I don’t think anyone could accuse David or I of being people who make consistently good decisions, and I think one of our Velour-and-up member perks is a great example of why. We thought it’d be fun and make Velour members feel special if I’d do a little drawing of any car they wanted for their birthday. And, I think, sure, it is a fun idea, and so far I think people do like it, but if I’m totally honest, I made a lot of assumptions about doing this before we started. I figured people would probably pick the same well-known, iconic cars, and I could draw, essentially, a medium-sized library of some iconic cars, like 20 or so, and the majority of readers would likely pick from there, and it’d be pretty easy! Holy crap, was I wrong.
[Ed note: Matt here reminding you that you can become a member right here and, if you become a Velour Member, you can get one of these nifty drawings. Also, I don’t have to draw these, I just have to make this place sustainable, so please become a member if you love this website and force Jason to do more of these. – MH]
In hindsight, of course that was wrong. I know our readers better than that! Autopians aren’t the kind of car people that are just going to pick the same mass-appeal cars as anyone else. We’re a community of weirdo fetishists, and everyone wants something hyper-specific and different and unique, and as a result I almost never get to duplicate any drawing and there’s just so so many of these to do.
I mean, look at a selection of stuff that’s come up from the past few months here:
[Ed note: Hold on. I love this. One of our members requested “David Tracy’s next purchase” and got a Leaf! Mwhahahahahahahahaha – MH]
How do you predict these? You’ve got Malaise-era American heaps, Japanese econoboxes, Art Deco masterpieces, cars with massive dedicated followings, and heaps that nobody remembers. Oh, and Macho Man Randy Savage shows up there, too. In a Venza, of all things!
Even when the same kind of car shows up, it’s never exactly the same. For example, Beetles have come up more than once, but never the same Beetle, and our readers are particular. So when I get a Beetle request, it’s never just a Beetle, it’s a 1971 Super Beetle or a 1960 Beetle:
And yes, I know I forgot the Wolfsburg Crest above the hood handle. Crap.
The upshot of all this is I’m always drawing cars now. And they’re all different, somehow. And there are some of you who want, like Saturns and mid-’90s Buicks and you baffle me but, dammit, I still love you. And I’m happy to do all this, because that means we have more members! And that’s exactly what we want, and if you’re not yet a member, but want a car drawn just for you, along with all kinds of other member benefits, then, friend, you owe it to yourself, become an official, grille-badge-carrying Autopian!
At some point there will be repeats, right? There has to be!
This doesn’t even take into account some of the stuff Torch drew for us at the past two RAD Carolina events, including my Nissan S12 200SX and a friend’s Suzuki X90.
These were and always will be awesome.The only possible thing i can think of to improve them is to add their owners?
Of course that tends to head in the direction of caricature which wouldnt be for everyone
I wonder if I am the only Reliant Scimitar?
I feel so basic. I never considered specifying Macho Man Randy Savage hanging out the window of my car. Not that I am on that high of a membership tier.
This is a suspicious post, as while I did get my birthday drawing back in June, of which I am very grateful, it was of the wrong car.
The drawing itself was still awesome, and it was close, so I wasn’t mad.
I had requested a 240SX, but got a 240Z, which while similar in many ways, is not the same.
Still dope to get birthday wishes though.
You mean that a Dual Cowl Phaeton Duesenberg is not a common car obsession? Just Me?
THANKS TORCH! I do love it
macho man in a rav4 (at least i think that’s what it is)… how is that drawing not in the NY MoMA?
I can almost guarantee it’ll be awhile before you receive any repeat requests after this article. Haha. Great drawings, Jason! Great choices, everyone!
Fantastic drawings. Truly, but the choices of cars to draw if just perfect. I love them all.
Quel talent !!!
These are epic. Is there no end to Jason’s talents?
What!? No one else makes suck-up, teacher’s pet requests like mine?
https://imgur.com/a/NzrKHGA
The Buick Century request was for my first car, which sadly ended it’s life in a gruesomely spectacular rear-end hit in December 2001 by a Ford Ranger that didn’t see the traffic stopped at the red light. Note the angle of the beautiful plush velour seats post-impact… they didn’t have a recline function! That’s how hard we were flung back into the seats!
Now you know the sad story of why I asked for that particular malaise junk box… it was the “limited” trim with the plush velour pillow seats, and a baffling set of options… it had cruise control, air conditioning, logging wire wheel hubcaps, and power door locks… but only AM/FM radio (no cassette), manual crank windows, and non-reclining seats.
It also was powered by the infamous Iron Duke “4 Tech” variant with throttle-body fuel injection… kids, that means it was basically a carburettor with a single electronic fuel injector… it wasn’t even good enough to have injectors on each cylinder!
I saw the Century, and first thing I thought was You sir, are a legend!
Jason drew a Triumph racecar which I dream of turning mine into an electric variant of some day:
https://i.imgur.com/LHLIJwn.jpg
Jigsaw Racing built a replica of this particular car. It had a drag coefficient of 0.32, which when coupled with its 1.4 m^2 frontal area, could hit 137 mph on the Mulsanne Straight with its tiny 111 horsepower 4-cylinder engine. This is according to Mark from Jigsaw Racing.
That sort of aero and low mass would allow a 100 Wh/mile EV on the interstate at street legal speeds. Not as good as an Aptera, but close…
My car runs and drives as an EV, but I don’t have all of the aero bits yet. So its freeway energy consumption is about 50% higher than it should be.
My birthday is tomorrow. I’m so looking forward to my drawing!
Also, Dwight and the Acrimonious MoFo have great taste!
Torch, can you do a feature on how you create these?
Trade secret
I have to mention that these are far better quality than I would have ever hoped for when I saw a website founder offer to draw a car for everyone who chips in at a certain level.
Amazing. I was expecting “Paying Bills With Spider Drawings” level of quality.
Well played, Torch. Your commitment to your obligations is absolutely incredible.
I love the VW Bus I got for joining, and my upcoming drawing of the <I forget what I asked for> is the main reason I’m looking forward to my birthday!
Alert Guinness ! You may be the GOAT in demand artist !