Sept. 30, 1977: Custom artwork for custom vans

 

Another slice of life served up in a Gusto cover story. 

Sept. 30, 1977 

Trouble Is, Unlike Picasso,

They Can Dent Your Artwork 

          The urge to paint one’s wagon goes back to man’s discovery that he could extend his personality by rolling it about on wheels. From that moment on, history has abounded with gorgeously appointed carriages. Napoleon had his brocade and his matched horses. Diamond Jim Brady’s personal railroad car was the last word in elegant travel. The automotive age evolved from pin-striping to flames to metalflake creations floating in oceans of angel hair at custom car shows.

          But then America discovered the virtues of the lowly, steel-sided delivery van, which has become the most sought-after vehicle in the land. Sitting stern and unadorned on the dealer’s lot, the van is functionalism first and foremost. But with the proper applications and a bit of cash, it can be transformed into a mobile objet d’art.

          “A lot of people would rather spend $500 for a painting on their van,” says van muralist Bill Horbachewski, “than spend $150 on a painting for their living room.”

          Mr. H., as he signs his work, is a school art teacher who lives just outside Orchard Park and he’s created what has turned out to be the most-photographed truck at every truck-in it visited this summer – Alice in WonderVan, owned by Steve McDonald of Locksley Park in Hamburg. One of those photos appeared in a national van magazine. Another will appear next month.

          Painting the WonderVan consumed all of Mr. H.’s Easter vacation. He put the tea party on the front, Alice falling down the rabbit hole on one side, the Cheshire Cat and the hookah-smoking caterpillar on the other. The Queen of Hearts and her hedgehogs ride on the back door. In all, there’s 15 coats of lacquer. The artist is pleased with his transitions between scenes.

          “After I got all the characters laid out,” he says, “I made a road going between them. The road turns into tree branches. Trees turn into mushrooms. I wanted it to have a fantasy look.”

          Less than 10 years ago, Mr. H. had one of his mechanistic paintings exhibited in the Albright-Knox Art Gallery’s annual show of Western New York artists. What led him to vans with the Michelangelo Godhead he put on the tank of his motorcycle.

          That brought him in contact with a cycle customizer. Since many cycle enthusiasts are vanners too, it wasn’t long before they asked him to do their trucks. This year he’s painted more than half a dozen. He likes the idea of having the highway as his gallery.

          Many van artists simply copy illustrations from other sources, like album covers and posters. Mr. H. says he’s seen countless magazine photos of truck emblazoned with reproductions of Frank Frazetta’s grisly, gripping Gothic warriors. He prefers to take a client’s concepts and rework them artistically.

          He begins work by washing the van and removing the wax. Next comes an enamel reducer. Finally he wet-sands – first with 320-grit paper, then with 400-grit sheets. The prepared section is then taped off and the painting begins.

          Sometimes he shoots an opaque projection at the truck and outlines it. Other times, he sketches freehand with his airbrush. For a large scene, he’ll paint the background, then apply a clear coat of lacquer and wet-sand. For the mid-ground, foreground and detail work, the same procedure follows.

          His current project is his own van, a ’74 Dodge Tradesman that had a dented right side when he bought it last summer. He was toying with the thought of death of the highway when he saw the film “Star Wars.” His death figure became Darth Vader, who rallies all the bad guys on the left side of the van. All the good folks will show up on the right. Already people are stopping to take pictures of it.

          “The kids don’t want to ride in the LTD any more,” his wife observes. “They all want to ride in ‘Star Wars.’” The LTD sits with a for-sale sign in its window.

          “The back I haven’t decided on yet,” Mr. H. says. “Maybe I’ll use the tunnel, with the spaceships and the guys shooting at each other. You can overdo something like this, though. You have to know when to stop.”

          Since Mr. H. plans on selling “Star Wars” eventually, he won’t be doing anything fancy with the interior. Most vanners want to put their personal decorating touches inside. Commonly, floors, walls and ceilings are carpeted. Wine racks, refrigerators and sound systems are installed. At the rear goes a curtained-off cubicle for a bed, often with a skylight over it. Such is the layout of Joel Smith’s van.

          Joel’s van is so cozy it’s unlikely he’ll need to find an apartment when he leaves his native Springville to go live in Florida. The son of an auto dealer, he got his truck new and worked on it nights in the service department. To paint the murals of hang-gliders in outer space, he enlisted the aid of two veteran auto customizers – Richard Perkins and Jon Robbins.

          Rich, a natural handyman, painted one of the first automotive murals in the Buffalo area about five years ago. The car, an aging Dodge Charger, sits beside his barn, waiting to be reborn.

          Jon collected a heap of auto show trophies in the late ‘60s for his green Pontiac GTO, nicknamed “The Green Tambourine.” His mini-pickup truck sports flames on its front fenders.

          “I like a lot of flames,” he says. “I’m trying to bring them back.”

          Owning a rolling work of art isn’t the same as owning a Picasso, though. Not long after Jon put a mural on his wife’s car, someone backed into it. Joel says he parks at the deserted end of parking lots, lest someone cracks his paint with their car door.

          “I know how it is,” says Rich. “The first year, you’re really careful. Then somebody in a parking lot opens a door and bang, you’ve got chips in it. Then after you cry half a dozen nights, it gets to be just another mural.”

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IN THE PHOTO: The Alice in WonderVan truck.

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FOOTNOTE: The photo on Bill Horbachewski’s Facebook page shows him and his wife Pat in a bright blue mid-1960s vintage Corvette with no custom paintwork on it at all. His page also informs us that he was an art teacher at West Seneca West Senior High School and, now that he's retired, he lives in Dewittville, in Chautauqua County.