In Houston, One Person’s Trashed Car Becomes Everyone’s Treasure

By Shannon Sims

Visuals by Hope Mora for The New York Times

April 11, 2026

Texans spend a lot of time in their cars. But once a year, they converge at the Art Car Parade to celebrate those who transform rundown vehicles into masterpieces on wheels.

Riding in the back seat of Rickey Polidore’s metallic slime green truck offered a clear view of how much joy an art car could bring to Houston.

As Mr. Polidore, a Houston native, pulled up to a corner store on the city’s south side, a group of men drinking tallboys from paper bags cheered. “There he go!” one of them yelled. Mr. Polidore laughed and said, “The homies love an art car.”

On the stereo, Mr. Polidore was playing classics of Houston’s chopped-and-screwed rap genre. The bass rattled the countless aftermarket accessories he had welded and glued and Mod-Podged onto his vehicle, creating a jangling cacophony that matched the car’s festive exterior.

Soon, another truck pulled up alongside his. The driver rolled down his window. His young son was sitting on his lap, waving at everyone. Then, his eyes widened as he took in the sight of a creation that seemed to belong more to a dreamscape than to the street.