Friday, May 26, 2017

First Ever Gallant Gray Peddle Car to Live as “Art” in 50s-Styled Room

By Destiny Driftmeyer

As part of the introduction of Axalta’s Automotive Color of the Year 2017-Gallant Gray, Axalta had a few peddle cars refurbished and painted by students at Roseville High School in Michigan. You may remember the children’s toy cars that are still popular today.

Axalta displayed the cars at the MotorCity Automotive Industry Night (MAIN) kick-off even tat the 2017 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. At the end of the evening, Axalta’s Nancy Lockhart and Dan Benton raffled off one of the cars.

Destiny Driftmeyer, an automotive product specialist and Toledo School for the Arts student, from the greater Detroit area, was the winner of the car. Destiny she recently visited Axalta’s Color Styling Studio in Clinton Township, Michigan to pick up her prize.

Here are her thoughts on being the first-ever winner of a CotY car and the surprising place she picked to park it.

Destiny Driftmeyer, an automotive product specialist and Toledo School for the Arts student from the greater Detroit area, won Gallant Gray peddle car.

For someone that has never won a raffle or giveaway in her life, I was shocked to hear my name announced at MAIN event in Detroit during NAIAS Preview Week! And I couldn’t be happier that I won an amazing, 1950s-style peddle car painted by Roseville High School. Since I do not have any children yet, the most pressing question I had was “what am I going to do with such a prize?”  

Well, to give you a little background, I am a huge automotive/motorsports fan. I grew up around muscle cars, listened to the Motown Sound at car shows and loved driving around in my grandma's Corvette. My childhood love of cars followed me into adulthood and now I am a Promotional Model at many automotive/motorsports events all across the United States. I even unknowingly checked out Axalta's booth at the 2016 SEMA show in Las Vegas. Small world, right?

No question about it, this peddle car is art and I believe I should give it the treatment it deserves as an art piece.

At first I thought, “what a great theme for a living room.” Then it hit me, “no, this is going in my vanity room.” The room has a 1950s Hollywood vibe going on … think Marilyn, Elvis and James Dean. I think this Gallant Gray peddle car will find a nice home sharing space with my high heel shoe chair and light up mirror sitting on top of a stylish makeup dresser. The car will really help finish the room off. I will accent the room with a framed print of my pin up modeling feature from Lipstick & Lashes magazine and I may snag an art piece or two from my boyfriend, an automotive designer at one of the car companies.

I can see it now. Picture red, black, Gallant Gray and white all put together to form this vintage glam look. How stunning.

I love Axalta's Gallant Gray and cannot imagine a better color for the peddle car. It is the perfect shade with beautiful metallic undertones that really make the car’s features pop. I would love to see more cars on the road with metal flake paint. It is so interesting and different, and makes a car stand out from the crowd. I have always been a chameleon paint fan, so to me it is okay to have some wild styles. There are no rules in the color world!


Follow Destiny on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Destiny.Marie123