Exclusive | Firefighter turned graphic designer is turning old junk cars into 2D vehicles see it for free in NYC

Joshua Vides sees things in black and white.And with the skill of an illusionist and an eye for twisted art, the Left Coaster’s handiwork is drawing the attention of funky car fanatics everywhere — from the City of Angels to the city that doesn’t sleep. “I came up with this 2D style that uses black-and-white paint to make a three-dimensional [vehicle] look like its original sketch,” Vides, a 35-year-old graphic designer from Southern California, told The Post.Vides embraces what he calls his “Reality to Idea” technique to make wild, car-encased art that looks two-dimensional — like it just rolled off the funny pages of a newspaper — and which, depending on the size of the auto he uses for a canvas, can take upward of 200 hours across two months to complete.And he’s brought his comic strip-inspired optical illusions to the Big Apple.For his “Check Engine Light” show — a free fête, running through Tuesday, May 6, at 16 Morton St.in the West Village — Vides used nearly 10 gallons of black-and-white paint and spent more than 168 hours transforming a 1995 26-foot stretch limousine and a 1991 Honda CBR 1000RR motorcycle into ’toon-tastic treats for the eyes. He’s already sold the look-at-me limo — a $10,000 investment — to a local car collector for “much, much” more money than he spent making the sketchy renovations.“It’s a long process, but I’m super super proud of my work,” said Vides, a former Riverside County, California, firefighter/EMT.

He walked away from the firehouse in the early 2010s to pursue art as a full-time gig.Now a married father of three, Vides said his career switch from emergency response to 2D innovation has “totally changed” his life for the better.“I’m really fortunate to tell stories through my art,” he gushed.“I don’t just paint any car — I need to have a special connection to each car that I paint.”A staunch Y2K-era movie buff, the millennial procures vintage automobiles i...