Opera Lamps

Opera lamps are small decorative lights mounted on the exterior b-pillar. They were all the rage on ‘70s, and even ‘80s, domestic luxury cars. These lights, aside from looking pretty, had little practical application. But they did give the car a more formal appearance similar to a limousine, or formal carriage (a recurring theme). Designers didn’t take opera lamps lightly either, as they developed from simple lens-over-bulb accents to more complex electro-luminescent ordeals. Looking back, they seem both tacky and somewhat unnecessary, perhaps like just another set of bulbs to replace.

Fancy Trim Designations

Today, upscale versions of a model are often identified with simple letter or number monikers, like Volvo’s S80 “T6,” or Cadillac’s CTS “V” series. This, of course, doesn’t sound very fancy, now does it? Forty some years ago, however, fancy was in. The most famous upscale trim package term was “Brougham.” Various automakers of the time slapped the Brougham badge on their distinctively-trimmed (and pricier) versions of a particular model. The boxy Ford Grenada even had an upscale “Ghia” version. Yes, “Ghia,” like the Italian firm. But it was General Motors that seemed most keen on this practice, coming up with trim packages like the Monte Carlo “Landau,” Ninety Eight “Regency,” Seville “Elegante” or my personal favorite, the Sixty Special “Brougham d’Elegance.”

Cut Pile Carpeting

Anyone who has driven a large car of the decade can attest to the excellent carpeting these vehicles usually featured. Some looked like cuts of shag carpet pulled straight from the designer’s own living room, or perhaps a creepy motel room. With carpet like this, it was difficult not to take your shoes off and relax. Nonetheless, these carpet jobs appear gaudy today, especially in typical ‘70s colors. If you don’t mind the look, however, they are quite fantastic.

Pillow-topped Seats

Who wouldn’t want pillow-topped seats for those long, boring road trips? While present-day luxury cars often feature stiff, conservatively padded bucket seats, in the 1970s designers stopped at nothing to provide the utmost in derrière comfort. Cars like the Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz featured thick button-tufted pillow-topped seats, which were literally pillows attached to additional padding below. It is perhaps the closest thing to driving your couch down the expressway. Of course, today these comfortable seats appear geriatric at best and downright garish at worst.

Opera Windows

Those who lived during the 1970s will likely remember the immense popularity of two door “personal” luxury cars. These luxury coupes almost always featured small, fixed decorative rear passenger windows that were separated from front windows by a thick b-pillar. The idea was to give rear passengers a sense of privacy, or to some, claustrophobia, while complementing the luxurious appearance of the car. Even less expensive coupes like the Chevrolet Monte Carlo sported small rear windows reminiscent of a formal carriage. Though sometimes tacky, these windows were still somewhat useful (and a few looked good).

Spare Tire Humps

Like many other styling features on this list, spare tire humps were attempts to mimic the custom-bodied cars of the early 20th century. The first Lincoln Continental sported a covered spare, which was both functional and attractive. Lincoln designers pushed this feature on many Continental models over the years, even when they were no longer used for housing a spare and looked awkward, if not tacky, on more modern luxury cars. However, some (like the Continental Mark III)

Bizarre Houston Art Car Parade

On May 8th about 250,000 spectators gathered in Houston to see extremely modified vehicles. Houston Art Car Parade is world’s largest car parade of its kind. Lets take a look at some really weird and bizarre modified vehicles from Houston Art Car Parade 2010.

Ugly car

Ugliness is a property of a person or thing that is unpleasant to look upon and results in a highly unfavorable evaluation. To be ugly is to be aesthetically unattractive, repulsive, or offensive. Like its opposite, beauty, ugliness involves a subjective

World’s Longest Car Ever

 This 30.5-m long (100-ft), 26-wheeled limousine, which was designed by Jay Ohrberg of Burbank from California, USA. It has been recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. The car is being used mostly for film productions and exhibitions. Inside, its equipped with a large Jacuzzi tub, a sun deck, a helipad, a swimming pool with diving board, a king sized bed and a satellite dish. One of the few problems that people might encounter is that this limo is extremely difficult to drive.

A cop car from the future

A police car is the description for a vehicle used by police, to assist with their duties in patrolling and responding to incidents. Typical uses of a police car include transportation for officers to reach the scene of an incident quickly, to transport criminal suspects, or to patrol an area, while providing a high visibility

Brightening Vehicular Graphics Artworks

Brightening Vehicular Graphics Artworks - There are a great variety vehicle graphics available in the market place and you can easily choose the one that captures your personality and creativity. Here are some excellent Vehicular Graphics Artworks.

