Tuesday, August 12, 2008

A 23 Window VW Bus at Rest

15" x 20" Watercolor (In progress)

When driving through rural America I notice that the coolest cars (and vans in this case) are always parked out in a field behind a barn or under a tree and have obviously been there a while. After driving a vehicle for upwards of 20 or 30 years any car needs a certain amount of attention and maintenance. Most guys just don't have the heart to get rid of a classic if they don't have the time or inclination to do the required work to make it run and look like a true classic should. And so out to the back field, behind the barn or under the tree the once beautiful piece of art on wheels goes to take up residence for the next decade or two until its owner gets around to giving the beloved automobile the attention it deserves.

Every now and again some other guy will catch a glimpse of this once glorious ride in its current state of neglect, sitting under a tree, and long to have it for his own. Sure it is now rather dirty, somewhat rusty and over-grown by weeds. Three of the windows have been broken by young boys practicing their fastball with rocks and the sheet metal under the battery has rusted through to the point that the battery is now sitting on the ground, yet this guy still sees the potential of restoring this car to its original form. The current owner, however, still dreams of one day restoring it himself and turns down any offer of selling it. And so the classic remains under the tree for the next decade, an unattainable prize of rusting metal of rotting seat cushions to all passerbys.