Watusi Theme -

The Watusi Theme exists in the same space as the Hawaiian-shirted Tiki bar and the faux-Polynesian "Aloha" trim on station wagons. It is a whitewashed fantasy of the "other." For a modern collector, appreciating the Watusi requires a double consciousness: You can love the design, the colors, the audacity of the wavy stripe, while also acknowledging that it was a clumsy, commercial extraction of African culture.

It’s not a place. It’s not a tribe. In the lexicon of American nostalgia, “Watusi” is a vibe. Specifically, the “Watusi Theme” refers to one of the most peculiar and beloved automotive aesthetics of the early 1960s: a factory-custom trim package offered on the 1963-64 Dodge Dart. But to understand the trim package, you have to understand the dance, the fear, and the frantic search for identity that defined pre-Beatles America. Watusi Theme

The Watusi Theme teaches us a simple lesson: A Congolese dance becomes a New York craze becomes a Detroit paint scheme becomes a collector's holy grail. The meaning changes, but the rhythm remains. The Watusi Theme exists in the same space

In New York, a dancer named Baby Laurence and a Latin bandleader named Ray Barretto capitalized on the frenzy. The “Watusi” (a Western corruption of the Tutsi people) was a solo dance—a side-to-side, arm-lifting, hip-swaying shuffle performed to a pounding, drum-heavy beat. It was the first major “African-inspired” dance craze of the decade, predating the Mashed Potato and the Twist. It’s not a tribe