Bristol car a work of art on four wheels

Pulling up at a the traffic lights, in his Mercedes, Bristol postal worker Andrew Dursley often finds himself the centre of attention.

It is not the size of his motor which draws the photos and smiles but the fact that it is covered in graffiti.

Mr Dursley, who lives in Whitchurch, bought the car a year ago but it needed a new paint job. Rather than pay for a traditional re-spray he decided to give it a modern twist.

The 23-year-old, who works as a technician for Royal Mail, said his love of graffiti prompted the look which he describes as "art on wheels".

He said: "Once I bought the car I had the hydraulics done so it can go up and down and side to side. The paint-work was looking a bit shabby, though. I decided I would try and get some local artists to cover it in graffiti."

Mr Dursley said he wanted to get as much from as many different artists as possible and in the end three came together to collaborate on the design.

He said: "I had half done last year and then a couple of months ago I wanted to get the rest done.

"I got in touch with Dan who did the angel on the back, I'd already seen an angel of his somewhere else so I knew I wanted that.

"Then I got two other artists, Sepr and 3rd Eye, to do the rest. It would have cost £1,000s to get the body work done but this is much better and not what anyone expects.

"I've always loved graffiti and this way the council can't scrub it out."

Although Mr Dursley said he mainly drives his car on weekends, he gets a great reaction wherever he goes.

He said: "With the hydraulics as well it always makes people stare, I get smiles, pointing and people taking pictures."

One of the graffiti artists, known as Dan, said: "At the time I was intrigued by the idea of painting a car as I had never done it before. I think the result looks good and is definitely a way of making a vehicle unique."

Mr Dursley said he thinks the work has added value to the Mercedes, which he bought for about £1,600, but he is not planning to sell it any time soon.

"I didn't do it to get any money back, it was just something a bit different. It's like art on wheels.

An exhibition of graffiti entitled Crimes of Passion was recently held at Bristol's oldest gallery the Royal West of England Academy.