We really tried to not use the word pimp in this post, but alas — the crew at Infectious Car Art pimp a meaningful message (see, it works here) with their Obama Car Art contest. Independent artists have a shot at seeing their Pro-bama graphics plastered all over Infectious patrons’ cars — in addition to some prize money — prior to this year’s election. A progressive idea built to push a progressive candidate? If you’re an artist who can see yourself hitting this, the deadline for submissions is August 7th. McCain would have attempted to adapt this concept to his own campaign, had he not shun the Internets.

You may not be the world’s biggest hip-hop star or mega-earning athlete, but that doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to possess the most pimped out ride we’ve seen in quite some time. Becker Automotive Design and STRUT have collaborated on a vehicle that will surely be mentioned in the same breath as “ultimate in automotive luxury.” Their take on the Cadillac Escalade ESV displays an exterior brandishing a finely crafted collection of weather-resistant, stainless steel jewelry, and interior seating resembling that of a private jet. The inside is also chock full of entertainment amenities such as an iPod ready sound system, satellite HDTV, DVD, and digital surround sound. We recommend hiring a driver so you can just enjoy the ride.

The car people out there should take a look at this video, which covers the insane sticker job that Tristan Eaton (think: Kid Robot) and the rest of the Thunderdog team recently did on a Mini Cooper belonging to Matt Farah of the New York Motor Club. After-market auto tweaks are one thing, neon blue ground effects are another, but this glow-in-the-dark job, well, it’s something from another world. Matt’s request to Thunderdog was inspired by the BMW Art Car Project, which was going on between 1975 and 1999, and featured work by artists that we all know and love (e.g. Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein). My vote is that the Thunderdog crew get commissioned to kit out the next Batmobile– imagine that: a glowing black Lamborghini Murcielago.

Thanks to the show “Pimp My Ride”, turning an automobile into a blender or an XBox on wheels doesn’t seem so strange. While XZibit and the crew at West Coast Customs may have cornered the market on turning cars into complex appliances, Tim Roberts would like to make his mark by turning your car into a work of art. The founder of Infectious Car Art first experienced the miracle of the moving canvas when his college roommate paid a muralist $1,000 to paint his favorite character on a beat up old hatchback. The problem with that was that the decoration was permanent. Roberts company has remedied this problem by creating easy to install and remove vinyl designs created by some of the dopest designers around. Zeptonn, Dalek, and Jon Burgerman are just some of the names responsible for creating some of the most divine decals available to adhere to your automobile, whether you drive an Audi… or AMC.

Now… we’ve seen beautiful suits come from Italy, but the Germans have put quite the suit on this new BMW concept car. It’s called the GINA Light Visionary Model. With a mantra of “let the material do the talking,” the design gurus at BMW came up with a design that includes a lycra, shape-shifting exoskeleton that moves to expose individual functions only when they’re needed. The designers were not as interested in answering the question of how cars will look in the future as they were to conduct an exploration into the creative freedom the future designs will offer. Word is, that Patrick Bateman is going to be test driving this one, so those of you in the Financial District, be on the lookout.

Via Gizmodo

One look at the Aptera, and you’d swear that it could fly. Coming off as a cross between a single engine Cessna and something George Jetson could be seen flying around in, this spectacular new breed of plug-in electronic hybrid vehicle sets our design obsessed, eco-friendly hearts aflutter. While this sweet ride may not be able to take to the friendly skies, it will save you a boatload of valuable gas money, getting over 230 miles per gallon. Not only does this awesome automobile set entirely new standards for environmental safety, but it does the same for passenger safety, employing a safety cage similar to that of a formula one racecar. It also contains an “eyes forward” vision system that gives the driver 180 degrees of rear sight. It may not be exactly ready to hit the road just yet, but for those living in California, you can reserve yours today. So if you inhabit the Golden State, want to be ahead of the environmental curve, and at the same time convince your neighbor that he or she overslept by about a hundred years, perhaps you should invest in an Aptera.

Feeling a need to break out that party beret? Well, for six hours on Sunday, June 8th on London's famed Brick Lane Road you can do just that. Indulge in delicious wines, cheese, and watch all kinds of artists do their magic — including turn two cars into art-cars — at the Vauxhall Art Car Boot Fair. So far, about 50 talented folks are signed up to participate. One of the more happening events at the fair is Pretty Taxing's booth, where they'll be hocking holders for artist crafted tax discs (for us Americans: registration stickers). It’s a little bit of inspiration for an otherwise ugly institutional tag on your vehicle.

Not so long ago, the name Saab was not synonymous with sexy. Then, all of a sudden this “other” Swedish car company started telling the public it was “Born From Jets” and upping the sex appeal. Now we’ve spotted this British website for the Saab 9-3 BioPower Convertible, and we’re practically ready to find the nearest Tri-State dealership. The intro’s majestic soundtrack and car shushing down the slopes like a canary-yellow James Bond has piqued our interest. Apparently this “year round” convertible is one of the first flex-fuel vehicles from Saab. As you all now know, this means that the car can either run of off your run-of-the-mill peak oil gasoline, or E85, the ethanol-mixed gas (for debatable science, look here). But, as as we sit here in our organic, pesticide-free cotton, fair-trade, living wage boxer shorts, we can help but imaging dropping this soft top in less than 20 seconds and taking some hairpin turns on an Alpine road. So, good job Saab marketing team.

