 2011–2015) as part of their five-year contract signed on 18 November 2010.A well known early art car used for commercial advertisement was the Oscar Mayer Wienie Wagon—Later versions were known as the Wienermobile.

Other cars can be found throughout the world, most recently in Europe with the European arm of car-hire firm Avis supporting the movement.

In creating an art car, the "exteriors and interiors of factory-made automobiles are transformed into expressions of individual ideas, values, beliefs and dreams.

The cars range from imaginatively painted vehicles to extravagant fantasies whose original bodies are concealed beneath newly sculptured shells".

Science fiction themes (monsters, giant insects from Them!, flying saucers), surrealism, and expressions of the Gothic and the sublime, are not uncommon.

This generally means keeping turn signals and windows clear, license plates visible, and not extending beyond the width of a normal car frame.