Oil Guzzlin' GewGaws in Houston

Yesterday was the 20th annual Art Car Parade in Houston.

Art Cars or art mobiles usually begin their lives as an older or used vehicle (car, truck, van, bus, jeep, golf cart, etc.). The owner of the car decides they want to alter their automobile, not necessarily converting what's under the hood (unless it is a lowrider.)* but instead transforming the exterior/ interior of the car. To what degree and how this transformation is made is entirely up to the imagination, skills and resources of the car owner.

As the Chron reports, it's now become a corporate parade.

COMMENT: The Art Car Parade's origins were definitely iconoclastic and countercultural and gave Houston's alternative art scene a chance to show off their creativity. It made life in Houston funky and tolerable for me. But it's weird to see something like this happen in the current era of global warming. Houstonians love their cars, but what about the pollution these old klunkers cause? There was no mention of alternative vehicles in the Chron story.