Art Car Parade Houston Texas May  2006

The top award, though, the Mayor's Cup, which gets a Grand Trophy and $1,500, went to "Atomic Dog — One Nation Under a Groove," a beyond-elaborate entry dedicated to the music of George Clinton and Funkadelic, built by students of Waltrip High School, under the direction of longtime art car backer Rebecca Bass, who, with flowing blonde hair and clad in black and red spandex, roller-skates alongside the entry. A perennial fave and also winner of a Grand Trophy and $1,500: "StuDent Driver," born when Ben Gibson's grandmother totaled her Buick when she ran a stop sign. Gibson adorned the car with a telephone pole and a dangling raccoon, traffic cones and a pair of legs dragging behind.