Truck mod
From Mod Mania
DECORATION TRUCK IN THE WORLD
Car modification is basically done for improvement of function, but truck modification is…? Trucks are used for carriage and it has huge space like a canvas which can be done with something. What we can normally see is advertisement on the side of truck, but it might be able to be the space for self-expression. In the world, there are different types of truck decoration, and each type has different origin, reason and cultural back ground. There are Decoration truck in Japan, Pakistan truck art and Jeepney in Philippine.
1.Decorated trucks in Japan.
Have you heard about Decotora? It is an abbreviation for decoration truck which can be commonly found in Japan. It is decorated with neon, ultraviolet lights, LEDs, paints, stainless steel or plating panel on the truck. Those decorations are not only done at the exterior but also in the interior of truck. The origin of decoration truck is a covered truck for sea foods. It was covered with stainless steel board so that the body of the truck would not get rusty by water and salt, and it would not be damaged by snow because the sea foods company was in the northern part of Japan which usually had heavy snow in winter. The stainless steel board was dressed like fish scales.
So, Decotora was started not because of advertisements, political campaigns, but because of the provision against rust; however, it has been changing. In 1975, it was getting more and more popular because of the movie which is about Decotora. In the mid of 1990s, there was new way of decorating with Gun dam-influenced designs. Recently, LED has been used for illumination. These decorations show that how truckers devote themselves to their works.
There is also DECO-CHARI. DECO means decoration, and CHARI is slang for bicycle. This is different from truck one because deco-chari is not used for business, it’s used for events or hobby, and shows a longing for decoration truck.
2.Decorated trucks and buses in Pakistan.
There is another example of decoration truck in Pakistan. Most of trucks are dressed up with paintings and ornaments, and it is hard to find non-decorated trucks (Huawei, 2008). When a driver gets a truck, he goes and asks the decorators to decorate his car. There is a kind of basic arrangement. The front of car is decorated with mosques and sacred monuments. The side panel has paintings such as nature like waterfalls, lakes, mountains, hunting lodges and animals. The back of the truck has a large space for painting, and portrait is usually drawn on the back.
Decorating truck was started when the modern vehicles took the place of camels for the long journey which was also decorated. At the beginning, wood and painting were installed to the truck, but materials were changed to metal, plastic and reflective tape. Lighting systems have been used in the last few years. Decorating costs about 500 to 1000 US dollars, and it takes three months to complete, but drivers think that it is worth doing it because they believe that more people will hire them if they did it, otherwise no one wants to hire the drivers whose truck is dusty and unexciting. They say”The more flamboyant the design, the better the business.”(Huawei, 2008)
You can see how a truck will be decorated
→Truck Painting –Pakistan
3. Decorated transportation in Philippine.
Philippine has a decorated public transportation which called Jeepney, and it is different from two other examples in terms of the origin. The origin was the jeep which American army left in Philippine. The Jeeps were continued to use by local Pilipino by modifying such as added metal roof and decoration; however, the company was stopped to produce the products, so they are using local manufactured body with imported engines. It usually can hold 16 people, but sometimes there is large size one which can hold 30 people.
Even it cannot hold proper people; passengers just ride on the roof or hold on the back in order to manage to get on. When it is really busy, people touch other passengers with knee. The name, which is Jeep-Knee, comes from this situation. For Jeepney, modifying is essential to complete manufacturing the car itself, so it is not additional but part of process in manufacturing. Painting can be added later, but the components are already not regular items so modifying is the start point of producing Jeepney.
In conclusion, truck mod is involved with changing of automobile and transportation system. Although materials and technique has been innovated and changed, the element of decoration is consistent which is based on traditional theme. For drivers, trucks are like the second home because they spend most of time in the truck during working. It shows how they have devoted themselves to their works deeply. So, the truck mod is one of the traditional modifications in terms of appearance, and also space modification in terms of working space .
References
-Alternative Advertising Possibilities 2007, DECOTORA, viewed at 26th April 2008
http://blog.aapglobal.com/category/influence/page/3/
-Convington, R 2008, ‘The truck of Pakistan’, Saudi Aramco World, Viewed at 7th May 2008
http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200502/masterpieces.to.go.the.trucks.of.pakistan.htm
-Dark Roasted Blend 2006, Electric light truck decoration in Japan, viewed at 7th April 2008
http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2006/11/electric-light-truck-decoration-in.html
-Huawei 2008, Art Gallary in Wheel, viewed at 6th May 2008
http://www.huawei.com/publications/view.do?id=2975&cid=5351&pid=127
-Pakistan’s colorful transport, viewed at 6th May 2008
http://www.pakistanphotos.co.uk/index.htm
-Pink Tentacle 2008, Dekotora photo galleries, viewed at 26th April 2008
http://www.pinktentacle.com/2006/11/dekotora-photo-galleries/
-Rurudebu 2007, Decotora, viewed at 26th April 2008
http://rurudebu.blog.so-net.ne.jp/archive/c40378658-2
-Stuartechange, Jeepney, viewed at 7th May 2008
http://www.stuartxchange.org/Jeepney.html
