Tattoo a declaration of automotive devotion

Just about every car fan knows Hot Rod Race, a painting by California artist Robert Williams of vintage cars crashing spectacularly as their young drivers try to outrun a police car – posters of it hang in garages across the country.

Justin Durish wears his copy on his back.

As tattoos steadily move from marginal to mainstream, auto enthusiasts are increasingly putting their passion indelibly into their skin. Many were in Toronto last weekend for Northern Ink Xposure, a convention of tattoo artists from around the world at the Toronto Hilton Hotel.

Durish, a 29-year-old labourer from Niagara Falls, saw the picture hanging on tattoo artist Tim Saunder's wall. "I wanted a backpiece (back tattoo) and I'd been staring at it for seven years when I was getting other work done," he says. "I don't have an old car, but there was so much detail in the picture."

His wife Jen, a bank teller, wears a 1934 Ford on her shoulder. Like many tattoo collectors, she can't explain why she wanted the design, only that she knew she did. "I'm an artist and if I'm drawn to something, I have to have it," she says. "I'm fascinated with old cars. I wish I could afford one."

"This year I've done a lot of car tattoos," says Saunders, who works at The Crystal Beach Tattoo Company. "I do lots of motorcycles, I did the Christine car, I did a chopped Buick. People are remembering the good old days, when driving was fun and cheap."

Car-themed tattoos seem to be divided equally among those who wear the cars they want, and those who immortalize their own rides on their skin.

Craig McCracken proudly shows off the stylized version of his 1968 Cadillac hearse on his arm; among his other numerous designs are the logos of hot rod parts companies Mooneyes and Clay Smith, while one leg is dedicated to the Rat Fink, a cartoon character created by custom car builder Ed "Big Daddy" Roth.

"I got my first tattoo ten years ago," says McCracken, 47, who sells collectibles and old hearses in Buckhorn. "I played in a band and wanted tattoos, but I was an animal health technologist then and couldn't have them showing under the scrubs. I bought my first hearse as a band vehicle and had up to 15 at one time. Now I'm down to three."

Frederick Belgrave was at the convention to get a slogan inked across his chest, but the 24-year-old early-childhood educator was also showing off a large rendition of a woman on the hood of a 1957 Chevrolet on his stomach.

"It's a picture of my mom when she was 18," he says. "She has a lot of tattoos too; she's into rockabilly, and there are a lot of cars in that culture. I thought it was a classic picture and it sums up my roots of growing up. It's how I was raised, in a culture that was based on 1950s traditions. My mom was so excited about me getting it."

Pictures can range from accurate renditions to caricatures, and from simple logos to complete vehicles. K.C. Alles, a retired Canada Post employee from Innisfil, wears a "rat rod" on his arm – a popular rough-and-ready hot rod style. His also includes a monster's arms reaching out through the windows.

"My brother-in-law has one, and I'll have one when I can afford it," he says. "I got it to show that I'm into cars and the custom scene. I drive a Harley, but this sets into my mind that eventually I'll have one of these, too. I won't lose the dream as long as I have this."

Not all of these needle-and-ink rides are vintage wheels, though. Leslie Murphy, an emergency room nurse from Toronto, wears a Mini Cooper on her right shoulder, driving a highway from the Hollywood sign to the CN Tower.

"My son has autism," she says. "Most children with autism glom onto something, and his favourite thing is cars. The Mini is his favourite and it's driving from California to Toronto. He was born in California when I worked there, and we had to move to Canada.

"He's nine now. We go to the car show every year, and he goes straight to the Minis. I had it done about a year ago and he loves it; it's his tattoo. I have to cover them up for work, but the management lets me show a little bit more now."

And does she own one? "I don't drive," she says. "I don't even have a licence."