Art cars are great. Maybe someday we’ll have the guts to art up our Prius, but in the meantime, we’re making miniature art cars. It’s easy and fun and doesn’t require quite the same level of investment that a full-size art car needs.

Snap-together models are an easy way to start an art car, but more advanced models can be used as well. For models that require gluing and/or painting, much of that can be integrated into putting the art on. Or omitted entirely.
   

We used a couple of techniques: super glue and hot glue. Super glue can easily damage the finish of the plastic, but works well for small parts like the googly-eyes. Hot glue is easy to work with but can be a little messy when you get too much on.
   

Our first miniature art car was made with super glue and a bag of googly-eyes. Not quite as incredible as the Googly-eyed car, but fun nonetheless.
   

We also made a Barracuda covered with sequins, reminiscent of Devolution, a Honda covered with AOL cds.
   

We put together a traditional mosaic art car, using similar materials to those on Glass Quilt, which we photographed at the 2006 ArtCar Fest.

We had a very small art car gathering on our table. Googly-eyes won points for the cyclops effect on the grille.

For more art car fun, check out the Art Car Agency, Art Car Central, and the Flickr Art Cars Pool. And if you’re in the area, check out ArtCar Fest at Maker Faire in San Mateo on May 3 and 4.