Richard Carter was walking through Walgreens one afternoon and passed one of those annoying “Big Mouth Billy Bass” attached to a plaque. He was never a fan, and was always sort of irked by the thought of singing sea creatures. Yet, the 49-year-old Houston native stood for a moment and thought, “imagine what you could do with a couple hundred” of those crooning fish. Thus the idea of the Sashimi Tabernacle Choir, a gang of nearly two hundred and fifty singing fish and crabs attached to a Volvo, was born. Since then, his idea has come to life and been featured in art car shows across the nation.

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The Sashimi Tabernacle Choir is one of nearly 20 cars featured in the three-day 11th annual Artcar Fest. On the last weekend of September, the Fest rallies in San Francisco, makes its way to Berkeley, and finishes with a rendezvous in Santa Cruz. Artists from the Bay Area and around the country show off their masterpiece vehicles, which took many of the participants months, and even years, to make.

For many of these artists, Artcar Fest is chance not only to show off their creative abilities—these rides are also a reflection of who they are.

“What I love about Artcar Fest is that people take corporate branding and take mass production vehicles and smash that logo and smash that branding,” says Daniel Macchiarini. “They turn that car into something that’s an expression about themselves. And that is art.”

Catching much attention, there’s the Mercedes Penz, a 1981 Mercedes that’s covered with close to 7,000 Sharpies, Crayola markers, and highlighters. Costas Schuler, of Santa Rosa, started the project two years ago when he got inspired by reading several artcar books. Now his “Penz” is not only his everyday vehicle, causing smiles and laughs from all sorts of onlookers, but it’s also a symbol of his optimism.

“Hopefully, I’ll get to inspire somebody to follow their dreams,” says the 35-year-old Shuler.

Another great ride is an ode to the creepy and eerie—skeletons swing from atop the “Brady Bunch-esque” family wagon covered with faux human bones. Then there’s a white van fashioned to look just like a rocket ship—smoke literally comes out of the rear end of this mini-van, leaving a cloudy trail behind its white wings, nose, and tail. ‘Roger, we are ready for lift off.’

This year’s event was a big hit. Fans are saying that they’re impressed with the drivers’ artistic abilities, but also with the message they are driving through to the community.

“These artists decorate their environment,” says Karin Hu, 55, a San Francisco native. “That’s why these artcars are kind of like, ‘I am going to make my environment fantastic.’”