Here’s a little eye candy from one of my favorite artists, eepmon. I’m not even quite sure what Mini Financial Services is, nor do I even think it matters– because this 13 month Mini Cooper Canada Calendar (yeah, that’s a mouthful) he created is incredible. 13 Illustrations for 13 months, where each month contains a different original illustration to compliment the Mini vehicle. The hard copy versions will be available at Mini dealerships across Canada in a sexy hang-on-your-wall format soon. And I’m sending all my Canadian friends to grab them. Intrigued? Check out all the images here.

Update: Credit where credit is due, Eepmon worked with Canadian agency TAXI on this project– check them out.

You'll have to pardon our ignorance for a moment. You see, up until now we couldn't even remotely fathom slot cars being used as works of art — they always just seemed like the perfect recreational tools for NASCAR fans needing something to do during the downtime between races (ed note: besides being jackasses?). Well, that all changed when we saw the Slot Car Wall Sculpture by Pete Nidzgorski. Made from a slot car track and two cars that the designer found online for a mere $100, Nidzgorski fashioned the tracks, which can be arranged in virtually infinite combinations, into a figure eight shape to create an unlikely, yet totally wonderful work of art that could also provide racing excitement when not on the wall. If you have the need for speed and wall decorations, maybe you should make your own.

You can debate global warming until you’re green in the face, but the fact is that the end all and be all has spoken — and I don’t mean Al Gore. Car makers have slowly been trickling out more efficient vehicles in the wake of An Inconvenient Truth along with a hybrid here and there.

But now the boss of them all is making a commitment that should lead the all-out charge. According to EcoGeek, Ferrari, the maker of all things sex on wheels, has committed to reducing fuel consumption of its supercars by forty percent over the next five years. And you can be sure of one thing, they’re not going to be forfeiting anything in the way of performance to make that happen. Think about it: 500+ miles per tank and 0-60 in 3 seconds flat. Sounds like a sportscar enthusiast’s dream car to me.

We figured the boys at Saint Augustine Academy would want some rockstar stuff to match their party pants, and Alvin and Adrian didn’t disappoint. Cars, world travel, and a little bit of supercalifragilisticexpialidociousness compose the wishlist of two of our favorite fashionistos.

Alvin: A vintage, wood-set record player
A ‘67 T-bird convertible/’67 Mustang Fastback (in mustard yellow)
A ticket to V Festival to see Jesus and Mary Chain.

Adrian: A new Blackberry, because mine got stolen! (Carmel says: Karma’s gonna get you, you dirty pirate.)
A trip to New York (Heather says: Oooh, do it! I need more fellow Aussies to get into trouble with.)
Mary Poppins on DVD, so I can listen to my favourite song over and over.

It seems like everyone these days finds inspiration in being Eco-Friendly. It’s not just Al Gore anymore. With Television networks, politicians, car companies, amongst others all jumping on the bandwagon, it should come as no surprise that artists are also caught up in what is hopefully a lasting trend.

While art and industry may sometimes make strange bedfellows, ROJO, the Barcelona-based artist consortium, have found themselves a muse in the new smart fortwo, the fuel efficient two-passenger vehicle from smart, a collaboration between Penske and Mercedes Benz. The product of this inspiration is the latest issue of ROJO’s coveted design books entitled ROJO(R)fortwo. The special issue contains artwork from the likes of Catalina Estrada, MWM, Deanne Cheuk, Yoshi Sodeoka, Tofer, Alex Prager, Friends with You, Ben Summers, Dalek, Holly Stevenson, Chet Purtilar, Jemma Hostetler, Meomi, Yoshi Tajima, Evgeny Kiselev, Vanessa da Silva, Bruno 9li, Cristiano Trindade, Todd Tourso, Amir H. Fallah, Justine Ashbee and Sergei Sviatchenko.

If all of that artistic firepower isn’t enough to get you excited, then perhaps the special offer will do the trick. To celebrate the launch of the new smart fortwo in USA; ROJO is offering a 25% discount on the two special printed issues dedicated to smart two special printed issues dedicated to smart. If taking advantage of that offer doesn’t make you feel brainy, we don’t know what will.

Back in the late 60's/early 70's heyday of the muscle car, the need for speed often trumped the importance of safety on the road. The Dodge Challenger, a latecomer to the muscle car game, was best known for its role as the featured automobile in the high speed car chase cult classic Vanishing Point, in which a driver and his blind DJ navigator, Supersoul — I didn't make that up — elude cops in a quest to make it to from Colorado to San Francisco in under 15 hours. It's this very outlaw appeal that Dodge embraces in their latest ad campaign for the revamped 2008 Challenger. The campaign incorporates a moving billboard of the Challenger being tailgated by another moving billboard of a police car effectively harnessing the image it cultivated in the 1971 film that made it an automotive icon. So if you happen to be cruising the strip and you catch an eyeful of a 2008 Challenger, it’s best you slow down; Smokey — 70’s euphemism for the fuzz — might be hot on your tail, too.

Yesterday, the German automotive giant BMW launched their newest media campaign, BMW-web.tv. What might be called The Ultimate Marketing Machine, the YouTube-esque site is filled with content encompasses all of BMW’s divisions. Each division gets its own channel so it is simple to switch between cars and technology, for example. The site uses Adobe’s Flash player which (usually) makes for quick loading videos. The content is surprisingly varied with the expected commercial pieces to interesting behind the scenes interviews and glimpses into the what goes into creating BMW’s. One small complaint I have is that the site is plagued with slow speeds, even on a high-speed pipe, due mostly to the decision to make videos auto-play and the physical dimensions of the videos. BMW promises to provide plenty of exclusive content (including product launches) on their web magazine so it’ll definitely be worthwhile subscribing to.