The Not-So-Lazy Boy
Attention couch potatoes: This may be the best news since remote control! You no longer have to lounge around motionless to spend the whole day in your favorite armchair. Instead, you can cruise around on your favorite driveable, street-legal furniture.
By Ben Blickle
2/1/2003
In 1998, Edd China needed a gimmick to help raise money for charity. He also a longed for a "comfy" vehicle to drive around in. So, with a low budget and an active imagination, China created the first Casual Loafa - an armchair and coffee-table set attached to the base of an automobile. The vehicle was so popular that China decided to turn his idea into a company called Cummfy Banana (a name that combines Edd's original goal with his nickname). These days, the company turns ordinary pieces of furniture into street-legal vehicles that can be found on the streets near London, England.
Take, for example, the Street Sleeper, a four-post bed-on-wheels powered by a VW engine. Or the Bog Standard - a motorcycle and sidecar hidden under a bathroom set. (Can you imagine sitting at a traffic light and casually turning to the look at the vehicle beside yours - only to realize that the driver is sitting on a toilet and his passenger is riding in a bathtub?)
Although cruising around in your favorite armchair or rolling down the street without rolling out of bed may seem like a dream come true, insuring drivable furniture is a nightmare. This is why if you head to England and rent a Cummfy-Banana creation, your rental rate of £1,000 per day will include a driver/mechanic. You can ride in the furniture, but you can't drive it. For those of you who can't afford to stay in bed all day, China also offers a three-hour sightseeing tour of London in the Sleeper.
Just got married, you say? Special wedding packages on the Sleeper allow newlyweds to jump right into bed right after they tie the knot. (Unfortunately, you'll have to share the bed with the Cummfy-Banana driver.)
And if your ex spots you and your new spouse cruising around in the Sleeper and begins tailing you in her MINI Cooper, rest assured, you can lose her: All China's drivable furniture can travel at more than 65 miles per hour.
The furniture has such zip that staff members often race China's creations at automobile shows and races around Europe. In fact, the Casual Loafa holds the Guinness World record for "Fastest Furniture," clocking in at a top speed of 87 mph - allowing China to lay claim to the illustrious title, "Fastest Couch Potato."
Writer Ben Blickle is an intern with BodyShop Business.