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A Wollongong signwriter has made a new Toyota HiAce the canvas for an elaborate work of airbrush art.
Twenty-four-year-old Rick Caballo created a mural of tropical wildlife on the side of the 2000 model HiAce SBV long-wheelbase van owned by signwriting industry suppliers Graphic Art Mart.
The mural took three days to complete and was done entirely by hand.
"I'd done smaller murals before on Harley Davidson motorcycles while working in the United States in 1999," Rick said, "but I'd never worked on this scale before."
He said the Toyota HiAce proved an ideal canvas because of the large flat panels on its sides.
The mural was commissioned by Graphic Art Mart as part of its policy of encouraging the artistic skills of its customers.
Graphic Art Mart chief executive Mark Tailby said traditional signwriting and airbrush skills were being lost to the industry because of the increased use of computer graphics.
"We asked Rick to paint the HiAce so that we could highlight the high standard of artwork amongst local signwriters," said Mr Tailby.
He said the colourful HiAce mural had caught the eye of customers better than any sign ever could.
"Paint has a vibrancy and depth that inkjet printers just can't match," he said.
Graphic Art Mart has previously commissioned one of its customers to paint a mural on a 1998 Toyota HiAce.
The van used for the new mural is the sixth Toyota HiAce purchased by Graphic Art Mart.
Mr Tailby said he had considered buying a Mercedes-Benz but chose the Toyota because of the excellent reliability he'd experienced with earlier HiAce models.
The HiAce SBV LWB has a cargo-room length of three metres at floor level and a payload of 1341 kilograms, an increase of 125 kilograms over the short wheelbase version.
All HiAce SBV models now feature barn-type rear doors to allow for forklift rear loading.
The doors have an interior door lock/handle for added convenience when entering or exiting the cargo area from the front seats.
Toyota has also made improvements to the HiAce SBV's seat comfort, safety, cabin storage space, exterior colours, ride handling and steering.
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