I have seen some monstrosities on the road in my life. Living out in the country seems to help. There are a special group of people out in this world who couldn't care less whether it is road worthy, or if their ride reflects well on them at all. I have seen cars without floors that the occupants use foot power to get going. I have seen cars held together with duct tape. I have even seen cars that were built of parts from a dozen different cars, and the headlights were nothing more then portable flashflights. Hell I have even seen one of this misbegotten things just burst into flames riding down the road. Only to see the driver stop, and get out with a fire extinguisher to put it out. Only to get back in and drive off. I really thought I had seen it all, and I was sorely mistaken.

On my drive home this evening I think I saw a truly rare beast. At first I thought it was a whimsical paint job, but the closer I got I noticed the same name was repeated all over the car. It was the Sunoco sign, and for those who are unfamiliar it is a gas station chain. Even then it still had not sunk in for me. I though does this guy work for that chain, and is this some kind of company car. Then I noticed one of the signs was a little crooked, and gasp it was pealing. Only then did it truly hit me what I was looking at. This wasn't a pain job at all. Someone had meticulously covered their 1980s piece of shit from bumper to bumper with what had to be at least a thousand little three inch by three inch Sunoco stickers.

I didn't laugh about it, deride the people in that car, or even get disgusted. I just sat there behind the wheel of my car mesmirized. Ten minutes later and half a dozen miles down the road. Long after the driver of that car had turned off. I finally just shook my head, because I still don't know what the deal was with that, and I probably never will. Well at least it gave me inspiration to write this post. So what was your rare beast. Was it as strange as mine, or was yours even stranger then that.

It isn't uncommon to see things like that in Spain due to the combination of low salaries and bad taste (quite frequent between the members of a certain colective).

Right now I remember a Renault 7 that was always parked near the university, with tuning rims (which were more expensive than the rest of the car), Spain World Cup '82 stickers (spanish members should remember Naranjito), leopard seats and the omnipresent dices.

Here are some (extreme) examples:

My god... how shallow can you get? Seriously? This is like judging people after their shoes. People like you deserve a low payment job and a boring everyday life... oh wait, thats you

When I see something like this, it usually makes my day better. But hey, I guess its a matter of personality.

 I think "The things people do in their cars" would be a more interesting title.

hunter_alien said: My god... how shallow can you get? Seriously? This is like judging people after their shoes. People like you deserve a low payment job and a boring everyday life... oh wait, thats you When I see something like this, it usually makes my day better. But hey, I guess its a matter of personality.

Where did you get my being judgmental from all that? It didn't ruin my day, but it did give my mind a mystery to ponder. There are dozens of reasons someone may take a old car, and sticker the ever loving shit out of it. Maybe it was a form of folk art, or the exterior was so far gone it actually seemed like a fix. Maybe the cars owner got stoned, or their friends got stoned while they were away. Maybe it was a bet, or maybe the cars owner is a borderline hoarder collecter. If I were truly shallow. I would have just dismissed it right after I saw it, but as you can see I thought about it for a while. Which may have been the point all along. I suppose it made my day it a way, because I like puzzles.

Speaking of shoes. I once saw a guy wearing what looked like army boots. With pink laces, and peace signs done in glitter painted on. I think that gentlemen was making some kind of political statement though, or they just wanted some attention real bad. Now I would have laughed about that one if the guy wasn't carrying a gun in a under arm holster. I thought about that one too, but first things first I got the hell out of that place.