Description: Anyone who knows me can vouch for my absolute passion for cars. I love the design, the sound, the feel, the maintenance, the form and function (or sometimes lack thereof), etc. There's just something about this piece of machinery that allows their designers to perform amazing then but now-trivial tasks, such as travel to places which, prior to the invention, were impossible to reach. Then comes the aesthetic shape and functionality of the exteriors as well as interiors which excels on their sole, original intent to assist in travel and provides luxury and comfort. Not many people I know can understand this appreciation of cars. They call me a "car nut" "petrolhead" or "auto freak" and I agree. I respond by stating that there are people like me out there, and one of them is Mai Ikuzawa.
Owner of a 2009 Nissan Skyline GT-R and creative director of Bow Wow International, a design firm out of London, Mai is not your run-of-the-mill fan of cars, but rather the daughter of once world-renown Japanese grand prix driver Tetsu Ikuzawa. I can only imagine the influence her father has placed upon her concerning cars and the lifestyle (yes, in Japan owning a car is a lifestyle, whereas in the States it's regarded as a status symbol or purely for utilitarian purposes) associated with it. The first post of hers of which I read concerned her friend Hiroshi Fujiwara (the "godfather of Japanese fashion" and brainchild behind fragmentdesign, of which I am a fan) lent her his Mercedes Benz CLK DTM AMG. The mere fact that this act of kindness made her "the happiest girl in the world" really struck a cord with me and car fans alike I'm sure; the casual observer would see this as a big, black, Mercedes convertible, but to people like us it's a 1/100, super rare production road car version of a notoriously known Mercedes Benz race car for their entry into the 2003 DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters or German Touring Car Masters) race with a 5.4litre supercharged V8 and 582hp/590lb-ft torque. It's posts like that which is the reason why I visit her blog constantly, admiring her lifestyle choice and pure love for all things automotive.
And the best part about her love of cars (and mine for that matter) is this: if you were to choose one car to own, not to accomplish anything, not to get anywhere, not to complete a task of any kind, but just as an answer to the question, most people would choose a Bugatti Veyron or some random red Ferrari. I feel people like Mai and myself would not. We'd choose the CLK DTM AMG, the 190E 2.5L 16V Cosworth Evolution, the Ford RS200, the BMW M3 e30, the Lotus Carlton, or the Honda NSX GT-R in Championship White. We'd choose these cars every time, and the reason why we'd do it is because people do not understand why we'd do it.
Bow Wow International
Honeyee Blog - Mai Ikuzawa
*Appendix >> Mai Ikuzawa, Bow Wow International and Honeyee have not endorsed this entry, nor do they have any formal affiliation with Edward Eng and Mochimono365.