Ann Conte and Jeanne Wiley have managed to renovate an old, beat-up car, by weaving it a new body, out of seat belt material.

The two artists set their sights on a 1960’s MG Midget that was used as support for firewood, in an American backyard. Their project was all about “recycling, reusing, repurposing and sustainability” so they decided to give their Midget a woven look. And what better material to use, than overstock seat belt material (over 500 yards of it). After weaving the body, the two simply bolted it to the car’s metal skeleton.

The seats of this woven vehicle are made of a partially recycled material, known as Corian Terra, and the headlights and tail lights are handmade ceramic. Conte and Wiley’s recycled car can be admired as part of a new exhibit at the South Shore Art Center, in Cohasset, MA.

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Some people have a thing about covering their cars with the strangest stuff, but a 1969 Ford Mustang? There are those who would consider this to be blasphemy.

From the Pen Guy’s pen-covered Mercedes and General Carbunkle to the Camera Van and the plush-toys-covered Corolla, we’ve seen quite a number of vehicles covered in the most bizarre memorabilia, and this Mustang artcar makes a nice addition to our automotive collection.

Spotted on the streets of Alameda, California, this 1969 Mustang is covered in skulls, skeletons, clowns and creepy Jack-in-the-Box dolls. As you can imagine, people were circling this 4-wheeled mutant, trying not to miss any details. It’s nice, if you’re into strange-looking pimped-out rides, but Mustang fans could have a meltdown.

Jalopnik via AutoRoyalty

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Adorned with almost 500 stuffed toys, Bruce Mitchelson’s Toyota Corolla has to be the craziest-looking car in Melbourne.

Bruce thought a great way to show his support for the Cronulla Sharks rugby team would be to paint his old Corolla in the team’s colors and stick on some plush sharks. This was back in 2008, but the Cronulla Sharks have barely won a game since.

But the idea of sticking toys to his car was so good that Bruce couldn’t stop. He kept buying toys at garage sales, and at one point he was adding up to 12 toys a day. Now he’s pretty much run out of space, but he estimates there are 300 stuffed toys on the outside, and around 200 on the inside of his Toyota Corolla.

And if you’re thinking the police might have something to say about Bruce’s toy car, you should know the man is totally in the clear. he has been pulled over several times, but as long as the license plate and side-mirrors are visible, he’s ok.

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A team of wacky scientists from BBC1’s “Bang Goes the Theory” TV show, have converted a 1988 Volkswagen Scirocco into a coffee-powered car, nicknamed Car-puccino.

As revolutionary as this concept sounds, it’s more of a fun project than a cost-efficient one. The idea behind Car-puccino is relatively simple: coffee, like wood or coal, has traces of carbon in it, so it burns. Use a bucket load of coffee, heat it enough to break it down into hydrogen and carbon monoxide, direct the gases towards the engine, and you’ve got yourself a running vehicle.

That sounds easy enough, but there is a down-side to using coffee as fuel. First of all, it’s between 25 and 50 times more expensive than petrol. Car-puccino is schedule to journey 210 miles, from Manchester to London, and the team estimates it will burn through 70 kilos of coffee. Multiply that by 13-26 British pounds per kilo (depending on the quality and brand) and you get some pretty big numbers. Plus, Car-puccino will have to pull over every 60 miles or so, so the crew can clean up the filters of tar.

Pretty original idea, but I doubt we’ll ever see Car-puccino go into production. I wonder what the exhaust fumes smell like, though…Espresso?

Daily Mail via AutoRoyalty

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After the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, Indians realized exclusive golf clubs are on the list of potential targets, and came up with an electric armored golf cart.

The Metaltech Anti-Terrorist Assault Cart, or A-TAC, was designed to assist Indian armed forces in dealing with terrorists, and can easily fit into lifts and narrow corridors, thanks to its cart-like shape. The A-TAC might look like a wacky golf-cart but it will protect you even against explosions, not to mention gunshots.

Weighing around a half-a-ton, the Meltatech Anti-Terrorist Assault Cart is powered by an electric battery and runs for six hours, on a single charge. As you’d expect, it doesn’t reach impressive speeds, but 25km/h is not bad for an armored golf-cart.

If you’re looking for protection on the golf course, you’ll have to fork out $45,000 for Metaltech’s Anti-Terrorist Assault Cart.

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24-year-old Ruslan Moukanov managed to prove it’s not all about the money when you want to drive the car of your dreams.

For the young Kazakh, the exclusive Rolls Royce Phantom seemed like an unreachable dream, when he first saw some photos of it, years ago, in the local library. Since raising 500,000 euros was out of the question, Ruslan had to come up with another way of getting the car of his dreams.

Using only his auto-tuning skills, this Rolls Royce fan managed to give his old Mercedes Benz a total make-over and turn into a perfect replica of the Phantom. It might not drive like one and the materials used might be “a little” cheaper, but for the ,3000 euros Ruslan spent, it doesn’t get much better than this. Congrats!

via AutoRoyalty

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I’m a big Merc fan myself, and the SL600 is definitely on my “to get list”, but this Swarovski-covered neck-twister is not my style.

But, apparently, most Mercedes fans are crazy about Swarovski crystals and it was once again proven at the 2010 Tokyo Auto Salon, where the sparkling SL600, covered with 300,000 Swarovski crystals, stole the show.

