PRAIRIE CITY — When Ingo Wedde isn’t fixing your Audi, BMW or motorcycle, he’s combining his love of all things motorsports with an appreciation for art to create high-quality, miniature renditions of anything with an engine.

Wedde uses salvaged metal parts from junkyards and shuttered mills, welding them together to build almost anything with an engine, from motorcycles, helicopters, snowmobiles, tractors — even UFOs. Wedde has collected enough parts over the years to fill a footlocker and convert a small corner of his garage into a parts bin.

The hobby started as a way to have fun with his then-7-year-old daughter and has morphed into a 29-year labor of love for Wedde.

“We just started some of the pieces that I have out in the front yard and early helicopters, and we just had a lot of fun doing them,” he said. ”She loved going with me hunting for the junk, which is the funnest part. We’d head out to the wrecking yards and whatnot, just find pieces we can make things with.”

The path to creating art pieces that resemble motor vehicles came naturally to Wedde, who falls back on his more than 50 years of experience in automotive and motorcycle repair when creating his metal sculptures.

“It’s part of my body, part of my soul,” he said. “I just like anything mechanical, anything that can look like it might be fast or move, because my whole life I’ve dealt with things that are fast.”

The finished pieces are not small, with most weighing 150 pounds or more. Wedde said that is by design — some of his creations are displayed in easily accessible front yards, and the heft of his constructions makes for a strong theft deterrent.

Another concern for Wedde is durability. The pieces are made from solid metal and are not easily damaged.

Wedde carves his own path when practicing his art, often creating works that bend welding rules while still maintaining structural integrity and visual authenticity. Wedde recalled an interaction with a welder who was amazed at his ability to piece his creations together despite not knowing all of those rules.

“He said I’m pretty ingenious in that area.”

Friends of Wedde have asked him to enter his creations in art shows and solicit appraisals for them. He’s been reluctant to do that, however, saying he isn’t the best he could be at his craft yet.

He also is worried some may not see the value in what he’s created.

“That’s why I don’t go to the sales — I don’t want to be trumped and (have people) go, ‘Oh, that’s worth $2,’” he said.

Instead, Wedde prefers to just give his pieces away. He said those who receive his works of art pay for them with their gratitude, and that’s all he really wants.

“I end up making lots of pieces for free, because in the end, it feels better,” he said.

Wedde said he has no plans to stop making his hefty works of metallic art. Despite having constructed a myriad of pieces, he’s still taken aback every time he finishes one of his works.

“When I get done,” he said, “I say, ‘I did that – I really did that?’”