Tag Archive | Sweet Ride

Pink Thing of The Day: Cherry Blossom BMW

May11

Sakura BMW
All Photos By Gail

Over the final weekend in April, Geoffrey and I went on an urban adventure to the Cherry Blossom Festival (aka Sakura Matsuri) at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and we had all kinds of crazy fun being outdoors in the beautiful nature, and taking many, many (read: too many) photos of the gorgeous flowering trees and other flowers and plants. Super fun!

Sakura BMW

As a tie-in with the festival,  event sponsor BMW (The Ultimate Driving Machine, as it is known) created a Sakura-themed car with a custom paint job covering the car in a cheery cherry blossoms design! Spectacular!

Sakura BMW Detail

Here is a detail of the finish, up close. If you have been around an assortment of cherry blossoms before you will observe that they have many different blossoms represented, just like they did at the Garden!

Sakura BMW Detail

Sakura BMW

I didn’t think to look inside the car to check out the interior, since the ground was a bit damp from rain the previous evening and I was trying to stay off the wet grass as much as possible.  Point being that I can’t say whether the floral design carried over to the car’s dashboard and upholstery.

Sakura BMW

A Sweet Ride, indeed!

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Eye On Design: SMEG500 Retro Fiat Wine Refrigerator!

May2

Smeg Fiat 500 Wine Cooler
All Photos By Gail

If you like retro foreign cars, and also drinking, here’s a way to combine those two passions without risking arrest or death. The SMEG500, launched in Paris in May 2013, is a Refrigerator / Wine Cooler representing a creative collaboration between SMEG — makers fine retro-look refrigerators and other high end kitchen appliances — and Fiat, the iconic Italian car manufacturer. Talk about a sweet ride!

Smeg Fiat 500 Wine Cooler

Handmade with genuine original Fiat 500 parts, the refrigerator / wine cellar is A+ rated for energy efficiency, has a 100 litre capacity, and is available in White and Green as well as the Red finish.

Smeg Fiat 500 Wine Cooler Side View

Check out that side profile!

Smeg Fiat 500 Wine Cooler

The SMEG500 retails for about $10,000 and can be purchased at This Link!

Photographed that the Architectural Digest Design Show at Pier 94, NYC in March 2018.

Pink Thing of the Day: Pink Cadillacs Gummy Candy

Jul7

Pink Cadillac Gummies
Photo By Gail

These tiny Pink Cadillacs are literally a sweet ride! You can buy them online from the Gerrit J. Verburg Company at This Link!

Photographed at the Summer Fancy Food Show 2017 at the Javits Center in Manhattan.

Graffiti Truck By Cern, Financial District

Jun20

Graffiti Truck Cern
Photos By Gail

I was on my way to snag a bargain at TJ Maxx when I spotted this rad graffiti truck parked on Pine Street in the Financial District. The abstract design looks like street art Picasso to me! I Googled the tag, “Cernesto” (visible at the top left corner of the truck) and discovered that the artist none other than Cern, a native of New York City currently based in Brooklyn.

Cern got his start writing graffiti in the early nineties. Continuing to develope as a visual artist and musician, Cern creates murals and exhibits works throughout South America, Europe and South Africa. Cern’s work has also been featured at the San Diego Museum of Art, Museu Brasileiro De Escultura in Sao Paulo, and MOCA, in Los Angeles.

Follow Cern on Instagram @cernesto!

Graffiti Truck Cern Detail
Graffiti Truck Detail

Eye On Design: Indian Chief Roadmaster Motorcycle

Feb15

Indian Chief Motorcycle
All Photos By Gail

The Indian Chief Roadmaster was designed as a handsome, comfortable rival to Harley-Davidson’s heavyweight touring bikes as Americans took to the road in the years following World War II. Indian’s top model, the Chief Roadmaster (1948) exuded power and style. Note the Indian Head on the front fender as well as the custom-fringed leatherwork. Now, imagine how it would look flying in the wind as the bike speeds toward the horizon!

Indian Chief Motorcycle
Photographed in the Autry Museum pf the American West in Los Angeles, California.

Indian Chief Motorcycle

Eye On Design: Benjamin J. Bowden’s Spacelander Bicycle

Jan18

Spacelander Bicycle 2
All Photos By Gail

Designed by Benjamin Bowden (1907 – 1998) the aluminum prototype for this futuristic Spacelander bicycle was handmade by the MG Auto Company in England in 1946.  The original design incorporated an ingenious dynamo that stored the downhill energy  and released it on uphill runs.

Spacelander Bicycle

Manufacturing the bike to-spec for consumer use turned out be prohibitively expensive, but in 1960, Bowden contracted with Bomard Industries in Michigan to produce this more mechanically conventional, one-speed version of the dynamic, organic design fiberglass, a new design material.

Spacelander Bicycle Rear View

Ultimately, the endeavor was too costly for Bomard Industries as well, and the firm went out of business after manufacturing only 522 examples.

Photographed in the Brooklyn Museum’s Visible Storage Archive.

Spacelander Bicycle 3

The Below Images of a White Spacelander Bike, Photographed at the Museum of Modern Art,  Were Added to This Post on April 6th, 2019.

White Spacelander Bike

From the 2019 Exhibit, The Value of Good Design.

White Spacelander Bike

 

Pink Thing of The Day: Miniature Pink VW Bus

Jan13

Pink VW Bus
Photo By Gail

To me, nothing says Southern California Style like a Pink VW Bus. I photographed this very authentic-looking miniature in the store called Simply Fresh, located in San Marino, Calfornia! Sweet Ride!