All Photos By Neil J. Barrett
My friend Neil, who lives in Swinging London, took these photos of a car he saw parked in his neighborhood, and then posted them on my FaceBook page. Because Neil knows me well.
What we have here is a lovely Pink Nissan Figaro, a car formerly sold only in Japan that has become popular with owners in the UK, Ireland and South East Asia. It is truly a Sweet Ride! Thanks, Neil for providing us with a fabulous Pink Thing of The Day!
All Photos By Gail
Elvis Presley, who had a passion for both cars and guns, shot this Pantera with his personal firearm during a temperamental outburst, losing patience when the car would not start. The two bullet holes on the steering wheel rim and one in the floor pan were never repaired and today serve as reminders of his occasional fits of rage.
Elvis bought this Pantera on the used car market for $2,400 in 1974 for his then-girlfriend, actress Linda Thompson. Although its mid-engine configuration qualified it for exotic car status, the De Tomaso Pantera cost far less that a comparable Ferrari or Lamborghini because of its relatively inexpensive, but no less potent, Ford engine.
Photographed at the Amazing Automobiles Exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.
All Photos By Gail
When I was in California at Christmastime, my friend and I spent an afternoon visiting a few locations in Pasadena when you can see the Rose Parade floats in the process of being built. That was really fun and totally recommended! At one location, they also had some booths set up where you could buy overpriced Rose Parade and Rose Bowl swag, and that’s where I saw this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Van, one of the coolest commercial vehicle wraps I’ve ever seen.
Foot Stinks? I do not know what it means.
Apparently this Van is fan-owned and not affiliated with the Ninja Turtles, Nickelodeon or any other official TMNT organizations. Find out more about the TMNT Van by visiting This Link!
Lambo 2005 Gallardo Engine Lid Desk with Red Lambo Caliper Lamp and Lambo Gallardo Wheel Table, All By Joe Mac Designs (All Photos by Gail)
A few days ago, you might have noticed the bitchen Ferrari Art Car posted here on The Gig after we immortalized it with the help of auto glass specialists in Sewell on the Blogosphere in honor of the opening reception of the Strada Veloce (“Fast Street”) group exhibit up now at the Dorian Grey Gallery. While the car was just making a drive by, so to speak, you still have until October 5th to see this exhibit’s eclectic assortment of custom home furnishings designed around various luxury car parts, as well as a selection of fine oil paintings of status symbol automobiles!
Detail of Table Seen in Above Photo
Here are a few of our favorite pieces from the show!
Lambo Chair, authentic wood shipping crates upholstered in Cowhide. Lambo Murcielago Verde Ithaca Calper Lamp in Green. Ferrari 456 Rossa Corsa Table in Red (Joe Mac Designs).
Small Porsche Exhaust Lamp on Lambo Gallardo Wheel Table in Verde Ithaca Green.
Lusso Painting By Stephen Lack (Wall) with Porsche Exhaust Lamp atop Lambo Wood Shipping Crate Console Cabinet.
Love Vandal, Spray Painted Ferrari Hood by Nick Walker.
Floc U, Spray Enamel on Fabric Settee By Meres/Flock Design House.
Yellow Ferrari By Stephen Lack
Red Testarossa By Stephen Lack
Silver and Blue Ferrari By Stephen Lack
And if you missed it at the opening, there is a scale model of John “CRASH” Matos’ Ferrari Art Car on display in the front window!
Strada Veloce will be on exhibit at Dorian Grey Gallery, Located at 437 East 9th Street (Between Ave A and 1st Ave) until October 5th, 2014.
Photos By Gail
I was so smitten by this Yellow Mustang of indeterminate model year that I stopped to take photos of it in the rain. The car was parked on a street in Long Island City and even though it has a bit of tree detritus on the hood (from the rain) it still looks like a sweet ride.
I once had a boyfriend who drove a car that somewhat resembled this one, but that is a story that takes too long to talk about.
Sweet Ride! (Image Source)
Over at Jalopnik, this Russian PT Cruiser Wedding Limo (yes, I just typed that) is taking a lot of shit for being what it is. But, really, isn’t this car actually all kinds of awesome? It reminds me of Disneyland. I just love it!
Click through to This Link to watch a fun video of the car in action and take a look at how the interior lighting changes colors! Fancy!
Sweet Ride! (Image Source)
The only downside to this cool Pink Cadillac Cake is, of course, that it is too beautiful to eat!
After an incredibly disappointing trip to The Whitney to see this year’s Biennial (More like Bi-YAWN-nial), Geoffrey and I took advantage of already being uptown and walked three quarters of a mile along Fifth Avenue (such a gorgeous day it was) to The Guggenheim, where sculptor John Chamberlain — who just died in late December — has a fantastic career retrospective that made my heart go pitter-pat.
Background on Chamberlain from The Guggenheim’s always informative website tells us that the Artist moved from Chicago to New York in 1956 and shortly thereafter got the idea to utilize car metal as his medium. Unfortunately, a lot of people misinterpreted his creative re-use of a ubiquitous material in his sculptures as being a reference to the tangled mess of a car crash. Chamberlain “spent the rest of his life outrunning that association. His primary concern was and continued to be three-dimensional abstraction. More sensitive observers noted a kinship between his works and the dramatic modeling of Baroque art and sculptural drapery studies.”
Geoffrey took a few minutes to warm up to Chamberlain’s bold, colorful and flowy sculptures, but I loved them instantly. Considering that most of these works are made from car parts, it’s really astounding how each one is so different and has its own personality, even. If I lived on a huge estate with a ton of land it would be so cool to have one of these in the front yard, I think, or around back by the pool. The sculptures are organized chronologically from the earliest pieces at the bottom of the ramp to newer sculptures — some that Chamberlain completed shortly before his death — placed further up at the top of the rotunda. The shape of the museum really provides an ideal venue to show off these works, as many of them are very large and you can literally walk all the way around them and examine the work from all angles. Each one has its own story to tell.
Choices By John Chamberlain Runs Through May 13, 2012 at The Guggenheim Museum, Located at 5th Avenue and 89th Street in New York City.
