I couldn’t talk Ron into buying me the 1963 Karmann Ghia I found on The Samba the other day, but as an alternative, he has agreed to let me do something even better:
I am turning the Fit into an art car.
I have wanted an art car for years, but I have been hampered by the unwritten rule that requires a car to be at least 10 years old before you start decorating it with anything more permanent than bumper stickers and seatcovers.
This week, I am breaking that rule. As of today, the Fit has begun its (hopefully rapid) transition from ordinary, practical, utilitarian commuter vehicle to psychedelic fantasymobile.
Phase One was pretty modest: patchwork curtains made from colorful fabric featuring peace signs, flowers, flames, VW Beetles, and — of course — honeybees. Simple, yes, but I think they’re cute, and they make the car feel less like an ordinary vehicle and more like a vintage VW. Nobody’s likely to mistake me for the ghost of Bob Waldmire (who is, truth be told, the main inspiration behind this project), but still … I’ve always wanted curtains in my car, and now I have them.
Next up: a set of peace-sign-print sun visor covers with built-in pockets for stashing maps and whatnot; a gearshift-knob cozy; and some new seatcovers. I tried to find monster fur to cover the dashboard today, but nobody had any. If I can find some chenille fabric in the right colors, I’m going to make the front seats look like the yip-yip Martians from Sesame Street. I’ll probably velcro a Rolodex to the dashboard and take out after all the flat surfaces with a paintmarker, too.
Once the interior is finished, I’ll get to work on the exterior, which will be getting a paint job worthy of Janis Joplin’s Porsche, John Lennon’s Rolls, or Kelly Killion’s Vanagon.
Stay tuned. I am beyond excited about this….
Emily
Red Fork Hippie 
I like it! I did that once, to a Mazda Carol when we lived in Japan. It’s a tiny car that was never street-legal in the U.S., but perfect for “decorating”. That was in 1969, so of course there were lots of peace signs in the motif. Wish I had taken some pictures!
Let’s see … first there were the McPhee toilet fins … then the condom machine … the CS mama … the worm bin … the mushroom kit … and now the cute little Japanese-puddle-jumper-turned-art-car.
Twins. No question about it: twins born 30 years apart due to a cosmic clerical error. 🙂
Now if I could just get into beekeeping, this would surely be confirmed.