Automobile with some artificial intelligence

A smart car is an automobile with some artificial intelligence (or "AI") functionality. As automation technology has progressed, especially in the decades after the invention of the integrated circuit, more and more functions have been added to automobiles,

Coolest Concept Cars

Concept cars are usually shown at the big motor shows throughout the world. They’re shown to consumers to gauge their reactions to radical design changes or concepts. The idea of the concept or show car was developed by the GM designer Harley Earl. The concept auto is a real car, but it never goes into production directly. It would

Poor car dragged through ice

Off Roading is a recreational pursuit popular among a sub-section of the owners of four wheel drive or all-terrain vehicles. The term "Off-Road" refers to a driving

Geneva Motor Show Highlights

 Geneva Motor Show Highlights - Considered as one of the major international auto shows, the Geneva Motor show is set to reveal more than 50 cars, trucks, and concepts to the press. Here are some top presentations from 2011 Geneva Motor Show.

Awesome concept car

This car features an open top cockpit and a mid-engined rear-drive configuration and weighs just 1150kg. Power comes from a 5.0L V8 engine sourced from Mercedes Benz that·s mated to a five-speed

Shipwreck Survival Tips

1. Always read instructions carefully
2. Do not drink urine. Or sea water. Or bird blood
3. Do not eat jellyfish. Or fish that have spikes. Or fish that have parrot like beaks. Or that puff up like balloons.
4. Pressing the eyes of fish will paralyse them

5. The body can be heroic in battle; if a castaway is injured, beware of well-meaning, but ill-founded, medical treatment. Ignorance is the worst doctor, while rest and sleep are the best nurses.
6. Put your feet up at least 5 minutes every hour

Nice car gets totally destroyed

Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel (combustion) with associated flame, heat, and light. The flame itself is a thin region of gas where intense chemical reactions are taking place. The reacting gas in this area is often hot

Wackiest Shift Knobs

Shift knob is one of most important parts of any vehicle. Many people love to design shift knobs of their vehicles according to their favorites. Here are the some  most bizarre shift knobs for your inspiration.

Mini Morris office tables

An office is a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organisation with specific duties attached to it the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to

Dream Fantasy Cars

 For most mortals, super cars, high-performance specialty cars, and ultra- luxury vehicles are the stuff of fantasy. But even when money is no object, some of these exclusive vehicles are still barely a reality:  they are only available in very limited editions, some are custom-made to order, and others never make it off the design page, other than as a prototype or two.

Golden Porsche

Porsche, is a German sports car manufacturer, founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche, the engineer who also

Sci-Fi Bike Made out of Spare Parts

  The Bangkok worker used recycled materials from old cars and bicycles to create a monster machine which is sculpted to look like a beast.

Wooden Miniature Motorcycles

 These incredible wooden miniature motorcycles are carved out of oak, beech and pine to a 1:12 scale. The motorcycles have disc brakes, turn signals, gear shifters, rear view mirrors, and handlebars.

Ugly american cars with weird hydraulic suspension

Hydraulics is a topic of science and engineering subject dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Hydraulics is part of the more general discipline of fluid power. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical

Some sort of railroad car

Car-trains are a possible key advance in transportation technology. They have the potential to alleviate congestion by increasing throughput (number of vehicles per lane per hour) by a factor of at least two.

Car styling

An automobile (also motor car or simply car) is a wheeled passenger vehicle that carries its own motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles

Most Beautiful Cars of 2011

 1. Ferrari 599 GTO

2. Jaguar XKR-S

3. Audi R8 GT Spyder

4. Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid

5. Audi A7

Craziest Chopper Designs

A chopper is a type of motorcycle that was either modified from an original motorcycle design or built from scratch to have an authentic appearance. The main features of a chopper that make it stand out are its longer frame design accompanied by a stretch front end.

Affordable and Stylish Solar Powered Cars

 This wondrous car is a surprise for everyone. Formula zero method means its hat gets energy from the light of Sun. The batteries are being charged by solar lever. By it seems like a very luxurious but by use it is less expensive.

Solar energy is radiant energy that is produced by Sun. This process is called nuclear fusion. Sun is a giant ball of gas which is based on hydrogen and helium.

