Lexus comes up with world’s ‘first tattooed car’

UK carmaker Lexus teamed up with a London artist to create what it calls the ‘world’s first tattooed car’. The carmaker said it commissioned the UX crossover to celebrate ‘fine craftsmanship and traditional Japanese artistry’.

The artist, Claudia De Sabe, had to work on a white Lexus UX crossover. Instead of a tattooing needle, Sabe and her husband Yutaro used a Dremel drill to first remove the bodypaint of the car, and then ink it with gold leaf motifs creating a koi carp motif on the UX crossover. The Lexus UX was finally covered by a special lacquer to make it driveable on the road.

UK carmaker Lexus teamed up with a London artist to create what it calls the ‘world’s first tattooed car’. The carmaker said it commissioned the UX crossover to celebrate ‘fine craftsmanship and traditional Japanese artistry’.

The artist, Claudia De Sabe, had to work on a white Lexus UX crossover. Instead of a tattooing needle, Sabe and her husband Yutaro used a Dremel drill to first remove the bodypaint of the car, and then ink it with gold leaf motifs creating a koi carp motif on the UX crossover. The Lexus UX was finally covered by a special lacquer to make it driveable on the road.

Lexusreleased a video where the artists explained the work while tattooing the car.

Claudia De Sabe said, “The best thing about tattooing the Lexus UX, and the reason why this car was ideal for the project, is its streamlined shape. Everything from the lines on the side of the body to the shape of the windows, everything is just so dynamic and beautiful. It was a perfect fit for the design and the concept itself."

“When you tattoo a person, you have to think about the muscles and tissue beneath the skin. With the car it was about the way the bodywork changes shape over the framework," she said.

The couple said it took around six months and five litres of paint to complete the work. They toiled around 8 hours everyday for at least 5 days every week.

Lexus says it is ready to pay more than £120,000 for the work, but stopped short of mentioning the price the company is ready to sell this one-of-a-kind car.

The UX crossover is the smallest of the Lexus SUVs in Europe. It wears the same design language as other Lexus cars, featuring the stylised spindle grille. It gets a 169-horsepower, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, mated to an automatic transmission, that makes 151 pounds-feet of torque. Lexus claims the UX crossover can do zero to 100 kmph in 8.9 seconds.