Too-Cute Car

Do you Jou Jou? Fashionable Englishmen are beginning to. These kitschy, childlike cars for adults debuted in late February as part of London Fashion Week and are being snatched up. Ital Cars Ltd. UK will build only 250 this year.

Stock colors are about as cute as the Jou Jou itself: bubblegum (pink), mint (green), lemon (yellow) and sky (blue). But, says Carol Trowel, Jou Jou’s spokeswoman, silk screening is available.

“If you wanted to have your lover’s image or favorite artwork on it, we can do that,” she says.

The cars cost roughly $15,000, take eight weeks to make and another eight weeks to be shipped to the U.S. Size-wise, the Jou Jou appears to take its cues from the classic collectible Mini Coopers, the diminutive automobiles imported into the United States from England until 1967. The Jou Jous have a fiberglass body and wood-slat seating. Reaching a maximum speed of 80 mph, the cars are perfect for congested freeways. And sunny days: Jou Jous are permanently convertible--they don’t have a roof.

For information: 011-44-181-968-8997 or https://www.joujou.co.uk.