Created by Garson/D.A.D, a popular car accessory company, the two Sworovski SL600 made their second appearance at the annual auto show in Tokyo, after they were first introduced last year. They were still the stars of the show, though.

via AsiaOne

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Created back in 2008, by British artists Benedict Radcliffe, the wireframe replica of a Lamborghini Countach is now up for grabs.

The 14 feet-long, 6 feet-wide see-through Lamborghini replica was created using 160 feet of 10-millimeter steel tubing and was parked on display on a London street where people could stare at it as long as they liked. Now Radcliffe decided it’s time to cash-in on his original creation, so he put the wireframe Lamborghini Countach up for sale.

The price is nowhere near that of a real Lamborghini Countach, but it’s not cheap either. $65,000 isn’t easy to part with in these troubled times.

via Autoblog

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What can you do with an old Ford Capri bought on eBay? Cover it in small toy cars and turn it into an art project, of course.

Young James Ford has spent the last two years working on General Carbunkle, a homage to General Lee, the legendary race car from The Dukes of Hazard. He thought of an original way to pay tribute to this popular ride and decided he was going to cover it in red and orange toy cars.

Ford relied on toy donations from all over the world, in order to complete his project, but did impersonate a toy-shop owner to get his hands on 2,000 toy cars. In the end he estimates he used between 3,500 and 4,500 cars, mostly T-birds and Double Decker buses.

Ford intends to auction the General Carbunkle on eBay, so his project can come full circle.

via Creative Review

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I’ve seen a wooden car before, but this is definitely my first wooden super car. And who do you think built it? That’s right, the Japanese.

Maniwa was hand-made by wood craftsmen, for Japanese company Sada-Kenbi. Remarkably, Maniwa is drivable and can accelerate to a speed of up to 80km/h. It has a motorcycle handlebar instead of a steering-wheel, a working stereo and even cool wooden Lambo doors.

The wooden sport car has just one wooden front seat, for the driver, but can accommodate two passengers on the wooden bench in the back. If you’re thinking of buying Maniwa, you’ll be pleased to know it costs only $40,000.

Have a nice drive and try not to smoke at the wheel.

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It does make more sense for some rich dude like Bruce Wayne to roll in an over-the-top limousine than in a crappy old Batmobile.

The Dark Knight’s limo was spotted on the streets of New York, but strangely enough, he wasn’t the one driving it. Sadly, apart from the fact that its started out as a normal limousine (probably a Corvette C4), the photos and video below, there isn’t much info on the awesome Bat-limo. If you know something I don’t, do share.

via CarScoop and Autogespot

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It’s amazing what a passion for cars and amateur radios can create.

Scott’s 1985 Plymouth Colt can simply be described as HAM radio heaven. He has mounted HAM radios, police scanners and other video devices all throughout his vehicle and it’s really quite amazing how he can still find his way around them when he just needs to drive it.

the HAM radio enthusiast says it’s amazing what you can listen to when you’re inside his Radio Active Colt, but I fail to see how you can actually listen to anything when all those things are turned on. According to one of the photos I found the 1985 Colt sells for just $500 while the HAM equipment is worth $25,000.

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It looks like something out of a nightmare in the daytime, but at night the Christmas Truck really gets people into the holiday mood.

Kris Marshall sells GMC trucks around Dallas and Iowa and he decided to turn his old pick-up into something outrageous that would draw attention. A moment’s inspiration turned into one of the most popular rides in the West, the Christmas Truck.

All Marshall needed to create his twinkling wonder on wheels, was a generator,  a few strands of Christmas lights and some duct tape. And that’s basically how the Christmas Truck was born. It has between 50 and 70 light strands, each featuring 50-100 light bulbs. That ads up to a total of over 3,000 lights.

Its maker knows the Christmas Truck is totally illegal but says most of the cops just look at it and smile. He only got a few tickets for improper use of lights.

via Jalopnik

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Project Runningblade is so fast it’s able to mow an entire football field in under 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

After a surviving major heart surgery, 48-year-old Don Wales decided to spend his new life doing something extraordinary. And since climbing Mount Everest involves too much hard work he chose to break the record for the world’s fastest lawnmower. He put together a professional team and created Project Runningblade, a mower capable of reaching speeds of over 100mph.

The current record stands at just over 80mph and Wales is confident he’ll be able to smash it and bring home a new world record for Britain. The attempt will take place on the 27th and 28th of February, on the smooth Pendine Sands, in South Wales. Project Runningblade will need to prove it can cut grass on the morning before the run, then its blade will be removed. For the record to be acknowledged it will need to run for a mile then drive back to the starting point, within an hour. The final time will be an average of the two runs.

via Gizmag

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A dealership from The Netherlands has come up with an original idea to attract customers and boost sales by covering a Porsche 911 Carrera with chocolate.

With the Dutch feast of Sinterklaas just around the corner, the owner of a car dealership thought of an appropriate way to celebrate Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of children, and draw attention at the same time. He ended up covering up a new Porsche 911 in 175 kilograms of Swiss chocolate.

Don’t worry, the chocolate didn’t ruin the paintjob of this $250,000 jewel. The guys at the dealership made sure it was fully covered in cling wrap before poring the molten chocolate. The headlights and foglights were created with a few pounds of white chocolate.

Sure you can’t really eat this chocolate Porsche, but you can sure lick you’re way through the chocolate.

Photos via Autoinfection

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