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If you want a low-key, peaceful ride through Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, Burning Man festival is not the place to get it.
And don’t take comfort in the fact the annual gathering’s outrageously styled art-cars must be registered with Burning Man’s own DMV. “It stands for Department of Mutant Vehicles,” David Best, a Burning Man veteran whose most iconic art car resembles a rocket, straight out of the 1950s, drily told The Post.
Creating the inventive “mutant” rides — typically modified automobile chassis reassembled to look like chrome animals, desert galleons, dragons or spaceships — does not come cheap.
As Kevin Clark, the force behind the fierce looking Rhino Redemption, put it to The Post, “Whatever you think you want to spend on a car, you can at least double it. I’ve probably spent over a couple hundred thousand on the Rhino. Some cars are so extravagant they cost more than a million dollars to build.”
Considering the big-bucks involved, it’s no surprise that it is tech-bros and billionaires who roll into camp with some of the most head-turning vehicles. “There are definitely some rivalries, though they’re healthy,” Clark said. “I appreciate the competition, and it’s produced some really wonderful things.”
Among such creations last year was Mayan Warrior, a $3 million mobile disco on wheels bankrolled by e-payment mogul Pablo Gonzalez Vargas. Simply transporting it to the remote desert for the event costs a reported $300,000.
A key requirement for art cars, whether built in home garages — such as the freaky, fire shooting, Prodigal Swan, constructed on a cargo mover — or fabricated by professionals at the behest of the uber wealthy, is that they must be unrecognizable as actual automobiles.
Possessing that in spades: Monaco, a ship on wheels with functioning sails which glides across desert sands as if they were ocean water. “I’ve dived all over the world and live on an island,” Greg Barron, the brain behind it, told The Post. “It’s a fully rigged, fully functional frigate. We catch the wind and have gone as fast as 23 miles per hour” — while loaded with passengers.
Up to 79,000 descend on the Black Rock desert for Burning Man, which is always held in the nine days before Labor Day. Revelers have to bring everything they will need to the camp with them, as all commerce is banned once inside Black Rock City and money is not accepted.
The area is so remote there is no phone signal, so all electricity comes from generators. All logos and sponsorship are also banned on site and must be covered. Most people get around Burning Man by bike, and the festival has a “leave no trace” policy of picking up all litter after the event, which was started in San Francisco in 1986 before moving to Nevada in 1990.
“The creators are driven by art and community,” Alexandra Lier, who photographed Burning Man cars for her book “Mutant Vehicles,” told The Post. “These guys are a mix of craftsmen and technological geniuses who make things that are gifts to the community, whether you’re getting a ride or just looking at their amazing cars.”
One art car that demands right of way is El Pulpo Magnifico. An improvement over Duane Flatmo’s original vehicle, El Pulpo, it emits fire out of its tentacles and is entirely fashioned out of “junk.”
As to what goes into building such a beautiful beast, Flatmo says it’s more sweat equity than financial equity. He told The Post that besides “scars, scabs and a lot of marijuana,” there’s no shortage of camaraderie when it comes to creating. “People see this being built and they want to be part of it. You’ve got your wire feed welders, gas, torches, spray paint and piles of aluminum pie tins … plus smart, highly competent people who know how to work with tools.”
Once on the playa, he added, “We have our own sound system, play songs like ‘Paranoid’ [by Black Sabbath] and shoot propane.”
Describing the less DIY and more “buy-it-in” mindset, old school “Burner” — as disciples are known — Jon Sarriugarte recalled one Silicon Valley billionaire. “They used a brand-new Tesla, hired a 10-man crew and stripped it to the bone. Then the artist added the art. It was a little dragon,” he told The Post.
Sarriugarte is a car-builder himself and was approached to create something by one rich investor, but got turned off when presented with an NDA. His previous creations include fire-breathing snails and rocket cars ready for blast-off (aided by sound effects provided by his wife, who does sound design for blockbuster movies).
His view is echoed by Best, who’s sure high-rolling tech bros’ inventions look good, but figures outsourcing the building means they miss the best part.
“It’s too bad,” he said, “They might have a good time.”