Due to petroleum crisis solar energy is very important for every sector. Scientists are inventing new things that can be work with solar energy.

Home-made electric car

A battery electric vehicle is an electric vehicle that utilizes chemical energy stored in rechargeable

How to make a small car smaller

A car is a wheeled passenger vehicle that carries its own motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to

Car with foam

Humour or Humor is the ability or quality of people, objects, or situations to evoke feelings of amusement in other people. The term encompasses a form of

Car vandalism

Anger is a (physiological and psychological) response to a perceived threat to self or important others, present, past, or future. The threat may appear to be real, disscused, or imagined. Anger is often a response to

Half car in someones apartment

One half is the irreducible fraction resulting from dividing one by two (½), or any number by its double; multiplication by one half is equivalent to division by

Funny model cars

A model car is a toy which represents an automobile, generally reproducing the shapes of actually produced vehicles, as a small scale model. Classic car is a term frequently used to describe an

Post-it jaguar!

A Jaguar covered up in 14,000 post-its. A prank made by an office worker’s colleagues. It took them a mere two hours to accomplish this prank...

Some people like to rebuild their car

A luxury vehicle is a relatively expensive vehicle which includes additional features designed to increase the comfort of the driver and passengers. Luxury vehicles usually place more emphasis on comfort, appearance, and amenities such as technological upgrades and

Beautiful Fat Carrera

The Fat Convertible is the creation of Austrian sculptor Erwin Wurm. Erwin Wurm has worked on a series of 'fat car' sculptures which are "puffy, obese, life-size sculptures that bulge like overfilled sacks". The first of his Fat Cars was developed with Opel designers but they were unsuccessful in achieving the kind of shape that Wurm had in mind. In order to create the quality of fat, the

Cool transportation

Car-trains are a possible key advance in transportation technology. They have the potential o alleviate congestion by increasing throughput (number of vehicles per lane per hour) by a factor of at least two. Vehicles that are physically coupled or able to follow

Push that car

In physics, force is an influence that may cause an object to accelerate. It may be experienced as a lift, a push, or a pull. The actual acceleration of the body is determined by the vector sum of all forces acting on it (known as net force or resultant force). In an extended

It must be really fun to drive this car

Off Roading is a recreational pursuit popular among a sub-section of the owners of four wheel drive or all-terrain vehicles. The term "Off-Road" refers to a driving

Exlusive limousines

A limousine (or limo) is an unusually long luxury car, traditionally black or white in color. Limousines are most commonly driven by chauffeurs. While some limousines are owned by individuals, many are owned by governments to transport senior

Cool concept car

A concept is an abstract idea or a mental symbol, typically associated with a corresponding representation in and language or symbology, that denotes all of the objects in a given category or class of entities, interactions, phenomena, or relationships between them. Concepts are abstract in that they omit the differences of the things in their extension, treating them as if they were identical. They are universal in

Pimp my car, geek style

A geek is an individual who is fascinated by knowledge and imagination, usually electronic or virtual in nature. Geek may not always have the same meaning as the

A cool car for party on the road

Disco is a genre of dance-oriented pop music that was popularized in dance clubs (discothèques) in the mid-1970s, and which dominated mainstream pop until the late 1970s. There was an off-shoot form of European disco (see: Eurodisco). Disco songs usually have soaring, often reverberated vocals over a steady four-

Fascinating off-road driving

Off Roading is a term for driving a specialized vehicle on unpaved roads, such as sand, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks and other natural terrain. Rock crawling is a highly technical category of off roading. Vehicles are typically modified with larger than

Beautiful radio-controlled cars

A radio-controlled car (R/C car) is a powered model car driven from a distance using a radio control system. Inputs from joysticks (or a wheel and a trigger) on a transmitter are sent to the car's onboard receiver. The receiver interprets the radio signals and sends electrical pulses to the servo and electronic speed controller, making the model turn its wheels and the

A Jeep totally buried in dirt

Jeep is an automobile marque (and registered trademark) of Chrysler. It is the oldest off-road vehicle (also sport utility vehicle – SUV) brand. It inspired a number of other military Light Utility Vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second oldest 4-wheel-drive brand. The original Jeep vehicle that first

Wonderful porsche-porrera

The Carrera GT's development can be traced back to a Porsche successor to the 911 GT1-98 and LMP1-98 racing cars that had ended after the 1998, partially due to FIA and ACO rule changes. Porsche at the time had planned on a new Le Mans prototype for 1999. The car