SAN FRANCISCO (CNN) -- America's love affair with the automobile takes on a whole new meaning when it comes to art cars. If you've never seen an art car and wonder just what one is, relax. The hottest trend in folk art is storming the highways -- and it's not exactly unnoticeable.

Last weekend, about 100 art cars were on display at San Francisco's Somar Gallery for the First Annual ArtCar WestFest.

A few years ago, filmmaker Harrod Blank went wild with a Volkswagen Beetle named "Oh My God," plastering it with a large globe for a hood ornament and giant sunflower "antennae." He then made a film about art cars and their creators ("Wild Wheels").

CNN's Susan Reed takes a ride on the wild side (3 min. streaming video)

But driving around in the fanciful vehicle left Blank wishing for something more; he wanted to document people's reaction to the car. So he covered his van with 2,000 cameras -- some of them working.

"People just can't believe what they're seeing," Blank says. "If you could imagine driving down the street all and seeing these faces everywhere you drive. It's a joy ride. It's amazing."

Both Blank's cars were on hand at ArtCar WestFest last weekend, along with Mardi Gras float builder Julian Stock's "Skull Car II."

"It's a Dodge skull, limited edition," he says.

Car artist Ron Dolce created "Glass Quilt," a VW covered in glass and marbles. He says that after 18 years, he's tired of the same old questions.

"Did you do it yourself? Do you drive it? Are you afraid of getting in accidents?" he recites. "I can predict what they're going to say to me."

But visitors could never guess what they'd see next -- from Emily Duffy's "Mondrian Mobile" (she takes pains to point out it is not the "Partridge Family" car) to the smashed roof of Michael Mikel's "5:04 p.m.," meant as a monument to the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, which struck at that time.

Even the kids were in on the act, digging through boxes of junk to create their own art cars.

Correspondent Susan Reed contributed to this report.

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