If you can’t buy it, build it: Wanky the safety cat

Mike sent in this awesome Wanky the safety cat project –

When I got my first beater car as a proto-hoon of 16, my dad had some excellent advice, straight from the Midwestern heartland where he learned about wrenching: “Son,” he said, squinting at my barely-running Corona, popping the top on his can of Old Milwaukee, and taking a mighty swig, “You need to get yourself a JC Whitney catalog!” He knew the address by heart: JC Whitney, Chicago, Illinois, so that’s what I wrote on the postcard requesting my first catalog. Soon the first of many wonderful pulp-paper treasures appeared in my mailbox, straight from the City Of The Big Shoulders…

…and the thing that caught my attention, each time I scanned its wondrous pages, was the Winky The White Cat listing. Soft, Fluffy… and Safe! Red Eyes Flash Warning!

I wanted Winky for my car, to keep me safe with his soft fluffiness and his acrylon-like fur. But I was young and foolish, worried about image. What would my friends think? Could I blast Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables on the cassette and still sport Winky in the back window, all the while keeping some semblance of coolness? Sadly, a victim of teenage peer pressure, I couldn’t bring myself to buy Winky. A few years later, JC Whitney stopped carrying him. Winky was no more.
Now, 25 years later, I realize that all is not lost. Yeah, I can’t buy Winky (not a real one, anyway), but I can make my own!

If You Can’t Buy It, Build It: Wanky The Safety Cat – Link.