Shifting Into the Art of Cruising

F our hundred classic cars, all pre-1972, will be lining six closed blocks of Glendale’s Brand Boulevard Saturday evening for the 8th Annual Glendale Cruise Night. More than 35,000 people are expected at the five-hour event.

Presented by the city of Glendale, Cruise Night will feature such vintage vehicles as ’32 Fords, ’56 T-Birds, ’57 Chevys, ’65 Mustangs and many other classics. Entertainment will be provided by oldies groups the Safaris (“Wipe Out”) and the Champs (“Tequila”). Barbecue will be sold along the street, and local restaurants will offer curbside services.

Noted contemporary artist Robert Williams, who worked for legendary custom car designer Ed “Big Daddy” Roth and was one of the founding artists--along with R. Crumb--of the underground comic Zap, will be participating in the Glendale Cruise Night. The North Hollywood-based artist, who became the model of the “Outsider” art movement, has had showings at major art galleries around the country. More than 200 of his paintings are featured in the book “Malicious Resplendence.” In the book’s introduction, museum curator Walter Hopps says of Williams: “In his art, Williams provides his audience with a lucid, violent and apocalyptic windshield to view the chaotic landscape of our culture as it whizzes past our peripheral vision into the rearview mirror of art history.”

A classic car buff, Williams talked enthusiastically about his love of the automobile and the Glendale Cruise Night over the phone from his home.

Question: Have you participated in many Glendale Cruise Nights?

Answer: I think I’ve probably been to five or six of them maybe. You’ve never been to this thing?

Q: No.

A: Well, you should go to this. It’s a giant block party. It’s just great. The cars are lined up and down the boulevard and the center lane.

Q: What cars are you bringing to the event?

A: My wife has a ’57 T-Bird and a ’34 Ford two-door sedan. I have two ’32 Fords, a roadster and a coupe. I’ll probably take the roadster to the show. My wife got her T-Bird back in ’59 and she’s had the ’34 Ford since ’73. I’ve had my ’32 Ford roadster since ’68 and then nine years ago, I bought the coupe.

Q: Why do you like Fords so much?

A: I like hot rods. Hot rods are first cousin to race cars, and they are nimble and fast and dangerous. They have the same karma as a motorcycle. They appeal to the male in me--the butch attitude in me!

Hot rods are primarily Ford bodies. They have traditionally been Ford bodies since the Model Ts because they were the car of the common people. They were the most inexpensive [model]. They had that romantic touch of having a souped-up engine and being able to outrun the most expensive model in their period of time.

Q: When did you fall in love with the automobile?

A: My father owned a large drive-in restaurant and a stable of stock cars, so as a little boy I was raised around motorcycles, hot rods and stock cars.

Q: What is the difference between a hot rod and a custom car?

A: A custom car is a car that generally had a chopped top and then is lowered. It used to actually be the close relative of the hot rod. It was more demure--not a violent ride like a hot rod is. It was for a cool cat. A cool cat would have a custom car. And the Latino lowrider evolved out of [the custom cars] in the early ‘60s.

Q: Didn’t you design hot rods early in your career?

A: No. I was the art director for Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, the car customizer, from 1965 to 1970. I was in charge of his advertising. I helped him with design work on his cars and T-shirts and whatnot. It was quite an experience.

Q: Is there a vintage car on your wish list you’d like to have?

A: Well, yeah. But they are things beyond my income--the final classic cars like the Duesenberg and Cords and Auburn Speedster. Those used to be classified as classics. They used to be very strict in that classification and anything that didn’t fit in that classification like a sports car was called a “special interest” car. All of those classifications have been blown away. Now, if you have a ’55 Chevy, it is called a classic car. So when you say classic cars, people don’t think of these cars made in the ‘20s or ‘30s, they think of a ’57 Chevy or a Corvette or something.

Q: Do you use cars as a motif in your paintings?

A: Very rarely. I live in two different worlds. I live in the fine arts world and for my hobby, my indulgence, I am involved in hot rods. The two worlds don’t really mix. I am not truly a hot rod artist, you see.

Q: Why do people like yourself collect cars? What is it about the automobile?

A: There is a nostalgic history of the stuff. And then, of course, the automobile means independence. You are free. You can go out and go where you want. You can promenade like a rooster in one of these colorful cars and you can make a social statement.

Q: What color is your roadster?

A: Now listen to this. This is going to be hard for you to imagine--it’s purple and chartreuse with a red band around it and gold leaf numbers on the side with a cartoon painted on each side of a cactus with tennis shoes running with its [rear end] on fire. You have to see it! It’s an eyesore!

* The 8th Annual Glendale Cruise Night, 5-10 p.m., Saturday, Brand Boulevard between Broadway and Doran. Free. (818) 548-6464.