Design

DESIGN The Arkonik Beach Cruiser by Etienne

I first knew about Etienne Salomé from the 2019 Geneva Motor Show as I literally watched him unveil the one-off Bugatti La Voiture Noire he designed. Little did I know on that day in March of 2019, that a year later I would be inviting him to write an article for b500, the car & car culture magazine I had just launched.

Since that time in March 2020 the world has of course been in various stages of lockdown and so myself and Etienne have been getting to know each other via telephone, FaceTime and Zoom.

Fast forward to September 2021 and we finally got to meet at the launch of the car we produced together. Please indulge me in repeating that. “The launch of the car we produced together”… Yes, even now after a year or so of getting to know Etienne and working with him on our joint project, I still have to pinch myself that I have essentially produced a car with the designer of the Bugatti La Voiture Noire.

It all started with a late night conversation between us about cars (of course) and design. My own design background goes way back to 1978 when I was invited to join Terence Conran (before he became ‘Sir’), at his flagship London HQ Conran Shop, which was his design head office.

I had been headhunted by Conran himself from his Croydon Habitat store where I was ‘furniture manager’, and caught his eye with my cheeky chit-chat about the design of his new Porsche 928 which seemed to amuse him. Most 18 yearolds were too scared to even approach him, but I just ploughed straight in and clearly it meant something as within a couple of weeks I was working with him in London at the Conran Design Shop.

Sir Terence was a huge influence on the design side of my career and life and I owe him so much for such a great start to my working life.

Back to mine and Etienne’s late night calls. We discussed what he would like to design next after such an incredible Bugatti legend he designed which paid homage to the Atlantic Type 57. What could possibly come next I asked him.

Of course he had already begun the design process of his ‘Salomé Atlantic Tender’, but what car would he like to work on next?…

It turned out Etienne had a 110 Defender and like most owners was a bit ‘obsessed’ and so it was within an extended conversation we discussed his idea of stripping back a Defender into his own interpretation of a Beach Cruiser. The seed had been sewn. We played with this idea for several weeks, which included Etienne sending me several sketches before I suggested we actually produce it. Etienne called me crazy but I asked him if he would actually do it if I could find a suitable build company. After much laughter between us, the answer was a resounding yes, and so off I went to find us a build company…

Without any delay I made an appointment with the Directors of Defender restorers Arkonik who apart from being based just an hours drive from me, also just happen to be (in my opinion) the worlds best Defender restoration company. I pitched the Arkonik name to Etienne and his response was basically for me to ‘make it happen’.

The meeting with Arkonik was colourful and concluded with them completely getting the project I explained to them and they were very quickly onboard. Within a week, myself, Etienne and Arkonik had signed an agreement to produce a limited edition of five Etienne designed Beach Cruisers…

To say that the team at Arkonik are progressive and forward thinking would be an understatement. These guys are at the top of their game and it’s been a privilege to have been on the Beach Cruiser journey with them and of course without saying… with Etienne.

Friendships have been forged along this journey and were cemented at the launch in September when we could all finally be in the same room and share a glass or two to celebrate.

Perhaps fittingly I also accepted an offer from Arkonik to join them as their Global Sales & Marketing Manager, which in many ways due to the role I am now playing, sees me go back to the start of my career all those years ago when I joined Sir Terence Conran within a design, sales & marketing role.

And so onto the vehicle itself.

Etienne’s vision was to produce a completely back to basics stripped out Beach Cruiser. Something fun and exciting and above all, analogue. However Etienne being Etienne this is a vehicle which is not only stripped back, but starts life completely stripped back to it’s origins which started with Arkonik sourcing a suitable donor vehicle from which to rebuild or renew literally everything from the chassis upwards.

The difference with this vehicle is that every panel has been redesigned by Etienne, from the side panels, which are all coach built and have key design elements, through to Etienne designing the drivers side panel which would normally house the fuel filler, being taken out of the side panel completely and replaced in the load bay area so as not to detract from the side lines of the vehicle. Door panels have no exterior handles, Etienne preferring to lean in and open from the inside - all to keep the flow of the side profile as ‘one straight line’.

Our show vehicle is painted in classic Pennine Grey and Etienne wanted to add his own choice of interior in black denim which gives this particular one-of-five a classic and wholly authentic feel.

For something as unique as our Beach Cruiser we needed to continue the analogue feel throughout, which included the simplest of facias, with just the most basic controls for necessity and all coupled to a manual gearbox and a glorious 3.9L Buick V8.

Etienne wanted a very different style of steering wheel and so the Beach Cruiser has an Arkon X 15” tied with black rope, which gives it amazing grip and a very different feel. The front grille is also bespoke and recessed in black, and which houses the smoked LED headlights with dual DRL’s.

The 16” black steel wheels look amazing on the Beach Cruiser, each covered in BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A KO2’s

I love the thought of a customer driving a coast road to pick up a friend or two. Surfboards in the back, (which is finished in hard wearing Linex throughout), and a stop off at a roadside coffee shop where it’s admired by customers and passers by. This is the life of our Beach Cruiser. Etienne’s vision is now reality and all within the space of a year. Proof if needed that when you put the right team together, things can happen quickly. Of course we compromised and we negotiated between us, that’s what’s so important about this project. It’s a team build. There’s a little bit of me, a little bit of Arkonik, and a whole lot of Etienne in this limited edition Defender and I’m proud to have been involved.

The many late night ideas and calls turned into something very real. Something we have all now experienced as a hugely fun and analogue experience. The looks we get when we take the Beach Cruiser out for test drives are like no other looks seen before. People hear us coming and stop and look as we go by, many even smile and wave! This is a unique vehicle brought about by a visionary designer and built by a team of expert engineers for five very lucky future owners.