Covid-19: Cut and paste (and colouring) motoring
How to keep in tune with the car world when driving is basically out of the question.
PABLO Picasso reckoned every child is an artist. We think every adult who is a kid-at-heart also deserves to be considered in the same light.
It’s not easy to buy a car during the Covid-19 crackdown but the world’s auto makers have been quick to cash in exploring the limits of our creativity, by piling out a ton of car-themed design activity to lift the spirits of anyone bubble-bound and stuck in a rut.
So, fire up the printer, curse at the lack of inkjet cartridges, then sharpen your pencils and pick your way through the following.
BMW
The Munich make’s New Zealand distributor has gone all out to bring home the joy of driving with a downloadable ‘do-it-yourself’ M-Town entertainment packs – one for building a race-track, and the second for building you’re a car – with handy instructional videos, filmed completely under lockdown at home (using high end lighting techniques like opening and closing curtains).
The beauty of this concept is that it goes big on stuff you’ll have readily at hand.
Gabrielle Byfield, Head of Marketing for BMW New Zealand, commented: “Kids may be short on new toys, but they aren’t short on creativity. With regular household items like leftover cardboard boxes and depleted toilet rolls, and you can challenge your kids to create some BMW magic at home.”
It's not just for your entertainment, either. This is a sharing thing. So, ensuring your cars are in the appropriate livery, from the Race Track Decals pack, just share a share a snap / video of your racetrack in action, for uploading to BMW Instagram, make sure you #BMWDIY
The downloadable ‘Play at Home’ pack includes flags, starter grids and car decals to decorate your own BMW and M-Town track and are available here: https://www.bmw.co.nz/en/topics/offers-and-services/promotions/DIY-M-town.html.
Fiat
Just look up ‘Fiatforkids’ as internet images and you’ll discover heaps of drawings ready to colour-in.
Ford
Henry’s mob is another that has put a lot of effort into stopping you from feeling too blue.
The ‘Ford family fun hub’ has a heap of pictures to colour in – not just sweet racers the Focus ST, Mustang, and GT supercar but also the Kiwi favourite Ranger ute – and there are also challenges in dot-to-dot and maze formats. A spot the difference, too.
If they seem a bit lame, then try your skill at building the new Puma SUV in origami. This one has its own instruction sheet.
Isuzu
Japan’s ute specialist gives you opportunity to have early ownership (or at least allegiance) to the new D-Max set to launch later this year. There’s a selection of images to colour-in, dot-to-dots, a word search and spot-the-difference.
Jaguar i-Pace Formula-e
If you fancy yourself as a budding talent at race car liveries, try your hand coming up with a cool scheme the i-Pace eTrophy VIP electric car.
https://media.jaguarracing.com/news/2020/03/design-your-own-jaguar-i-pace-etrophy-vip-car-0
Land Rover Defender
Have you already configured your dream Defender on the Land Rover site? If you can’t find the colour of your choice, how about making your own one here?
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2deouwl73fxb7vd/AABBCxUZqmvXBtjsy2FY7jHja?dl=0
Lexus
No argument, Lexus LC 500 sports coupe is a sharp looker, all the more so in the motorsport version as raced by our own Nick Cassidy in Japan’s Super GT.
The deal here is that you can create your dream racing car livery for that car, remembering “to stay within the (racing) lines.” Good joke, right?
Generously, this illustration also includes rival brands’ racers. BMW, Audi and Aston Martin also feature because this scene commemorates the 2019 race when Super GT cars from Japan and cars from the German DTM series competed against each other for the first time. The first of these so-called ‘Dream Races’ was held at Fuji Speedway, with a certain Kiwi taking victory.
Download the Lexus LC 500 colouring pages
Mazda
‘The world’s best budget sports car’ seems a heck of a hefty mantle, but assuredly it’s one this wee beauty has had no trouble carrying over four generations.
The MX-5’s popularity is such it’s hard to imagine anyone could turn down this opportunity to build your own. Yes, of course it’s out of paper, but still, what a little beauty, right?
Mercedes-Benz
The world’s oldest car maker now has so many vehicles that choosing just one to feature for a colouring-in portrait was clearly just too hard. So, basically, if you go to their Covid-19 fun page you’ll find a subject to suit anyone here, with a comprehensive range of pages with all sorts of models, whether they’re classic or modern. Plus the current Formula One car.
Nissan
Another brand to add a neat twist to the colouring concept by virtue that, in addition to provisioning a range of images of current products, it also allows you to test your artistic skills of cars that might, or might not be, in this brand’s future. Some of these concepts are really cool.
Alfonso Albaisa, Nissan's senior vice president for global design, and Nissan designers across the world put this effort together and they’re truly keen to see how you get on with adding your influences, so is asking for finished images to be posted on social media with #drawdrawdraw. Albaisa says Nissan designers will be looking out for these drawings and interacting with the talents.
All is explained in the video.
http://www.supercoloring.com/coloring-pages/transport/cars/nissan
Skoda
The Karoq is a cute compact crossover with heaps of charisma and no shortage of perky practicalty … and I’m not just saying that because I happen to be an owner. Well, okay, perhaps my view is a touch skewed. Still, it makes for a fun build project. Thanks to Skoda NZ.
https://www.skoda.co.nz/company/kids-activities
Toyota Gazoo Racing
With Brendon Hartley now part of the Toyota Gazoo Racing effort, why not add some colour to his title-winning TS050 Hybrid, or perhaps one of the predecessor cars that ran at Le Mans? The link goes to a download that expires at the end of this month, so if you’re in for the challenge, make haste.
You can download the TS-series here
Toyota.
No need to use your drawing sticks on this one; the cars are already coloured in. Unfortunately, as a Toyota UK delivery, the selection doesn’t include the NZ racing series versions, but still.
https://media.toyota.co.uk/2020/04/make-your-own-retro-liveried-toyota-gt86/