Meet The Mercedes Pens art car, Costa Schuler’s daily ride.

“Somebody actually had given me this car. I woke up one morning and the idea for pens came to me,” Schuler said. “So, I decided to be The Pen Guy.”

A graphic designer by trade, Schuler said he’s always had a fascination with pens.

“There’s drama with pens. Everybody gets it. Everybody has this drama— daily drama — like, where’s my pen, my favorite pen? Did you take my pen? Who took all the pens?” Schuler said. 

He said a good portion of his pen donations come from students.

“Kids go through pens like crazy every year. They just throw them out. So, I put one of these bins there in the hallway and they just drop them in there,” Schuler said.

Schuler’s wife, Sandy, said she and their three children weren’t initially prepared for the extra attention.

“Everywhere we went we really started getting looks. Then I realized our lives kind of changed because everywhere you go, it’s a parade,” Sandy said.

Schuler said he’s also had moments of doubt.

“The first couple years I thought, ‘What the hell have I done to my car? What am I doing? What is this?’ I would put a hundred pens on and think, ‘oh my God, what have I done?” Schuler said.

But 10,000 pens later, Schuler said there’s not a shred of doubt left.

“This car is like joy one wheels. Someone’s walking along. They’re having a miserable day. And all of a sudden, this car comes along, and it lights them up. For a moment, it brings them out of their funk. It changes their perspective for a moment. That, to me, is the most important part,” Schuler said.

Each pen has a story. Schuler holds up a long pink pen shaped like a car and explains that it’s a pen car. It was gifted to him by a couple who’d been married for more than 50 years. Schuler said some of his favorite stories are from the pens he has given away.

“I meet somebody who’s looking at a pen, they’re totally into this pen and they won’t let it go,” Schuler said holding up a pen shaped like a wooden pig. “So, sometimes I get to give it to them. It’s a way to give back and connect with people,” Schuler said.

Sandy said the experience continues to offer life lessons on wheels.

“Everywhere we go, it brings joy and laughter and sort of a tilt. It’s like instant out-of-the-box thinking,” Sandy said. “It’s a metaphor of taking trash and saying ‘no, this isn’t trash. It’s valuable. Its beauty’. You could totally translate that into how we see people.”