See You in the Funny Pages: Cartoon History on a Model A
It’s rare that I will write a story about someone whose first meeting with me began with him trying to swindle me, but you’ve got to admire a man who tries to trade you his “valuable antique” camera for your professional sports camera. When I realized who he was, I offered to accept the trade, as long as he threw in his car. That was a deal breaker for Bob Luczun. Sure I tried to swindle him out of one of the most unique cars ever painted, but fair’s fair… right?
Exactly how unique is this vehicle? Well, it’s been featured in Ripley’s Believe it or Not as well as Automobile Magazine. It’s also marked the entrance of the New York Comic Con, been on the Barrett-Jackson TV show, and participated in concourses throughout the East Coast. There is nothing like it. Seriously nothing! You see, Bob Luczun is not just an antique car enthusiast (with a penchant for Model A Fords), but a fine artist and retired high school art teacher. And he has the skills to make his Model A pickup truck stand out from all the others, even at Model A events. Why it is unique in all the world is because its owner is unique, as well. This 1928 Model AR is better known as the Car-Toon Truck - it's a beautiful blue-ribbon winning truck that is Luczun’s way of bringing both of his passions together. Luczun already owned two Model A Fords when he decided to create his masterpiece. The problem, however, was that they were in completely original, unrestored condition with only about 20,000 miles on the odometers; it would have been heresy to mess with them. About a decade ago, Luczun was looking for an antique to fix up and design, even though at this point, he still hadn’t decided how special he would make his "new" old car. He only knew that, as a fine artist who has his Masters of Fine Arts degree in sculpture and painting, he was going to paint something special.
At first, he found a 1929 Graham-Paige that he felt would be a good car to use for his master project. However, after doing most of the necessary repairs, he found that sourcing parts for an orphan car such as a Graham-Paige would prove a monumental task, especially as he had planned to make his car a running vehicle that will be in need of repairs at times. As an owner of two Model As and knowing that parts availability is not a problem, Luczun decided to put out ads in major collector magazines such as Hemmings Motor News to trade his car for a Model A. Unlike the time he attempted to trade up on cameras, he found someone who was willing to make that trade. After checking out each other’s cars, the deal was made and Luczun had his third Model A.. 
Nearing the completion of the restoration on the vehicle, Luczun had a decision to make: How will he paint the body in a truly memorable and unique manner? He wanted something to which people of all ages could feel an affinity with and, knowing how he and his three sons were all comic lovers, he chose to put cartoons on the truck. Not just any cartoons, not just some cartoons – he chose to paint all of them! “That was my biggest problem,” he told Driving Line. “There is no real source of the history of cartoons,” he added. He had months of research using the Internet, books, historical records and more. After somewhere near 3,000 hours of airbrushing, his masterpiece was ready.
His first stop was at a Model A show to see how other owners of these vehicles would react. Contrary to what he was certain he would hear, it was a huge hit. Then he took it to Comic-Con in New York and faced the actual artists whose work he displayed. The CarToon Truck was an even bigger hit! In fact, many of the greatest comic artists asked if they could be part of the project. Watch the video below to see how Luczun added their work to his.
The Car-Toon Truck doesn’t hit as many car shows these days as it used to and for good reason. Luczun now spends most of his time touring VA hospitals and raising money for the Wounded Warrior Project. He added a donation box to the truck so that attendees at shows can contribute to the charity. At the time of this writing, the Car-Toon Truck had raised over $3,000 for charity.
