KOTV in Tulsa aired a story Wednesday night about Emily Priddy’s Honda Fit, which has been transformed into a tribute to the late Route 66 artist Bob Waldmire.
Priddy’s car is named Bobby McGee, after the psychedelic Porsche that singer Janis Joplin once drove.
She’s got colorful curtains in the windows, dashboard cartoons, lots of peace signs and rainbows.
She’s hand lettered a Grateful Dead lyric and a quote from the book “Illusions” on each side, but a recognizable piece for Route 66 regulars is her painting of Bob Waldmire in his Microbus.
“He grew up on Route 66,” Priddy said. “His love affair started as a kid.”
Bob Waldmire cruised the road in his VW Bus creating posters and postcards. He was as much an icon as the places he drew and many of his postcards are available at Route 66 stops. When he died last year, Emily decided to put him on her car so he could cruise the road with her.
The video for the segment can be found here. Here’s Emily’s blog post about the car. (Disclosure: I’m married to her, but the work on the vehicle is all hers.)
I looked for “Bobby McGee” at the Festival, but didn’t find it.
Maybe next time.