When RockShox asked us to dream up a, er, dream for an event collaboration at mountain bike World Cups, the first thing that came to mind was, of course, a Fiat Panda micro media centre.
Why a Panda? Because we spend a lot of time looking at the beautiful square curves of many Pandas when we’re working out of our office in Finale Ligure in Italy (in Finale, you can count dozens of Pandas on any journey through town – our record is 63 Pandas in a single five-minute trip to the office).
Anyway, with a lot of apprehension we rocked up at a meeting with RockShox one day and showed them our plans to convert a 1988 Panda 4×4 into a rolling roadshow of stuff and things we find fun. Printers in the boot for making zines and things, projector in the roofbox for outdoor cinema, sound system for vibes, roof rack for storage, micro awning for weather, low table and chairs for chilling and chatting. Plus, an eye-catching artwork all over it. Amazingly, they said yes!
Suddenly we had to make our idea reality. So we got in some friends and went to it, then within a few weeks we were rolling through the Alps on our way to La Thuile in Italy for our first public showing.
Gulp. Thankfully, the sun shone, people showed up, the coffee flowed and at some dark moment the sounds of enduro karaoke filled the valleys. Success.
The batch of t-shirts we made to honour the holy (literally – the hole in the floor is the Panda’s only air conditioning) Misspent Summers events sold out in a matter of days.
Finally now, some months later, we’re getting the MSS x RS Panda Wrap Tee on sale on our store. Get them while they’re hot.
