Political Art Car Statements

West University Place resident Doug Peters said he wanted to do something "different" for his art car entry. So, he took a 1991 Ford Taurus -- which he paid $500 for -- and glued 130,000 nails on it.

It took six weeks and 350 hours of work, but he got it done.

Or, to be more precise, the men he hired got it done.

Doesn't matter. The car still received a lot of attention.

"I was nervous about driving it around town," Peters, 44, said. "But I made it. I took a broom and swept it around the car, and if no nails fell off, then I knew it would be OK."

When it came time to pick a category, Peters entered it in the political category.

What does he call the car?

"I call it the U.S. Foreign Policy," he said.

Moving on, Houstonian Jane Jordan decided to take the micro-approach to making a political statement. She took her old 1991 Volvo and covered it in orange construction barrels, tape and plastic mesh.

"This car is Houston," Jordan said. "Everywhere you go, this is what you see. They try and say this city is about space and medicine. Yeah, right. This city is about orange cone barrels and construction and traffic."

Belanie Dishong, a native Houstonian, said she's been going to the art car show for years. She said she'll always go.

"It's just amazing," she said. "They get all the freedom to express themselves. This kind of art is important. We don't realize it, but it is."