Art Car Central: Foxy Shahzadi VW Art Car and the Rocking Alhabib Ejaz who Painted it

Foxy Shahzadi VW Art Car on the Road to Paris

About Vincent Loos and His VW Art Car Foxy Shahzadi

Vincent Loos is a 39-year-old Frenchman who finished a three year stint at a hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan. He was with "Doctors without borders" and the owner of a 25 year old Volkswagen Beetle wreck, found at the bottom of an Islamabad street waiting for a final trip to the scrapyard. He hired an intensive care specialist who restored the car to full health, and then hired Alhabib Ejaz, an artist to paint in the local style known as "truck art".

His Dream was to travel to Paris by road with a beautifully painted VW art car covered in a psychedelic array of flowers, waterfalls and the faces of famous Pakistanis. He wanted this 6,000 mile trip to be a way to show the world the "softer side" of Pakistan.

So he embarked on his art on wheels tour, a trip that took about two weeks fully equipped with a roof rack and plenty of spare parts to make the grueling trip across that part of the world. For more info you can check out his blog

Traveling by Foxy, as Beetles are affectionately known in Pakistan, Loos payed homage to a local motoring cult. Dozens of well-maintained Beetles ply the streets. (His, a cool grey, a Betsy, a proud 1967 model.)

The Beetle came to Pakistan in the 1950s with army officers and bureaucrats returning from postings abroad. The appeal has endured – Mubashir Hasan, a finance minister from the 1970s, still drives his around Lahore. Romano Karim of Islamabad's VW club estimates about 500 "Foxies" travel Pakistan's roads. "Cute, quirky, cheap spare parts – it's the ideal car," he says.

About Alhabib Ejaz

Alhabib Ejaz was the local truck artist who was hired to transform Foxy Shahzadi into one of the most beautiful VW art cars in town for its long journey to Paris. Alhabib Ejaz is an artist who has devoted his entire life to painting those amazing Pakistani art trucks with crazy paint jobs and doilies hanging from the windows and as you can see he did ana amazing job on Foxy. What I like the most about Alhabib is the fact that he rocks the social media scene with flikr, a youtube video and two facebook accounts to promote his amazing art. This whole thing happened back in 2009 but it deserves a big mention here on Art Car Central. Please check the Alhabib Ejaz's video below.