From the Cartape Volumes: Jamaica Automotive Concept (Pt. 1)

Well this month, (especially this past Monday, Aug. 6th 2012)  the island of Jamaica celebrates the 50th anniversary of its independence! Jamaica has contributed tremendously to world culture, from the internationally famous Reggae sound (of Bob Marley and the Wailers fame), to the often imitated patoi dialect, to sports - the nation owns the world's fastest man and woman! Of particular importance to me is Usain Bolt, who beautifully defended his title of "the world's fastest man in the 100m at the London Olympics. His time was clocked at an astonishing 9.63 seconds!
       Well in an ode to this insane speed of Usain Bolt, I decided to design the UB-876 sports car. UB stands for Usain Bolt and 876 stands for Jamaica's area code. In regards to the design of this car, I wanted it to look fast and mean - picture a Jamaican junkyard dog (lol)! On the hood and on the rear quarter panel I put small wings, a symbol to Usain's withering speed. Now in regards to the aggressive aspect of the car design, it is a hearken to the aggressive nature of Jamaicans, but even more so to the music. Reggae music, especially the roots reggae format -which is the most famous, has an aggressive fighting rhythm, so I tried to portray that. And that vibe extends to the huge wheels as well. Additionally, the wheel design itself is designed to represent bleeding, biting, clawing bass lines predominant in the music. The aggression also moves into the headlamps, where contrary to circular bulb housings, I have them triangular, representing teeth! Moving to the side panel of the car, I have a massive crease into the bodywork as well as a protrusion on the end of it that is shaped like a single sharp tooth. Below that is a lower body trim that symbolizes clawed "grippage" like that of a lion! The effect of that piece in particular is to represent the car being held from beneath by lion paws. Get the picture? (hahaha)

I tweeted this car to Cedella Marley, Bob Marley's daughter, and to my suprise, she retweeted it! That was really nice of her! That was only part one however. There will be a part two of this Jamaica automotive concept, which will include three other views: a front view , a rear view and a rear three-quarter view. Also, there might be a Part 3 after that, which could include an interior sketch and render. The interior will have two designs, a his and her version, one for Shelly-Ann (she's the world's fastest woman) and one for Usain Bolt! There will also be a Shelly-Ann version of this car, it will be called the SP-876. The body of the car will stay the same except for a minor change ( a cute difference lol). So stay tuned to the SeraniTafari Street Team blog for the updates. Shell-Ann and Usain Bolt we love yall!!!!!!!!!!

Usain Bolt, the world's fastest fan!

Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce, the world's fastest woman!

Become a fan of the beautiful Shelly-Ann aka the Jamaican cutiepie at http://www.facebook.com/ShellyAnnFraserPryce?ref=ts

Become a fan of Usain Bolt at http://www.facebook.com/usainbolt

Become a fan of Jamaica at https://www.facebook.com/FBJamaica and http://www.facebook.com/JamaicaByTHL?ref=ts

And watch the Olympics live all day and/or night at http://www.jamyardienews.com/p/vybztv.html!

- Gebre Mesquitta