Crown Victoria owner ‘signs up’ many fans for unique artwork
When Jeff Janzen started collecting signatures on his car, it was just a bit of fun among friends at work.
Now, Janzen estimates the car is covered with 6,500 signatures from friends and strangers alike.
“It’s amazing the response you get sometimes,” Janzen said. “I’ve met people from all over the world that I’d probably otherwise never get a chance to meet.”
The car is a 1994 Crown Victoria Janzen painted matte black. He found it a bit ugly, so he started asking people to add their signatures.
At first it was tough to get people to sign it, but after a while people were asking him instead of the other way around, Janzen said.
“It puts a smile on my face and they walk away with a smile, and it’s a lot of fun,” he said.
Now the old Crown Victoria is covered with signatures and tiny coloured dots fill the spaces around and between each name — Janzen’s way of making the names really stand out.
Jokingly dubbed the “Signatures Series” edition of the car by Janzen, it’s become a popular summer fixture in downtown Saskatoon in the three years he’s been collecting names.
There are also messages, jokes, compliments and more scrawled across the vehicle.
On the back of the car are the words “In memory of Shawn Janzen” — Jeff Janzen’s son.
Janzen said he did not start the project as a memorial to his son, but he put the memorial line on the back after considering how much his son would’ve liked the project.
“He was an artist — he was kind of a quirky artist,” Janzen said. “It reminds me how he did things.”