Burners take their art cars—or, rather, Mutant Vehicles—seriously, with a wide assortment of fantastic creations taking to the desert for the popular festival, returned after a two-year pandemic-induced hiatus.
John Rettie John RettieBefore any Mutant Vehicles or art cars can roam the streets and playa at Black Rock City they have to be inspected for safety and originality by the Department of Mutant Vehicles.
John Rettie
Wayne Williams did not have to spend a mint to create this small six-seater Mutant Vehicle built on a golf cart.
John Rettie
We think there’s a Honda underneath this art car.
John Rettie
Ray Griswold took a VW-based off-road chassis and electrified it.
John Rettie
Bar hopping on a golf cart.
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In a former life these two giant VWs were airport fire trucks!
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Yup there’s a Lexus LS400 lurking below all this.
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Xuza is craftily built on an old ‘98 Chevy R30 flatbed by Mike Cee in Las Vegas.
John Rettie
A solar-powered trike built from scratch.
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Brian Willison’s Sepia Lux Cuttlefish is covered in LED’s with an opening mouth.
John Rettie
Las Vegas-based artist Henry Chang continually ups the ante with his beautiful stainless steel tubing creations.
John Rettie
Paul Chaklos drove his chopped GMC Denali to Burning Man…
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…then raised the driving position and added inflated bodywork before hitting the playa.
John Rettie
Yup, it’s a Dodge truck masquerading as a covered wagon.1
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Glittering tank built on a Chevrolet Trailblazer.
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Believe it or not. this was once a Range Rover.
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These art cars look like they came straight from duty on a Mad Max film.
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Rumor has it this beautiful giant dragon with flapping wings cost $1 million to create.
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Phoenix is a new Mutant Vehicle built on a Bluebird bus by Marie Poliak and crew in Las Vegas.
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A night view of the Mutant Vehicle, Phoenix.
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We never did discover what powered this triple axle remote-controlled behemoth aptly named Titanic Ends.
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An older GMC Pickup resides under this elaborate Mutant Vehicle.
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Rumor has it there’s a Tesla “chassis” under this structure.
John Rettie
Underneath this fire-breathing dragon you’ll find a Chevy Astro minivan.
John Rettie
You’d never guess this was once a Nissan Pulsar.
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Joel Briggs’ one-eyed monster, residing on a 1984 Mercedes-Benz 300SD, prowls slowly through one of the many dust storms this year.
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Another old bus devoured by a dragon.
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You got to hand it to these creative builders who drive this backward facing “car” in reverse.
John Rettie
Don’t bat an eyelid, but you don’t need much more than a Geo Metro to create a low-budget MV.
John Rettie
Even a cartoon car body is a Mutant Vehicle since there’s no clue as to what really lies underneath..
Keyword: 31 Best and Most Mutant Vehicles from Burning Man 2022