Diesel truck with an engine in the payload area instead of under the hood

Melting Ice Cream Truck - Summer is almost over, D'oh!

With the end of summer looming and the beginning of school just around the corner, what better symbol than a melted Ice Cream Truck sculpture. Created by Canadian-born sculptor Orest Keywan in Australia who won the artist $30,000 Sculpture by the Sea prize in 2006. Sorry, I guess August is almost over and I am not happy with it:(

Diddie Wah Diddie Art Car

Chevy truck, mostly 1963, purchased in 1975 in Poteau, OK. Primary transportation until 1985 (known then as the Turkey Truck due to stickers on doors). Dead by the side of the road until 2007. Concept & all paint by Dixie Rhyne, resurrection by Billy Banks. Located in NW Arkansas, daily driver. Still in process.

Ron Paul Art Car - What to do with a car covered in bumber stickers?

This car sent in by Jake Stichler

This is a 92 F150, currently residing in Lebanon, PA with nearly a
quarter million miles that I picked up from my mechanic for $1200 a
couple of years ago - not as a project vehicle of any sort, but
because it was all I could afford at the time. Unfortunately, this
also wasn't an original idea of mine - I saw a car that was done up
just the same on The Daily Paul - the foremost blog in Ron Paul info
during the campaign. That particular individual made it on their local
news, I know many other people decorated their vehicles with Ron Paul
slogans as well, but I figure there's probably only 2 or 3 others that
did the complete sticker job.

Unfortunately, this truck has also been out of commission since July
due to expired registration and inspection, so I really couldn't tell
you what kind of reactions there have been lately, as there've been
none. Hopefully your readers can help answer the question as to what
to do with it now (finish it, redo it, etc).

more pictures are available here

Jungle Bug Art truck finds new life on internet.

This beautiful Jungle Bug Art Car is brought to you by Amanda Jensen a 1987 Ford Ranger with a shell. She said this about her art car:

I started decorating it in 1996. I used "fake plant" leaves, plastic jewels, One-Shot paint, and for the first years, many large & giant toy bugs. Now, there are only some giant ants painted blue on top. It was my ONLY vehicle, a "daily driver" art-car, until November 2007. I did it all myself and never had a garage or driveway so it was street-parking only. Many people loved it very much, but it never got very famous or publicized. It doesn't run well anymore. Alas!! I love it! I deeply miss being able to drive it everywhere.

Amanda thank you for submitting your Jungle Bug Art Truck it is truly a very beautiful art car and I do hope my readers will post lots of comments.

Home Made Trucks - Made in China, Russia and Cuba

Good times are coming and as the bailouts continue it will get harder to get parts as automakers disappear into the abyss. But the good news is that there will be plenty of auto parts, we are just going to have to get more creative about putting it all together. These three home made trucks were made in communist countries (one former but maybe headed back) are the way to go. The parts are cheap and if you need more, anything close enough will do. Just head down to your local salvage yard, they always have parts and there is no waiting three weeks for delivery. They just go out and yank it off an old truck.

Russian Home Made Truck


Cuban Home Made Truck


Chinese Home Made Truck

Bubble Truck Art Car - never a dull moment

The Bubble Truck is a modified 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 extended cab pickup truck "sculptured" with a variety of ornaments and other devices installed solely for the creation of making bubbles of all sorts of shapes and sizes. When I was emailed this art car and I had to post it to cheer up those of you in cold weather today. This art truck is also available for private parties, birthday parties, parades, corporate events, and charitable causes. Never a dull moment with this ride.

The Bubble Truck



The Bubble Truck in action, its better on video

some vehicles Steve McQueen owned were on display, and surprising me was that the GMC 4x4 was used as high school daily transportation by it's current owners kids. Think they were impressed to have a truck of Steve's?

wow, a 34 Husdon Terraplane garage made truck from a car, because during WW2, trucks were given more gas rations (and a lot more useful to working guys than a car)

Commentor "Stll Out There" asks why "they" call this a garage made/ home made conversion. Because it looks like one. And because I have seen no evidence of a Terraplane truck from the factory. http://www.hetclub.org/burr/other/technical_service_bulletins_vol4-ts34-001-ts46-001.pdf

I know it's a Terraplane from the speedometer

Firstly,  to address "Still Out There" there is no "they" here at this blog, it's just me, Jesse, and I am Just A Car Guy, not an expert, and the back of the cab has a square and un conventional non factory termination look. The graceful curves of the fenders and under the pick up box represent the design quality that Hudson made cars with, and the flat-straight lines of the back of the cab don't. Seriously, look at the bottom of the rear of the doors.

No car company made such a bad transition to the back of the cab from the doors by adding a square bottom inches away from the bottom of the doorline. They would have been shot for that.

In the past couple of hours a family member (Bent metal) of the owner confirms that this exact vehicle IS a garage conversion, not a factory job. http://www.classiccar.com/forum/discussion/160636/green-34-t-pu That rear pan that goes between the back fenders is on cars only.  Trucks didn't have that.

Far out! This little socket set is an unusual hex head instead of the common square drive of 1/4, 3/8, or 1/2 inch... and is mounted above the rear window

see under the tail gate? not how trucks are made. That was my 3rd indicator that this was a garage conversion.

below is a look at what this looked like before the truck conversion

In 1934 the word "Essex" was dropped and the car became the Terraplane. The cars were slightly heavier and rarely joined competitive events, particularly as they now lacked the eight-cylinder powerplant. The name Terraplane remained constant through the 1937 model year. By 1936 Terraplane commercial cars were produced in fair number.


 In 1938, knowing they were going to drop the Terraplane, Hudson management chose to phase out the Terraplane name similarly to how it had been introduced, and the 1938 cars were named Hudson-Terraplanes. 

The Terraplane contributed greatly to Hudson Motor Car Co. sales during the Depression 1930s. Sales of the Terraplane outpaced Hudson vehicles in the late mid-30s and it is said that Hudson management was not fond of that fact and that was partly why they chose to eliminate the car as a make. One unique feature was "Duo-Automatic" brakes. Terraplanes had two brake systems—hydraulic and mechanical. Should the hydraulic brakes fail (i.e. the brake line had a leak in it), the mechanical brakes would be used to stop the car.

Perhaps the most memorable sales slogan of the Terraplane years came from 1933: "On the sea that's aquaplaning, in the air that's aeroplaning, but on the land, in the traffic, on the hills, hot diggity dog, THAT'S TERRAPLANING".

Info and bottom photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/homer----simpson/6931919281/