What do pink Cadillacs, arcade games, rocket ships and a Copenhagen squat have to do with the new Miss Pink Bullitt? Quite a lot, as it turns out. The answer takes us through a city choked with cars, a failed Flash Gordon movie, a failed pink bicycle and one very successful idea about getting through a city.
Cars, Squats and Rocket Ships
It’s 1980 in Copenhagen and the city is on the brink of collapse. The city had flirted with American car culture, building roads and clearing space for the automobile, while a Scandinavian subculture known as raggare embraced the whole fantasy: rockabilly, greased hair and enormous American cars from the 1950s and 60s. By the 1980s, the fantasy had become traffic. Copenhagen was choked with cars, unemployment was high and empty buildings were being occupied by squatters.
In one squat, called B106 Space Design, were two fellows, Hans and Lars, later known as Larry and Harry. One day they would be known as two major contributors to Copenhagen’s sparkling bike culture. Despite this, they never hid their obsession with American culture. Steve McQueen, arcade games, pink Cadillacs and rocket ships were all rolling around their heads. One idea was to open an arcade. Another was to make a Flash Gordon movie. It was an arcade of ideas.
Lulu, Bubbles and a Pink Cadillac
Somewhere along the line, Bullitt was conceived, but so was Lulu, Harry’s daughter. She was raised cruising in the box of a Bullitt, and one day she asked why there wasn’t a Pink Bullitt. That was an awfully good question, given that Bullitt bikes each have a long autobiographical love for colour. In tribute to Lulu, the first Miss Pink Bullitt was launched in 2009, but it was an absolute flop.
Of course, the moment production ended, everybody decided they wanted one. This is now the fifth iteration. The first was inspired by Lulu, while the second introduced the Miss Bullitt name and the bathtub soap bubbles she played with as a child. The third and fourth revived that design and compared it to the pink Cadillac, an American fantasy quite at home within Scandinavia’s raggare culture. Of course, the Danish version cut through space much better.
Steve McQueen, Spaceships and the High Score
This obsession with space came early for Larry and Harry. If B106 Space Design was supposed to produce a spaceship, they also fantasized about opening an arcade. Little wonder the new Miss Bullitt is covered in pixelated spaceships. In a way, Larry and Harry fulfilled both dreams.
Car-racing arcade games imagine a world without gridlock. Steve McQueen in Bullitt lives inside the same fantasy. A Bullitt bike makes it real. You cut through space and open up space, like a rocket ship. The city becomes your arcade.
Pink It and Shrink It
The bicycle industry has a long history of “shrink it and pink it,” attracting the “feminine” consumer to a “masculine” product through a decorative masquerade. Pink happens to be the favourite colour of both Lulu and her father, Harry. Still, the Bullitt may be doing something quite different.
From our experience, cargo-bike purchases are often conceived by Mom, not Dad. Dad wants the car. Mom is more practical. Perhaps this is an example of “pink it and shrink it.” Take the car, shrink it down to cargo-bike size and declare that pink is for everyone. Amen.
Only Four in Canada!
As is now normal with the Miss Pink bike, the entire worldwide production run sold out to dealers in less than 24 hours. Four are coming to Canada, all through Pedaal. Two are complete electric Bullitts with Shimano’s EP600 motor, a cargo-specific Nexus 5-speed hub, Gates belt drive and 504 Wh battery.
The other two are Original Bullitt frames for people who want to build their own.
