Americana Pt. 1 – Clark
If the American flag had to be redone, it would consist of a picture of the fuel dial on a car with the indicator reaching just above Full. While this can also be political and economic commentary, a full gas tank as an idea is unbridled optimism and action. It is at once both kinetic energy and potential energy without bounds that urges us to put the top down, the pedal down and our hair down. Inasmuch as the car represents independence, there are some who insist on extending their ingenuity and originality to it as well. Below is the story of one man who has done this.
A brief history of the car mod culture. It started with hot-rods and the sprucing up of Model A's. While a lot of it was chopping A and B pillars to lower roofs, outfitting fat racing slicks and ripping the hood off so as to show off (and fit) massive V-8 engines, the need to look as original as it was screamingly fast was paramount. It's not enough to win a drag race if you don't look like a baller doing it. To stand out from better and better paint jobs and sleeker body work, accoutrements became part of the scene. These were usually subtle and of good taste in the way of hood ornaments and fuzzy dice. Years later, hippies would take up the mantle and do it very differently.
Hippies have the reputation (warranted or not) of being the progenitors of a consumerism of irrational ideas and useless goods. In the 1960's, they plastered both on their VW minibuses and toured about the country showing it all off. Peace signs, doves and any object that could make it funkier, groovier or more swingin' was good to go. What they lacked in streamlined transportation they made up with élan. What passed for groovy then has become a bit tacky now, but it opened up the floodgates for an anything-goes creativity that's in full effect today.
The trend has continued but become much more about a cohesive aesthetic utilizing antiques instead of junk. (Antiques are valuable and interesting that happened to have been placed on a roadside. Junk is of little value and is appropriately placed on a roadside.) Enter Clark.
Clark began dressing up cars decades ago. He's got three now, two of which are road-worthy. He rigorously selects objects that will add to the eclectic whole. Pewter antiques have been matched with a corresponding paint job which simulates rust. Real rust is a symbol of negligence and nothing could be further from the way in which Clark treats his vehicles. The haphazard of the hippy has become the meticulous labor of love of a devoted man. Below are pictures of Clark and the two vehicles he presented at the H Street festival on September 15 in Washington DC.
A brief history of the car mod culture. It started with hot-rods and the sprucing up of Model A's. While a lot of it was chopping A and B pillars to lower roofs, outfitting fat racing slicks and ripping the hood off so as to show off (and fit) massive V-8 engines, the need to look as original as it was screamingly fast was paramount. It's not enough to win a drag race if you don't look like a baller doing it. To stand out from better and better paint jobs and sleeker body work, accoutrements became part of the scene. These were usually subtle and of good taste in the way of hood ornaments and fuzzy dice. Years later, hippies would take up the mantle and do it very differently.
Hippies have the reputation (warranted or not) of being the progenitors of a consumerism of irrational ideas and useless goods. In the 1960's, they plastered both on their VW minibuses and toured about the country showing it all off. Peace signs, doves and any object that could make it funkier, groovier or more swingin' was good to go. What they lacked in streamlined transportation they made up with élan. What passed for groovy then has become a bit tacky now, but it opened up the floodgates for an anything-goes creativity that's in full effect today.
The trend has continued but become much more about a cohesive aesthetic utilizing antiques instead of junk. (Antiques are valuable and interesting that happened to have been placed on a roadside. Junk is of little value and is appropriately placed on a roadside.) Enter Clark.
Clark began dressing up cars decades ago. He's got three now, two of which are road-worthy. He rigorously selects objects that will add to the eclectic whole. Pewter antiques have been matched with a corresponding paint job which simulates rust. Real rust is a symbol of negligence and nothing could be further from the way in which Clark treats his vehicles. The haphazard of the hippy has become the meticulous labor of love of a devoted man. Below are pictures of Clark and the two vehicles he presented at the H Street festival on September 15 in Washington DC.
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