Kooky Cars Drive Neighbors Up Wall

First, it was a toilet strapped to the hood of a car that upset residents in an Oxnard neighborhood. Now, a couch tied to the top of a Cadillac is causing them grief.

The bizarre eyesores have popped up near Ivanhoe and Ebony drives. They apparently are part of a long-running dispute between two neighbors--one of whom investigators say is trying to bother the other by parking strangely decorated cars near the neighbor’s home.

City inspectors first looked into the case this summer, when a Ford Escort with a toilet strapped to its roof drew complaints. The resident suspected of parking the cars, Robert Wademan, has declined to discuss the situation. So has his apparent target, Walt Philipp.

Code inspectors have been trying to find a way to get the cars out of public view. The city attempted to solve the problem by making the south side of Ivanhoe a no-parking zone between 2 and 6 a.m.--a move they hoped would discourage the car owner from parking there. But he has simply moved the vehicles during those hours, officials say.

Meanwhile, after four months of poring over state vehicle codes and city ordinances, officials say they find nothing illegal with the cars. For instance, the couch and toilet have been properly secured with rope and violate no traffic laws, city code supervisor Bryan MacDonald said.

MacDonald said code inspectors are talking with Wademan’s attorneys to find a solution. The latest vehicle, a Cadillac, not only has a couch on top but different colors of paint splashed over it.

--CHRIS CHI

skate2, above; skate1, below left; skate3, below right