The fishmobile
Art car never fails to snag a reaction – good or bad
07/25/98
By Rosie Carbo / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
Becky Meehan-Steele leaves her staid Country Place neighborhood and turns her 1985 Nissan Sentra onto Parker Road.
As she zips west toward Preston, a toddler in a Lexus laughs and points his tiny finger at Mrs. Meehan-Steele’s car.
When she stops at a traffic light, a man pulls up in a red Corvette. A double-take doesn’t suffice. He gawks behind his Ray Bans.
“The most annoying thing is when you’re trying to change lanes, and the other driver is so busy looking at you he won’t get out of your way,” said Mrs. Meehan-Steele, 24.
Bedecked with all manner of marine life – including goldfish, sea horses, eels and an octopus – the colorful Nissan looks like a four-wheeled aquarium.
“People have labeled it the fishmobile. It started out as an art project my last year in college. I worked three solid months on it. And after I finished, I decided to leave it that way,” said Mrs. Meehan-Steele, a 1996 graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington with a bachelor’s degree in art.
On the road, Mrs. Meehan-Steele has learned to take stares, glares, high signs and even peace signs in stride.
But back in her quiet enclave, she admits that she’s still perpetually concerned with neighborhood reaction to the car that also sports seashells, frogs and turtles.
“She may be very artistic, but I think that car belongs in Deep Ellum, not in conservative Plano. And why does she park it in front instead of in the alley or her garage?” groused a neighbor who refused to identify herself.
“It embarrasses me. I hate it, and I think it’s atrocious. It’s an eyesore. What I’m afraid of is that she’s gonna do that to her house,” the neighbor added.
Not all of Mrs. Meehan-Steele’s neighbors think the car is atrocious, though they agree that it’s a little weird.
“I wouldn’t drive a car like that, but I think it’s cute. I like the lobster she has on her antenna. It’s much better than that Jack in the Box head they were giving out awhile back,” said Patty Alverson, president of the Country Place Homeowners Association.
Mrs. Alverson said there’s no ordinance against parking a car on a residential street regardless of how strange or outrageous it appears.
“Country Place just celebrated its 25th anniversary. It’s made up of 306 homes whose average time on the market is three weeks. So it’s a great neighborhood. If anything, Becky’s car has just brought out a lot of curiosity,” said Mrs. Alverson.
One reason the car is always parked in front is that Mrs. Meehan-Steele has recently converted her garage into an air-conditioned art school for children 5 to 10 years old.
“When I first came to class, I saw that her car had all these fishes and crabs painted on it. I thought it was really neat. I wondered if her garage had stuff on it, too. And it did! The walls have an octopus and a giraffe,” said Robert Huber, a 6-year-old first-grader at Brinker Elementary School.
The eye-catching Nissan reflects Mrs. Meehan-Steele’s love of art. StudioKids, the art school she started last month, is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.
“This is something I’ve always wanted to do, so last month I quit my job at a day-care school and started teaching children’s art classes in my garage,” said Mrs. Meehan-Steele, who has 17 students, including Robert’s two older siblings.
Mrs. Meehan-Steele, a new bride, moved into her spacious two-story home last summer.
“I was so worried about how people would react to my car that every time we came to see the house, we came in my husband’s truck. But one day he wasn’t home, and I had to come in my car. The owner couldn’t believe it when she saw it,” she said.
Anthony Steele said that though he doesn’t usually drive his wife’s car, he’s had to adjust to the attention.
“When we first met, the car had stripes and polka dots. After her art project, we got married and I had to get used to the new design. I drive it sometimes, and people ask me about it. I just tell them it’s my wife’s car,” said Mr. Steele, 30, a writer for the Wishbone children’s TV series that airs weekdays on PBS.
Sandy Craighead, another of Mrs. Meehan-Steele’s neighbors, said the fishmobile looks better than some other neighborhood cars.
“I have no problem with it being here. I think it’s extremely artistic and innovative of her. It’s better than the junky cars one of my other neighbors keeps in the alley,” she said.
Carbo is a Plano-based free-lance writer who may be reached at RosiC@aol.com.