ORANGE COUNTY CHOPPERS PUTS THE LINCOLN MARK LT ON TWO WHEELS

Mike Seate, author of the book "Choppers: Heavy Metal Art" describes choppers as "1,000 watt ghetto blasters for white people.'' For the last fifty years the art and science of chopping bikes has had a cult following, and an even smaller participation rate. But an unlikely alliance of testosterone, science and art in a reality TV show has seen the cult reach the mainstream audience and business is booming.

The film EasyRider struck a chord with many, and helped make the chopper culture become more mainstream, but the industry has never before seen pin-up boys of the ilk of the Paul, Paul and Mikey Teutel.

The boys from Orange County Choppers are the subject of an unlikely hit via Discovery Channel's American Chopper, a reality TV show based in the workshop of Orange County Choppers. Discovery Channel reaches 90 million American households each week, and the show has been a runaway success, driving merchandise sales, enabling chop shops around the country to boom and bestowing celebrity status on the family.

With healthy ratings and a devoted audience, the Teutels now have a profile several orders of magnitude greater than before the show and are in high demand.

There are already books, videos, beanies, jewellery, sweets, pyjamas, clothing, die-cast scale models, belts, wallets, sunglasses and baby clothes bearing the Orange County Chopper logos.

In the last fortnight alone, the company has twice hit the headlines, once for building a chopper for automotive manufacturer Lincoln "inspired by the all-new 2006 Lincoln Mark LT luxury truck" and also for announcing extensions to the company's merchandising lines.

The Fragrance known as FULL THROTTLE

The new addition to the range is a mens fragrance, to be called Full Throttle and it's distinctly male. The fragrance was developed for Orange County Choppers (OCC) by Michael Malcom who has previously developed fragrances for rodeo stars Ty Murray and Charmayne James and is currently working on a fragrance collection for the Professional Bullriders Association that will be called 8 Seconds.

Full Throttle apparently mixes the fragrances of anise, mint, black licorice, white pepper with hints of suede and cashmere. The Mark LT Chopper

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