|
 CarTatts give auto custom look
Company offers removable custom-made or stock images, including body tattoos, team logos, even pets.
Larry Edsall / Special to The Detroit News
Unlike your arm, neck, back or leg, your car can get a tattoo that can be painlessly removed.
East Coast-based CarTatts, LLC produces a line of easy-to-apply or remove tattoos for cars and other vehicles.
"The company is a year and a half old, but the idea had been cooking for a few years," said Rosemarie Monaco, co-founder and chief executive.
Monaco runs a marketing agency. One of her clients does commercial vehicle wraps, like those that turn city buses into rolling billboards. When Monaco discovered that the same materials could be used to do smaller, tattoo-style artwork for cars, she started "cooking."
She and a partner created a few prototypes and were pleased to discover that they not only held up to New York winter weather, but to drive-through car washes as well. They also could be removed easily and did not damage the car's painted surface when removed.
They launched their CarTatts Web site on a trial basis, offering wreathes and other Christmas decorations, then built up a database of other designs.
Custom car designer Murray Pfaff of Royal Oak-based Pfaff Designs recently told The News that "graffiti tattoo-style" graphics are a growing trend in automotive styling and personalization.
Monaco drives an Audi TT convertible that has leaping panther tats and says people often stop her to ask if her car was a limited edition sold by Audi dealers. She says Mini Cooper, Volkswagen New Beetle and hybrid vehicle owners also like enhancing their car's looks with tats, though she says one early customer was a woman who loved her white Chevrolet Blazer but found the car's styling boring and wanted something to spice its visual appeal. She said many customers are pet owners who want tattoos for their vehicle, and CarTatts offers a service so you can upload your pet's image to transfer to your car or SUV.
CarTatts also offers special designs by Tattoo Johnny -- so you can get a tattoo for your body and for your car's body -- and by Hollywood's Fireball Tim.
CarTatts offers several sports-themed designs and Monaco said several schools have uploaded their own team names and logos to those designs.
Another popular series are tats for wedding vehicles that include the couple's names and wedding date.
Most of the CarTatts range from $6 to $50. For information or to order tattoos, visit the www.car-tatts.com.
By the way, while Monaco has tats on her car, she does not have them on her body, though she says she's been thinking about it.
Source...
Larry Edsall is a Phoenix-based freelance writer. You can reach him at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
News 
