I’ve noticed that minivans are among the most preferred canvases for artistic expression. I suspect that the intrinsic dullness of their boxy shape may have something to do with that, or perhaps because they were hand-me downs from parents or other relatives. Or necessity (kids, business) necessitated it. I can’t be seen driving this! The solution is easy: let your inner child come out and play (as if that wasn’t happening enough anyway). Well, my inner child approves; sure beats another boring typically dark-green Nissan Quest on the road. Let’s take a closer look:
This is not just the kind of slacker Saturday morning slap-dash affair of dipping hands or rags in pails of left-over house paint. It’s pretty ornate, and the underlying pattern is perfectly repeated all over.
I’m clueless about these kinds of paint jobs. Is that repeated pattern some kind of stencil, or?
If so, it looks like the lower right side of the one used for the turquoise pattern on the wheel slipped or something.
Related reading: Buick Century Brougham de Baroque – Turquoise and Gold Edition
I’m usually not a fan of custom paint jobs, but I will say this one looks pretty cool.
And when I woke up, my pillow was gone!
A lot of money was made airbrushing murals on vans. Never owned one like that but when I was in business mine were rolling billboards.
Not that bad looking close up. The hubcraps need to be tossed and burned.
Twinkle twinkle little star
I wonder why you’re on my car
up above the road so wide
to my van you’ve been applied
twinkle twinkle little star
I count two thousand of you so far
Hahaha…very nice.
@Paul, I do suspect that’s a stencil. Not that I’ve painted an art car, but it does make sense. That’s too intricate to have been freehanded over and over.
Might they also be popular canvases for artistic purposes simply because there’s a lot of sheetmetal available but it’s less of a hassle to deal with than a full-size van?
@jpcavanaugh
+1
I seen one that had a jungle type theme
These Minivans are all over South Central Los Angeles so maybe this one migrated up to Oregon really cool paint job and all.
The paint is done with stencils that you can buy at a craft store and the results aren’t bad, it looks like intricate hand-painting at a glance! Maybe not so durable though. I saw a late 60s custom conversion of a 64 Thunderbird on the road the other day and the paint and body work were absolutely wild. It still looked amazing. Speaking of minivans as blank canvases, I remember seeing a VW ad from the 50s that emphasized the plain styling as a platform for sign-writing.
Locally, there’s a muralled Honda Odyssey (not the first-gen that was also badged as Isuzu). To me, seeing it was a sign that Odysseys have been around long enough to be “old” and weren’t just late-model family haulers. I had that same revelation about 10 years ago when I saw a crusty beat-up Volvo 740 wagon – oh, “crusty beat-up” isn’t just for 122’s anymore. But that gen Quest and Villager seemed to enter old-age sooner than most vehicles. Almost GM-like …