John Pszeniczny designs a timepiece that’ll make you pump your brakes. There are automobile-themed watches, and then there are true, automobile watches. John Pszeniczny’s F1/Carbon GMT concept is most definitely the latter. The digital display shows the time at any of the 18 race tracks on the 2008 Formula One calendar. Just like an F1 car, the watch is constructed of carbon fiber, metal and rubber – with rubies and Swarovski crystals for some added flare. As for price? Let’s just say it’s well into the 5-figure neighborhood. So you might want to try winning yourself a race first.

The dedication of some folks to remaining planted firmly on their keisters is truly impressive. Some ambitious couch potatoes in Indiana are offering these motorized loveseat and armchair rides so that now you don’t even have to get up off the couch to go for a spin! Armchair Cruisers provides custom-built seating fitted with electric and gas motors, starting at about 3000 bucks. Suggested uses include cruising to the park with a good book, bundling up and checking out the neighbors’ Christmas-light displays, and tooling around car shows (I guess it beats the hell out of the standard-issue NASCAR chair). The running lights and signals seem to be a nod to street-legality, and though I really doubt any of these "vehicles" could ever be registered, the site makes it clear that you’ll easily be able to laugh your way out of a ticket when you get pulled over. At the site, they’ve a lot of pretty goofy video of the hot seats in action. Their tagline? "We make fine furniture…FAST!"

Via BornRich.

Continue reading "Now That's Lazy! Armchair Cruisers." »

Unlike those beverage-cooling cupholders that run off the a/c system, Ford’s new in-car fridge has its own compressor and claims to be able to lower the temperature of foods and beverages up to 41 degrees. Though it’s got a pretty small capacity, it’ll at least be able to keep those summer popsicles from turning to goo on the drive home, and to chill that first six-pack during the long, creeping line into the NASCAR infield. Problem is, you may have to buy a Flex to get one. I’m not the most gadgety person, so I’m not sure how Ford’s integrated fridge stacks up against those thermo-electric aftermarket units that plug into the cigarette lighter. Anybody tried one?

Tiny bonsai trees are meant to evoke the peace and tranquility of a Japanese garden. And what could be more peaceful and tranquil than wrecking a car in a Japanese garden? Crash Bonsai creates these miniature zen-inducing crash scenes by melting, warping and crushing die-cast cars and wrapping them around those tiny trees. Prices on these diminutive wrecks range from 50 to 125 bucks. I guess it’s nothing you couldn’t do yourself with a bench vise and a couple of Hot Wheels, but on the other hand there’s a lot of art you could say that about. See more pics below the jump!

Via Jalopnik.

Continue reading "Crash Bonsai: Carnage in Miniature" »

While there’s a lot of us here who can say that, due to frugality or convenience, we’re no stranger to using automotive seats for furniture, Formula One driver Takuma Sato has kicked it up a notch by offering this signature F1 gaming seat for about $600 US. Looks like they’re not available in the US at this point, but Sato better hurry it up if he wants to cash in—the contraption just happens to be the exact value of the economic-stimulus rebate that we’ll all be getting in May! Meh, I think I’d rather spend mine on my cars. Via BornRich.

There’s a lot of faux-vintage car audio equipment on the market, but what’s cool about this Becker unit is that it boasts iPod compatibility, internet connectivity, turn-by-turn GPS navigation, and voice recognition capacity—all in a package that’ll blend seamlessly with the interior styling of your vintage gullwing 300SL. Becker is the erstwhile supplier of factory stereos for Mercedes (they mostly use Alpine now, Sean tells me) and was known for some pretty high-end stuff back in the day—this piece is actually modeled upon the pinstripe-design radios they started producing in the 60′s. At around 2300 bucks, it’s more than a little pricey, and so far it’s only available in Europe. A US version is being developed for later in the summer.

Source: Dvice via AutoMotto

In third-world countries, folks have been wearing sandals cut out of old tires for as long as there’s been tires. But here’s a novel concept: why not craft attractive handbags out of old truck inner tubes, smack on a designer-level price tag, and call it good? English Retreads has been in the business for a few years, and their products are admittedly pretty cool—since they’re made from recycled product, each one’s different, and in many cases you can see factory markings and even the ghost of the tire’s former tread imprinted on the tube rubber. But here’s what’s really cute: every item in their line of lady-bags and man-purses has an automotive-themed name: you can get a Beetle, a Bentley, or accessories like the Fan Belt and the Sidecar. My major sticking point is the pricing—I like stuff that’s cheap or free, it seems a little crazy to shell out such big bucks for items that you could probably make yourself with a rivet gun and a few junkyard scraps. Verdict: cute, but spendy.

• They keep the good news coming: Six new JL Audio W3V3 subwoofer systems are now available. The 10" FlatWedge box caught my eye – less than 5" deep, but packs a JL W3V3 woofer!
• Bassform’s "Does Your Box Rock" Challenge at the Spring Break Nationals in Daytona is ON. Competitors will showcase their vehicle-specific custom fiberglass enclosures for a chance at cash prizes. Bassforms locked down a great line-up of judges, we’ve got the list.
• Gotta Zune? Play any good games on it lately? You will be soon!

Maybe I’m getting a little tired of all the furniture and appliances made from car sections that’ve been making the rounds lately, but this liquor cabinet made from the ass-end of a wood-paneled van is just too cute to pass over. Wouldn’t it look great in your rec room? Not for me, because even at the "Sale Price" of $2850, it’s more than I’d shell out for a whole car. Go below the jump to see it displaying the goods!

Via BornRich

Continue reading "Cute Product Alert: The Minibar For Wealthy Surfers" »

• Over the weekend we showed the first part in Alpine’s Sinister Six demo car build videos, and we wrapped it up with Part 2. It’s still hard to believe this beast started life as an $80,000 BMW 645…. The resemblance is there, but this demo car is a work of art!
• Griffin sent us a few of their in-car iPod charger/wireless transmitters to take for a test drive and we just finished our review of the first product. The gadget worked very well – we were impressed!
• Pioneer’s MINI-mino impressed us both on CarDomain and SoundDomain, so we couldn’t resist writing about it either! We got a few details on the product line-up and modifications, but not much info was available at press time. It’s definitely worth a second look and we’ll do our best to get even better details!