LONDON: Skoda has installed a unique replica of the iconic Stonehenge - made entirely from recycled car parts - on London’s Southbank.
The sculpture, which has been unveiled in time for the evening of the Summer Solstice today, has been specially positioned to sit on little known ley lines and is set to become one of the key talking points in the capital this summer.
With the new car as its centrepiece, the audacious piece of automotive art dubbed ‘Citihenge’ by the makers, was specially commissioned to celebrate the launch of the Škoda Citigo. The giant build will be in position on the Southbank from Tuesday until today.
Citihenge, led by sculptor Tommy Gun, took a design team three months to create. The art, built using 18 scrap cars, stands at over five metres tall. Each henge is five metres wide and the commanding structure weighs a remarkable 36 tonnes.
Gun, a self-taught artist who specialises in big sculptures often made from machine parts, has exhibited at Chelsea Flower Show and The Grand Designs Show, Olympia, and was commissioned to produce a sculpture for the Tour de France.
The installation is the latest in a series of cultural creative projects undertaken by Škoda, which has included giant cakes, a car in a cage and collaborations with musicians Anastacia and DJ Tiësto.
The beacon of economical motoring will remain at Potters Fields for two days before touring Britain, with a move to the Goodwood Festival of Speed and its celebration of car culture, in West Sussex from June 28 to July 1.
“The Citihenge project has been the most amazing challenge," said Gun.
He said Citihenge "taps into my own childhood growing up on a farm where I used to love building and creating things with pieces of discarded machinery.”
The Citigo is a city car that's small outside but big inside, enough to cater for four adults.