Motorhead Mama Says: Art Cars Are Ugly

June 30, 2015
Story By
Motorhead Mama

Art cars. What the heck is an art car anyway? For many car companies, it means attaching a high-end vehicle with a well-known artist. From Roy Lichtenstein to Andy Warhol to David Hockney, the world of modern art has been consistently connected to modern cars through projects that enlighten or enhance the automotive experience. And I’m all for that, what’s not to like? But in the past few years, this practice has become more popular and with that, we’ve seen some beautiful cars be butchered by some of biggest names in the business. Here’s a good example from the 2014 LA Auto Show:

This was how Mercedes kicked off their Evolution Tour last year. They hired Thierry Guetta, aka Mr. Brainwash (an LA artist popularized by the Banksy documentary), to do his interpretation of the GLA. Now I’m no art critic and not particularly a fan of the GLA, but this “art” is just ugly. Plain and simple. It looks like something my kid does in the toilet after eating too many Christmas cookies. But you don’t see me drying that, framing it and calling it art. Plus, this isn’t just any ugly car. It’s an ugly Mercedes. Given that Daimler has produced some of the most astonishingly beautiful cars in history, it’s hard not to get angry. Kind of like watching Michael Jackson go from the world’s cutest kid to the world’s creepiest dude, it can upset some people. Chevrolet is also no stranger to art car nonsense, like this Corvette Stingray which was painted by Chevy employees to help raise money for the Detroit Art Museum:

In this case, the artists commissioned are Corvette designers, which is hilarious given the fact that they are being asked to destroy their own creation. That’s like asking Leonardo da Vinci to tag The Last Supper. It may sound like fun at first, but ultimately to ruin something that took you years to perfect has gotta be painful. Speaking of DaVinci, just because many art cars are ugly, that doesn’t always keep them from being fantastic. My favorite example is from SEMA last year and it’s the one that mocks the art car itself:

That, my friends, is a Megan Fox Mona Lisa. Is it ugly? Sure is! Crass? You betcha! Is it art? Why not? It surely took a fair amount of skill and attention to execute and although it’s not likely to make it into the Louvre permanent collection any day soon, it’s certainly a project that stirred emotion. Even if the resounding emotion was, “Damn she’s hot”, well this is SEMA, not MOMA, so take what you can get. Sometimes art cars and their projects are commercially successful, even if they’re ugly.

This is fashion designer Jeremy Scott’s interpretation of the Smart Fourtwo. And while it’s not beautiful, it’s hella fun and arguably much more attractive than the original Smart Car (that bar was pretty low). In fact, this project was such a hit that Smart decided to do a limited production run of this winged vehicle. Good job, Jeremy. Neither Hockney nor Warhol can say they ever got their car made, so way to go. But what’s the difference between a customized car and an art car?

Is Liberace’s mirrored Rolls Royce Phantom a rich guy’s extravagant automotive indulgence or the ultimate four-wheeled artistic expression?

Is the PAAS Easter Edition GTC Viper just a gimmick for the Dodge 1 of 1 Program? If so, congratulations, it worked for me. Or is it the car that allowed a Dodge designer to unleash his magnum opus? Maybe so. Who am I to judge? If it was up to me, I’d put Megan Fox in the Louvre. And when does an art car earn its elusive title? When it gets ugly? When its ugliness is accepted because a fancy name is attached to it?

This car is ugly. It is gut wrenching, eye-popping, obnoxiously ugly. And its creator is nowhere to be found on Wikipedia. Don’t bother Googling. Does that make it less important? Does that make the El Jefe H3 ineligible for art status? I say no way! Even when inherently ugly and offensive, creations by anonymous artists are often the most impressive. And they’ve been created without commission or financial incentive. Art for art’s sake. There’s no doubt that this H3 is a pricey, labor-intensive, polarizing project. But this is the art car that made me turn my car around, park it and run across the DMV parking lot just to get a closer look. I can’t remember the last time I was that inspired in a museum or in the presence of some priceless work. And isn’t that was art is all about?

Motorhead Mama Says: Art Cars Are Ugly

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