By Weston Henderson

Weston Henderson

I was cruising through VW Vortex and found an awesome post that I just had to share with you guys: another revolutionary use for the ever-popular Snuggie, and this one lets you combine your two favorite things–laziness, and cars!

I don’t know about you, but I personally can’t stand the chill of getting out of bed in the morning. But now, I can take my bedding with me. This is totally going to be the Next Big Thing: Snuggie-while-driving will sweep the nation, like UGG boots, or like when Kris Kross wore their pants backwards for the first time. Autoblog and their buddies at MotherProof are clearly out of touch with today’s enthusiast culture on this one. Let me say it again: YOU NEVER HAVE TO LEAVE YOUR BLANKET. Like, when you’re sitting on the couch and you need to drive to the store for some more Cheetos or mayonaise? It no longer has to be a chore, and you can look ultra-cool doing it. I already ordered two so I can be Snuggie on both sides!

I’m definitely a fan of products that come in packaging resembling automotive fluid containers—hell, I’ve been waiting for years for them to market a green Gatorade that comes in a coolant jug. But until that glorious day, this motor-oil-themed shampoo will have to do. Check it out at Uncrate.

Over on VWVortex there’s a pretty hilarious thread about some of the worst K-Mart-grade wing-dings people buy for their cars. Plastic-chrome windshield-wiper deflectors? Ugh. Stick-on bullet holes? So bad  they’re good. I have to take exception with their dissing of fuzzy dice, though—under most circumstances, I think those are pretty cool. And people tend to forget that fender portholes, fake versions of which are now obnoxiously slapped onto everything, were once one of the coolest signature styling accents on the early-50′s Buicks. But I digress. What’s your least favorite aftermarket add-on?

If there’s one thing that’s lacking in conventional RC cars, it’s their inability to defy gravity. Why shouldn’t your cars be able to run up walls and across ceilings? Air Hogs must’ve been thinking the same thing, because they’ve developed an RC that uses a tiny fan to generate sufficient vacuum to let the light-bodied vehicle stick to unlikely surfaces. They’re available on Amazon for 40-bucks-and-change, though anyone who’d plunk down this kind of coin for something that should come free in a cereal box (remember those baking-soda-powered submarines?) should probably have their head examined. I mean, the final outcome of such purchase is pretty obvious: it only sort of works, and the first time it falls off the ceiling, it breaks. And that’s the end of your new toy. Via Jalopnik.

The news that esteemed watch-maker Jaeger Le-Coultre will release a watch which can pop the locks of Aston Martin’s mind-numbingly sexy DBS was all over the web yesterday, and as cool as I think both Astons and hyper-fancy watches are, I think this idea is a little silly. First off, from my understanding, the trick timepiece won’t actually start the car, so you still have to carry the key—or, in Aston parlance, the "Emotional Control Unit"—to go anywhere, and, I’m sorry, this watch doesn’t look like something James Bond would sport. In the books, 007 wore a Rolex Submariner, which, of course, is expensive and elegant. But it’s elegant like a crowbar is elegant: it has clean lines, does its job well and can take being bashed around. There’s a pic of the Jaeger Le-Coultre after the jump, but in my opinion, it looks a little too precious, and as someone who currently carries the text of everything I’ve had published over the past ten years, some of my favorite skate videos, and a burly music collection around in my pocket, I’m just not impressed that a company can make a transponder small enough to wear as a bracelet. But that’s just my opinion, what do you think about this watch? Hot or not?

Continue reading "Aston Martin Transponder Watch: Hot or Not?" »

You know the division that GM’s about to axe? Yeah, and all those Hummers that owners can’t even give away? Well hey, if you’re saddled with one and want to turn it into a useful driveway fixture, you can now repurpose it into the world’s heaviest basketball hoop stand. I guess that’s slightly better than making a boat anchor out of one, though I always get hella nervous when anyone plays ball sports near my ride. Check out the company’s homepage.

Via Core77.

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." »

As if putting a roof on a scooter wasn’t silly enough, Rocketshields now has a solution which makes even the sexist bikes look ridiculous. Sure, it might actually protect riders from some rain. But if the hoots of derision it generated from the bikers at CarDomain headquarters—who live in Seattle and have to ride in the wet all the time—are any indication, this product will go nowhere. via Gizmodo

Design student Chris Duff feels like he’s got the solution to the vandalism and degeneracy that plague our crumbling public playgrounds. Basically, it’s a rolling jungle gym that could arrive on the scene to relieve playground-deprived tots, unfurl its various play structures, supervise the subsequent merriment, then whisk the whole party off somewhere else before the riff-raff shows up to litter the place with used syringes. Maybe it’s cynical, but I just know someone would figure out how to turn this into a lawsuit. Now if only they could come up with a mobile garage complete with an air compressor, hydraulic lift, tire machine, parts washer, blast cabinet, tool chests, and engine crane all in one. Yeah, and maybe a tire swing. Now that’d be a playground! See more views of the ChamElEon below the jump.

Via AutoMotto

Continue reading "ChamElEon: The Most Fun You Can Have on Wheels?" »

I’ve never owned a car that has any cupholders at all, so I’ve never really understood how people can get so worked up about how many their ride has, how fabulously adjustable they are, how much temperature-regulating gadgetry is built into them, and so on. But this adorable french-fry holder accessory really had me tickled, until I started wondering: have we as a society become this soft and useless, that we need to be inventing ever more expedient ways to stuff our faces with greasy junk food—while we’re driving? Something about it just seems wrong, and the clip-on ketchup reservoir just seems like a great way to get your ride’s interior really sticky. Fortunately, the product is listed at the Improvements catalog (how ironic) as currently "not available." So our civilization is safe. For now, at least.