Detroit Childhood Drives Artist Camilo Pardo

At 10 years old, Camilo Pardo moved with his family to Detroit. The move would prove a major factor in the budding young artist's career, prompting a fascination with 1960s and '70s-era sports cars. Today, he's among the nation's most celebrated automotive artists.

After graduating from the Motor City's prestigious design school Center for Creative Studies in 1985, Camilo was hired by Ford Design Center in Dearborn Michigan with assignments in the company's Torino, Italy and Cologne, Germany studios. Among his most celebrated works are the state-of-the-art redesign of the classic Ford GT race car (which became the 2002 Fort GT concept car) and the wildly successful 2005 and 2006 production Ford GTs.

Today, Pardo's designs and his Detroit studio have become so beloved in the industry that they host the annual Detroit Auto Designers Night, an internationally recognized event frequented by the world's top automotive designers and executives.

By night, however, Pardo takes his art in a different direction, creating ultra-modern furniture sculptures, Space Age and automotive-inspired runway fashions and - our favorite, here at E3 Spark Plugs - large, vividly-hued fine art works on canvas.

Check out Pardo's works on his website and let us know your thoughts on the E3 Spark Plugs Facebook Fan Page.

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Two new copper spark plugs isolated against a white background. One plug is resting on the other diagonally.
A pair of gloves, hands in focus, are holding an old and new spark plug together. An engine is blurred in the background.
A full profile of a new platinum or iridium-tipped automotive spark plug isolated against a black background.
A man's hands holding a fouled automotive spark plug. The insulator of the spark plug is black and burnt.
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