David Best’s Rocket Car: A Rolling Masterpiece from Burning Man
Surreal Engineering - If you’ve ever experienced the wild wonder of Burning Man, you’ll know it’s a festival that unleashes post-apocalyptic motoring beasts and all manner of surreal spectacles each year. It’s a place where reality gets redefined—where fire-breathing sculptures roam the desert and ordinary cars are reborn as rolling fantasies. In this realm where imagination has no limits and even strict rules can yield to brilliance, few creations have captured that spirit as vividly as David Best’s Rocket Car. Built from the bones of a 1973 Cadillac Sedan DeVille, this vehicle didn’t just appear at Burning Man—it became part of its living legend.
The Rocket Car is a rolling masterpiece crafted by artist David Best in 2003, built from a 1973 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. (Picture from: Avtomobili7 in Facebook)
Artist David Best is no stranger to the Playa. Known for crafting awe-inspiring temples from reclaimed wood that are eventually set ablaze in emotional, communal ceremonies, Best brings a signature style to everything he touches. But the Rocket Car might just be his most eye-catching creation to date. Built in 2003, the car is more than 12 meters long—about the length of two Rolls-Royce Ghosts and a little more for good measure. It’s a land-bound spaceship, capable of carrying 16 passengers, cruising through dust storms and dreams alike.
David Best's Rocket Car didn’t just shine on the dust-covered grounds of the Nevada desert—it also made a rare break from Burning Man’s typical anti-commercial stance. (Picture from: TopGear)
Constructed from the remains of a vintage Cadillac, the Rocket Car is anything but subtle. The original roof was completely removed, and nearly every panel of the car was either replaced or reshaped using a combination of scrap metal and custom-fabricated components. Towering rocket-like cones run the length of the vehicle, exaggerating its dimensions and giving it the unmistakable silhouette of a steampunk cruiser ready for liftoff. Despite its radically altered appearance, Best retained the Cadillac’s running gear—because even an art car needs to move when summoned.
David Best’s Rocket Car was on display at the 2016 Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada. (Picture from: Loupiote)
Under normal circumstances, vehicles that drive through Black Rock City must be so heavily modified that their original make and model are entirely unrecognizable. It’s a key rule enforced by the Department of Mutant Vehicles to preserve the festival’s surreal environment. Yet somehow, despite its still-visible Cadillac heritage, the Rocket Car was allowed to cruise the Playa. Exceptions aren’t handed out lightly, but then again, David Best isn’t just anyone. His contribution to the ethos of Burning Man through decades of breathtaking work made that exception feel less like a rule-breaking and more like a well-earned privilege.
The Rocket Car is more than 12 meters long—about the length of two Rolls-Royce Ghosts and a little more for good measure. (Picture from: MotorBiscuit)
The Rocket Car didn’t just shine on the dust-covered grounds of the Nevada desert. In a rare move that broke with Burning Man’s typical anti-commercial stance, the car went to auction—part of a fundraising effort. It sold for $36,000 at a 2021 RM Sotheby’s auction, landing at the lower end of its $30,000–$50,000 estimate. That’s about the same cost as a modest new hatchback in the UK. But while a Hyundai or VW Golf might get you from point A to point B, none of them could carry 16 people in a rolling art installation that looks like it could pierce the atmosphere.
David Best’s Rocket Car was on display at the 2012 Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada. (Picture from: Arno Gourdol in Flickr)
What makes the Rocket Car truly unforgettable isn’t just its size, design, or even the prestige of its creator. It’s the spirit that lives in it—a blend of rebellion, imagination, and devotion to making the impossible seem real. It’s a rolling statement of what can happen when artistry and engineering meet in the right hands, under the right sky, surrounded by people who believe in big, bold dreams. | pYCUpWbVi9w |
And that’s really what it comes down to. The Rocket Car isn’t trying to be practical, and it isn’t pretending to follow the rules. It’s a spark of genius, forged in metal, molded by vision, and driven straight into the heart of a festival that thrives on exactly that kind of magic. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | TOPGEAR | MOTORBISCUIT | KQED | LOUPIOTE | FALLOUT FANDOM | WEIRD WHEELS IN REDDIT | ARNO GOURDOL IN FLICKR | WEIRD FANTASTIC BEAUTIFUL AND ODD IN FACEBOOK | AVTOMOBILI7 IN FACEBOOK | ROLLINGART IN FACEBOOK ]
