Now, this is a person whose process I can get behind. Up to 250 hours per car and waxes that cost $8000? Paint that leaves better than when it was new from the factory? Microscopic analysis?
Sign me up. Do you think he needs an apprentice?
(Jalopnik)
And my mom thought I was good at creating a scheme during high school summers: Steven Ortiz, 17, swapped his way up from an old phone to a Porsche Boxster. No joke – and Jalopnik has the story.
Now I swapped my way from some truly old PowerBooks up to an iBook in the years leading up to college, but this is truly astounding. An inspiration to us all, Steven!
I commend Diehard for choosing the first person I’d have thought of when picking out the right artist to promote an(y) automotive product. This doesn’t take away from the surprise of seeing Gary Numan in this ad…equally for me or Gary himself by the looks of it.
(Wired)
If you aren’t watching Bravo’s Work of Art, I highly suggest that you start. The premise is described as such:
In each episode, contestants are faced with the challenge of creating unique pieces in a variety of mediums such as painting, sculpture, photography, collage and industrial design. The weekly assignments are exciting, original and will challenge the artists’ to push the limits of their technical skills and creative boundaries.
A slightly less flowery way of defining the show would be Project Runway for visual artists. And, by virtue of not being on Lifetime like Runway is now, the show benefits from the caliber of editing and production that PR used to have. If that wasn’t enough, it’s hosted by a woman named China Chow, a name that begs the be shouted, as the commentating gays at Tom & Lorenzo pointed out. (Personally, I think her name sounds like a dog food with Asian flair.)
Anyway, I caught a marathon of this what-I-thought-would-be-a-train-wreck-but-is-really-stupendous show over the 4th and have been hooked ever since. As Kate says, it’s a little like watching a room for of people like me. The artists are all methodical and, despite multiple neuroses, highly willing to help each other out and offer encouragement. Even the Tim Gunn stand in, Simon de Pury does a fantastic job offering mentorship and zippy little Swiss-flavored one liners.
After a four episode binge, I was jonesing for this past week’s installment. Arriving back from vacation on Thursday, I dove right in. And what awaited me was perfect. The artists were asked to travel the streets of New York in a fleet of Audis – Q5s and S4s – before arriving at the Audi Forum in Manhattan. *jealousy* They were then given half an hour to explore the dealership and come up with an idea that would translate the NY experience and time in the cars into an art work.
While the idea sounds sickeningly commercial, I will point out the BMW art cars as precedence. I will also say that the works this week are starting to exhibit the symptoms of overtaxing the creative process. That being said, my favorite contestant, Miles was able to again knock it out of the park. With the connections this show clearly has, it can only get better from here and I can’t wait to see where we go next week.
China Chow!
My baby, Simone has been featured (well, not her specifically, but the A3 in general) as one of Wired‘s favorite “un-American” cars. I’ll always be chuffed to hear praise for what I clearly think is one of the best cars on the market – and a model of what more Americans should be driving. Read more about what Wired has to say and check out the other models. Transit Connect makes an appearance!
Artist Andy Saunder’s creation, “Picasso’s Citroën”
As Jalopnik is quick to point out, one should not get this confused with the Citroën Picasso – an entirely different beast.
The scene: Kate and I pull up behind a blue pickup wearing two massive bumper stickers on the tailgate while at a red light on 213. Upon reading them, I am smitten but the light changes too fast for us to get a good picture.
Kate: “Do you want me to follow them until we get another light?”
Nick: “Sure…let’s hope they aren’t leaving town.”
A chase ensued.
We only had to make it to the parking lot of the nearest shopping plaza. You can see it was well worth the pursuit. And I thought I’d have nothing to blog about today…
While reading Jalopnik this morning, I noticed advertisements for Pennsylvania’s Tourism campaign, Visit PA. This particular campaign has been very active, even posting banners for Fallingwater, the Warhol Museum and rafting on the Youghiogheny River in the London Tube stations that caught me off guard on a 2005 trip. What made this morning’s ads so clever was that they drew viewers in with pre-planned roadtrips – perfect for a car blog!
Jalopnik is delighting me today with a post on old car brochures (I guess brought on by their blurb on the Eldorado glovebox bar.) While flipping through the online gallery, I stumbled across the most fascinating classic car amongst the marketing fluff: the 1951 Kaiser Traveler.
Now, I am not normally, under any circumstances, a classic car guy. I can recognize why the greats are legendary and wouldn’t turn down a free vintage Ferrari or Bugatti. I’ll even watch Wayne Carini stumble through a barn on occasion. But I’m much more interested in technology of modern cars.
The Traveler challenges that, though, by offering the (I thought) uniquely contemporary blend of sleek, car-like design with functionality and utility more commonly associated with SUVs. In short, it was the mid-20th century equivalent of the crossovers I lust after today.
So, while I’ll more than likely trade my A3 for an Audi Q5 or BMW 3 Series GT when the time comes, it’s good to know that the car buying world was not as bleak in 1951 as I feared. And that a good idea is eternal.
This is from a time when car-buying was apparently awesome. From a GM sales brochure for the 1957 Cadillac Eldorado. A bar. In the glovebox. Of an everyday passenger car. This beats having vodka in the trunk, no?
