Auto-Scented

Many of us know that distinctive scent of a new car; a facet of leather the newness of vinyl, wood carpet, and metal. So instantly recognised before years of use, families clambering in, journeying until the newness scent is lost replaced by the worn smell of wood and leather alongside notes of love and family. But for one exquisite perfume brand, DS& Durga the scent of a specific car sent the nose into a dreamy world of 1980’s childhood. So the brand caught that scent and made it into a fragrance. Find out more in Auto-Scented

David Seth Moltz one half of designer perfume duo DS& Durga, was so in love with the scent of a family friends’ car from childhood that it inspired him and Kavi his perfume partner to create a fragrance inspired by this specific car, the 1985 300TD Mercedes Benz.

He describes the experience beautifully here:-

‘On saffron tanned leather seats, in clothes that look like rugs, singing “we must never break the chain”. Lacquered chestnut panelling with puffs of burning fuel’.

He shares further:-

‘In the 80s my parents drove Toyotas and Hondas. They were cool. But around the corner, an English woman drove the neighbourhood kids to school in a 1985 300TD Benz. If it was cold, it would not start. I remember jamming into the back with 6 kids (no belts) and sitting on the springy saffron tan seat just freezing; the sweet smoke of diesel coming through the warming engine (and our colour-changing ski gloves). Driving around was big in my family. We would pile in wearing our Vision Street Wear (my parents in oddly shaped orange, white, yellow, and brown shag-rug looking clothes) with our hair looking like the E.T. cast, and drive around the seaside towns of New England with the radio blaring Fleetwood Mac, Duran Duran, and Bob Marley Legend. Life seemed careless and endless – as childhood often does. Most adults of that era found the 80s vapid and in poor taste, but man, how magic it seems to the children of the 80s’. 

There is of course in many a mind’s eye, the soundtrack that may well go with open windows as the car rushes forward, fresh air billows in with the radio up as loud as it will go, everyone singing along.

The story starts its crescendo here

‘When Kavi and I bought our first car in NYC we almost went safe with some terrible modern monstrosity. But then we answered an ad on craigslist and found a pristine ’85 300 turbo diesel Mercedes-Benz for cheap. The scent was the same as I remembered. It seemed fancy to own what was once an actual luxury.  It is a car of timeless elegance. Its boxy look brings to mind all 80s movies, the Alps, and awkward fancy life that wasn’t attainable to anyone I knew in the 80s’. 

SO available in both candle and Car fragrance, meet 85′ Diesel

The notes combine to bring the scent of leather, wood, vinyl, and diesel together with notes of the earth, flowers, and the sense of an open road trip.

Find Suede, Castoreum, Diesel Smoke, Earth Dirt, Flower, Galbanum, Hiba, Leather, Smoke, Vinyl, Violet, White Violet together all collapsing in a warming flower fragrance with smoke earth and of course hot tarmac, with suede and leathery animalistic notes. Not just an ode to the car but an ode to open roads to travel to journeying and exploring the great roads with loved ones.

This 85′ Diesel and matching Auto Fragrances are an homage to that legend and smells of the air inside – so warm and dangerous.

Find out more about DS & Durga Here and buy the scents Here at E-scents