After last week’s original psychedelic hippie bus, and all the other moss-gathering old Japanese beaters I constantly subject you too, I’ve decided to start a new series of Outtakes: Un-Eugene-Mobiles. I don’t want to fall in the trap of perpetuating Eugene’s rep as a backwater of aging hippies, anarchists and eco-warriors. There’s a whole other side of Eugene: across the river in Ferry Street Bridge, our version of Des Moines. Although even there, you’ll still find plenty of old cars. But I’m on the hunt for the real stand-out exceptions, like this Mary Kay pink Cadillac SRX. Now a pink Cadillac does stand out, especially in funky downtown. Or maybe not…I just remembered something…
This pink Volvo 122 wagon: it’s one of the most Eugene-mobiles ever. It’s driven by the classic stereotype, straight-out-of-central-casting aging hippie. Except in her case, she’s aging very nicely indeed: downright attractive, if I might say so, in her long but whitish hair and athletic build. The two of them live in the Whitaker, a destination for many genuine original hippies fleeing the deteriorating scene in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury around 1968 and 1969. Did she make the trek to the promised land in the 122? If so, it belongs in the Museum of Hippie Culture that some local promoters have been trying to get off the ground for years.
Back to the other side of the river and Mary Kay. As you probably know, the Queen of Cosmetic Pyramid Schemes has a long tradition of bestowing pink Cadillacs to her high-performers. GM figures it’s painted some 100k Caddies over the decades in MK pink, the exact shade of which has changed some over the years. The cars are on two-year leases, and then repainted before being auctioned. Wouldn’t want elderly hippies to be buying them…might sully the image.
Given the two-year leases, I’m guessing that this MK pink gen1 SRX that I also shot downtown about two years ago is most likely driven by the same Mary Kate generalissimo. Or is that generalissima? Now if MK offered pink Subaru wagons, they’d have a ready market for them in Eugene without the expense of re-painting them.
I don’t think this is what most people likely think of when hearing the song “Pink Cadillac”… 😛
Like Eugene, Portland has its Mary Kay regions, across the river in Vancouver, USA:
PS: Always thought that side of the Willamette was all Springfield.
PPS: Did they always take back the MK Caddies? I’m sure I’ve seen some oldies still in MK Pink. Not that I care about Mary Kay, that’s for sure, just that those Cadillacs always catch the eye.
Springfield is to the east; the Willamette comes in from the south, and then makes a right turn at Springfield’s city line, then heads west right through Eugene, just north of downtown. Ferry Street Bridge is due north of downtown, across the bridge of that same name.
Attack of the Mary Kay Commandos. Run, Opus, run!!!!!
Interestingly, I saw a Mary Kay pink Cadillac in my home town of Malmö, Sweden, just a couple of months ago. It’s a very distinct shade of pink, unmistakable, one might say. It past right outside my balcony when I was out taking a smoke. A first gen SRX, just like the one in the picture above. I wondered what in the wide wide world of sports it was doing there. I guess Mary Kay is a global empire now.
They are everywhere…but they usually use local cars in the various countries, like pink Passats. But Cadillac does have a European presence, on a very small scale. Does one ever see other Cadillacs there?
“Does one ever see other Cadillacs there?”
Sure, but not in abundance. I see them all the time, but that’s just because they stand out. There have been “regular” imports of some american cars, but most are specially imported by importers specialized in americana.
In the 90’s there was a regular import of Corvettes, the Oldsmobile Alero, called Chevrolet Alero, the Pontiac Trans Sport, the Camaro/Firebird, and so on. Some trucks, some Tahoes. Cadillac tried out with the european flavouved Seville STS. The only American cars having a large presence by their own effort were the Chrysler minivans and the Jeep Cherokee.
But mostly, they were imported specially. Nowadays, you can see your regular Mustangs, Hummers, Corvettes, Chrysler 300. Cadillac had a connection with Saab, so you can see some BLS. Mostly CTS and STS, no DTS. Some SRX:s. Even some Saab 9-7X:s, though that car were never officially sold in Sweden.
The americana that sells is the bling bling versions, and I guess that’s the way all over the world. Because nobody in their right (european) mind would buy an american car for basic transport. There are so many better offerings for that in the old countries. Americana sells because they stand out from the crowd, and they are usually sold to enthusiasts.
> Because nobody in their right (european) mind would buy an american car for basic transport.
Just like no one in their right (American) mind would buy a European car for basic transport.
The grass is always greener…
It is a global empire now.
My wife, who’s in her 16th year with MK, was rattling off some stats about Mary Kay’s global reach. And they are the best selling skin care/cosmetic brand in the USA; have been for some time.
One stat…MK’s made more female millionaires than anything or anybody else in history.
Wikipedia has a whole section on MK cars. The chart there says MK entered Sweden in ’92.
“In the United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain and Ukraine, the car is a pink Mercedes-Benz. In Argentina, one receives a pink Ford, while in Taiwan, it is a pink Toyota. In Australia, one gets to choose between a Ford Falcon, or Volkswagen Beetle. In China, the vehicle is a pink Volkswagen Santana. In the Nordic countries you receive a pink Volvo V50.” Cadillac must be a choice there now too.
I’d hate to see a MK Volvo.
Yikes, that looks just like my car, except mine’s white!
Wikipedia hints at the underside of the MK car business, which is that the cars are only leased, not given away, and also that the “lucky” MK consultant has to maintain a strict sales quota for the duration of the lease; if she falls behind in any month, she gets billed for the lease. Also, that’s why there are no used MK cars out there. They get repainted before they are resold after the leases expire.
just so bloody hideouse to think the same company that made all those beautifull elegant cars ..has been reduced to makeing this
A co-workers wife has a pink Mary Kay CTS. According to him, the new ones are being done in a pink vinyl wrap, rather than paint, so that they can more easily changed back to white at the end of the lease.
I just happened to see one parked at my local supermarket parking lot today on the way home. I was thinking ‘who would paint a nice new caddy pink’ then it dawned on me!
Way back in the late 50s my Granpa died and my Nana decided in her early 60s to learn to drive once schooled up and licenced she had their blue Morris Minor resprayed Pink she then proceeded to drive the wheels off it who ever taught the old girl how to drive taught her great car control too riding with her as a kid I remember her having the tail out on corners and watching her feed in opposite lock as if born to it. My nanas point to point times used to amaze my dad at times backing off for corners didnt occur to her. She was heart broken when the pink Morris was traded for a used HB Viva and she never liked the newer car.
One of my bosses has a new SRX, thankfully in Black. While not a car for me, it is a looker.
Moving on, it seems that here in Michigan Mary Kay really took the easy way out for a while, all you would see were Pontiac Grand Prix and Grand Am’s usually in red with fancy “Mary Kay Edition” emblems glued onto the the trunk and front doors.
Not sure what they use for cars now…
MK must’ve gotten cheap for a while in the late 70s and early 80s too, as I can distinctly recall seeing pink Buick Regals back in those days.
Ugh, that SRX is hideous regardless of color! Looks like an inflated Toyota Matrix….
You must have to sell a LOT of cosmetics to qualify for that Cadillac. I have a friend who has a Mary Kay Hyundai, but it’s not pink (it has Mary Kay emblems in the windows)