Weird Wheels

Car artists transform ordinary vehicles into the extraordinary and the comical. A Camero sprouts wings and becomes the Nat-mobile. The Push-Me/Pull-You Car doesn't know if it's coming or going, and the big, wheeled flower is always daisy-fresh.

Ever wanted to know how fast a piece of art can travel through the mud? Giant lug nuts float and prehistoric monsters hit the highway during the marvelous mayhem of kinetic sculpture racing. Experience the thrill of victory and the agony of being mediocre.

Don't take a fly-swatter to these roadworthy insects. The Tiki Bug and Coffee Bug are gussied-up versions of the loveable Beetle. Toronto's Bug Man creepy-crawlers through the traffic.

Wacky wheels designed by kids, made for kids, or filled with kid-like wonder. From "The Grateful Undead," an award-winning car covered with sculptures of dead musicians to the world's youngest bike trials champion.

Every April Houston, Texas, hosts the wildest collection of wheels out there during the annual World Art Car Parade. Bizarre vehicles such as the Fruitmobile or a teensy BMW that might just fly take over the streets. 'Carthedral' is a hearse driven by a true disciple of the art car movement.

These are a few of the oddest contests on the roster. Cheer on the winners of a tractor demolition derby in farm country and get a glimpse at the brotherhood of urban cycle couriers in Edmonton when they test their mettle at the North American Cycle Courier Championships. In BC, bed races are the only place you can legally sleep at the wheel.

What can you do with all that junk in your backyard? Make a vehicle, of course. A Texan's recycled bike menagerie and Heavy Pedal Cyclecide, a wacky bike circus, are two versions of something-from-nothing. An Ottawa folk artist takes his passion for recycling to artistic extremes.

These wheels put the pedal to artistic metal in very different ways. Silver Space-Bugs wouldn't look out of place on the moon but they're cute in earth traffic too. It struggles for lift-off, but Leo Naugler's maritime Fish Copter has high hopes. Ride renegade and hipster-in-general Hoop has a menagerie of wild wheels at his disposal.

Some rides push the notion of 'out-there' just a little bit further. Like Ken Kesey and his legendary magic bus, appropriately named 'Further.' Stand too close to Satan's Calliope and you're bound to get burned...by the flame-thrower. In Ottawa, visionary Rheal Ranger puts a 'spin' on recycling.

Have a look at some vehicles that go a step beyond utilitarian. Bubble Man's Bubble Van blows bubbles of joy, the Canaloupe car promotes can-do spirit and the Feel Good Cars in Ontario are feeling electric in their second lifetime.

Pull into the high-occupancy lane with car owners who want to take you for a wild ride. Jan Loe is jazzed up about taking music to the streets of New Jersey. Self-proclaimed 'King of Art' Joe Kro-Art wants to sell the world on creativity and art teacher Greg Ball lets his students loose on an unusual canvas; his car.

The top is down and the wind is in your hair. Whether it's a speedy custom-built Indycycle (also useful for slower trips to the grocery store), amped-up electric racers in Portland or a Streamliner chasing the sound barrier in the desert, it all comes down to revving up.

The iron horse changed human history and now these people are riding the rails their own way. Railbikers in Oregon take in the scenery under pedal-power and some regular guys hold not-so-regular contests in a Washington railway garden. Meanwhile, handcar racers in BC have to put their backs into it.

Sail down the highway in some nautically themed vehicles. Bob in Texas plies the asphalt channels of Austin with his Toyboata, Bob in Seattle likes land and sea in his Amphicar and David in Nova Scotia goes bobbing along the road in an art car all about the ocean.

Sometimes your car is so cool you have to blow your own horn. California's Bluegrass Bus is a mobile museum of soulful sounds. The Horn Cars hit the highways of Georgia at full tootle and musician Vic Cassis is a three-wheelin' Brother of the Third Wheel.

Some folks don't want to rest in peace - they'd rather be roadworthy forever. Meet the gothic members of a Denver hearse club, the owner of a Joker's hearse, and coffin racers in Colorado - who must be in a hurry to reach the end.

No such thing as easy riders here. Former Hollywood stuntman Vaughn Schafer has broken world speed records on his motorized skateboard. Extreme mountain biker Ryan Leech blasts down BC's mountainsides and speed freak Terry Nish raises the 'bar' with his high-speed electric bar stool.

Win or lose, it's all about the race for these folks. However, they might be breaking the tape the weird way - by hand-built soap-box, by chariot (lacking only for gladiators) or by outhouse...for when you really have to go.

When speedy people head to Bonneville, Utah, they really are the salt of the earth. Here on the hard-packed, see-for-miles salt flats vehicles from all over North America (streamliners, roadsters, train cars, bikes and barstools) set record speeds.

Does the driver make the car weird or does the car make the driver weird? The Leopard Lady of Seattle and the owner of the Cow Car in Maryland might be able to answer that question. And the Saskatchewan couple with the collection of strange cars is trying, without success, to help their daughter connect with her inner weirdo.

Every year in Naples, Florida, the Everglades come alive with strange swamp buggies. These beasts, evolved from vintage contraptions designed to keep people dry on their drive home, race each other across the swamp in a water-flingin,' mud-slingin' charge to the finish line.

Find a need and fill it. That's what these inventive folks have done: a lifeguard in Florida has designed a surf chair to give disabled sun-bunnies access to the beach; a Canadian businessman built a tour bus designed for highways and waterways; and a bike enthusiast in Ontario created the 'Wike'-- an electric bicycle for clean, efficient transportation.

These eye-poppin' creations are enough to make you drive off the road. A travelling museum called the 'Mechalodeon' is a treasure trove of hand-built satirical toys. Mike Watson's custom bikes turn pedals and heads on the streets of Ottawa. One chef's interactive Toastermobile is a real traffic-stopper.

Two Canadian farm boys strike out in new directions, leaving creative tracks in the dust. Jeff Fulton decided that mowing with his tractor wasn't enough - he wanted to race it too. And Joe Bedford is a long way from Ontario farm country when he hits Daytona Beach in his uni-motorcycle.