Bubble-blowing Tesla helps owner break into car scene
Lauren Carter/BBCThe owner of a bright pink, bubble-blowing Tesla said her audacious car helped to break into a male-dominated culture.
Jo King, 45, designed the eye-catching £45,000 electric vehicle with her husband, Matt, who she lives with in West Mersea, Essex.
Together, they have kitted it out with heart-shaped exhausts and a number plate that almost spells out "unicorn" - and King admits it gets plenty of "double takes".
"You can't miss it, that's the comment we usually get," she told BBC Essex presenter Sonia Watson.
She purchased the Tesla Model Y to save money on petrol when commuting to London.
Bubbles can be pumped out of its heart-shaped exhausts and it features road-legal bubble number plates, as well as unicorn valve caps.
The car also boasts flower petal wheel covers and stylised mirror caps.
Lauren Carter/BBC"Normal couples will spend evenings watching box sets on TV – we will research car parts, modifications [and] look at what's new on the scene," King said of her relationship.
King now tours her car at shows across the country and said its daring design led to her being accepted into the culture.
She described her car's look, which she spent more than 100 hours working on, as being "very bold, very feminine".
"Normally, it's women and children in the cars that love it. We do get some double takes from people," King added.
"Sometimes people aren't 100% sure about the colour but it's not ignored, the colour starts the conversation.
"We have women coming up to me in supermarket car parks telling me how much they love the colour, how bold it is and how much they wish they could do that to their cars too."
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