How do you turn your car into a superhero? Not just the car a superhero drives, but an honest-to-goodness, superpowered member of the world-saving elite? Well, in the case of the Ford Fiesta, you start with a pen and an idea...and a few thousand followers.
Ford is giving ten Fiesta “agents” the forum to show off their designs — in video form, no less — for the chance to head to New York Comic Con and see their prototype supercar unveiled for all the world to see. The videos only get zanier as you go along, starting from Fiestas with ESP all the way to the agents turning themselves into sentient, super-powered cars ready to take on the world. And then there are the unicorns... Here's how the Fiesta Movement's finest turned their cars into comic book heroes.
Jared Oban
Jared Oban of Nashville, TN is a recent college grad and comedy nerd. He also skydives. He's been making YouTube videos for years, having developed quite a following as GHero46 (the GHero bit born from his love of Guitar Hero). In this video, Jared confesses that his Ford Fiesta, otherwise known as the Syncar, has Ford SYNC-powered ESP. It also knows a thing or two about getting the ladies.
Ellen Chang
Ellen Chang hails from Spring, TX, and is a small-town girl devoted to the violin and singing — you can see as much on her YouTube channel, currently more than 36,000 strong. Her super-powered Fiesta named Sam, on the other hand, has bigger ambitions. Decked out in a cape, equipped with night vision, and a spacious trunk, Sam is built to take mild-mannered Ellen on her mega-adventures.
Alex Carpenter
Alex Carpenter is a Los Angeles-based musician and filmmaker and pop culture geek. He's filmed music videos set in the worlds of The Hunger Games and Doctor Who, and he's pretty certain he could beat you in a lightsaber duel. For this short, Carpenter took a classic film hero aesthetic and turned young Florence Grace into a superpowered Ford Fiesta.
Kristina Horner
Kristina Horner is a producer and actor living in Seattle, WA and working for her thousands of fans on the Internet. She's also a huge fan of fantasy and whimsical sci-fi, especially Harry Potter. She also loves water parks. Her sense of whimsy informed her Fiesta Hero video, in which she draws her car coming to life, dealing with its superpowers, and wrestling with the inevitable loneliness that comes with being the only car on the road that knows how to talk.
So, yes, you kind of have to be a lunatic to turn your car into anything akin to a caped crusader — but that's part of the fun. Want to see more? Check back here for more of these finalists' work and join them as they check out New York Comic Con this week.