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My Little Dream Cruiser

Written by

Ingmar Spit

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A cute My Little Cruiser toy car with animal ears in bright red and green against a blue-green gradient background. This version has a racing tag number on the sides in black and yellow.

I am working on a little side project! I am making something fun for our three-year-old neighbour, Jason. When I meet him outside our house, he is usually busy making chalk drawings on pavement. He uses bright colored street chalk to scribble and draw his doodles, almost daily.

Last summer I talked to himand asked him if he wanted to make a drawing in front of our house. He looked up, somewhat shy. “No,” he said. ‘I am afraid to’.

“That’s okay Jason. I get that.” I said.

“You are more than welcome to draw on our pavement in front of our house at any time you feel ready. Okay?”

He nodded.

Two months later, our doorbell rang. Jason’s mother was up front looking a bit nervous. “He told me it was okay,” she said, pointing at Jason beside her, his fingers covered in pastel-coloured chalk. I looked at him. He pointed at our pavement in front of our door. Jason had remembered our conversation and had filled our pavement with scribbles. One of them was a cute yellow car. It was awesome.

This is an artist's impression of a chalk drawing of a car made by four-year-old Jason on our pavement. We see a very simple bright yewllow car with black wheels.
An artist impression of the car that Jason has drawn on our pavement.

Jason loves cars. Or to quote him: “Not cars, vehicles.I like busses too”.

I decided to make him a vehicle. A little toy car that doubled as a nightlight. A little buddy to help him sleep.

This is a screenshot of a 3D model of a cute little toy car, which is part of a series of little cruisers for kids, created in modelling software. Here, the front of the car is shown at an angle.
This is a screenshot of a 3D model of a cute little toy car, which is part of a series of little cruisers for kids, created in modelling software. Here, the back of the car is shown at an angle.
The first rough sketch of Jason’s little cruiser

I started designing some initial prototypes. I’ve never made anything like this before. Within few weeks and some iterations and many failed attempts and prints, the first prototype was ready for assembly.

Table showing the parts of a 3D-printed model. These are parts of the Pikachibi My Little Cruiser Night Light for children. We can see the main body, the top dome with the flashlight, the tyres and axles, the wheel caps, the licence plates, and the front and tail lights. Some tools are scattered around the table.
This is a small nightlight for children. This purple, egg-shaped toy car has a blue flashlight on top. White light shines through the dome-shaped window and headlights.

When I gave it to him, he didn’t get it at first. He seemed very puzzeled by the little toy. It being a light didn’t seem mean anything to him. But as soon as we started clicking the light on and off he got really excited.

I’ve since refined the design and made some variations. This little cruiser project became something bigger. I’m currently looking into selling them, maybe make them to order and having custumizable options for it. Let me know what you think!

A cute My Little Cruiser toy car with animal ears in bright blue and orange against a blue-green gradient background.
A cute My Little Cruiser toy with animal ears with a four-colour scheme, light blue animal ears, purple body, green tires and orange wheelcaps, against a blue-green gradient background.
A cute My Little Cruiser toy car with animal ears in bright pink against a pink-to-yellow gradient background.
A cute My Little Cruiser toy with animal ears with a four-colour scheme, light blue animal ears, purple body, green tires and orange wheelcaps, against a blue-green gradient background.

Cheers, Ingmar

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