Nodding Dogs & Vinyl Roofs | Book review by Maggie Woods

“Everything seems to be making
a comeback: flared trousers, Dr Who
and John Travolta are all back in
fashion. So why not black bonnets,
nodding dogs and vinyl roofs?”

AUTHOR STEPHEN VOKINS TRAWLED THE WEIRD WORLD of motoring add-ons to produce a fantastic collection of items from acetylene lamps to windscreen wiper kits for his book Nodding Dogs & Vinyl Roofs: The Weird World of Quirky Car Accessories. Everything you always wanted to know (and more) about quirky car accessories.

A car, says Stephen, is a canvas upon which the owner can demonstrate a streak of individuality. Do you have a great sense of humour? Enough to stick plastic fingers to the edge of your bootlid? Or are you too serious for that? Is your car a work of art or are you mad about The Simpsons and not afraid to say so with your window blinds. Did you really miss your fluffy dice?

In the days before electric headlamps, acetylene lamps threw light on the road ahead — you didn't want to run over the man with the red flag! In the Fifties, you could modernise your car with bolt-on fins and headlamp hoods. And if you were going places in the Sixties and your MG couldn't cope with the luggage, a handy rack could be fitted to the boot.

Perhaps you'd like a bulldog or a Speed Nymph bonnet mascot or would you prefer St Christopher to lead the way? Maybe a chroma flair paint job is you're thing. Would you feel safer with a blow-up Buddy on Demand or be desperately in need of the Lightinsight, so you never miss a traffic light change from the front of the queue.

Did you know that Duesenberg cars had a sort of on-board computer fitted to them as long ago as 1928, or that in the same era Easyfit Fenders allowed you to bounce off walls, trees or even other cars without damaging your own vehicle?

A definite deterrent to those annoying tailgaters is an exhaust flamethrower. Undoubtedly impressive after dark, but beware of singeing pedestrian's boots! Or how about the Navirobo, currently only available in Japan? This little gem is an animated teddy bear that gives directions to the driver in place of a boring old screen…

Many of the accessories featured in Nodding Dogs & Vinyl Roofs were considered clever when first introduced. The Collite illuminated magnifier map reader had a price tag of 20 shillings (Ł1); and Kiddyproof door handles were another great idea in the era before childproof locks — good value at just 30 shillings each.

This list goes on. Do you remember matt black bonnets, air horns playing tunes or kits for powering windows? Read Nodding Dogs & Vinyl Roofs: The Weird World of Quirky Car Accessories for sheer fun. But be warned: When the tiger tail craze returns (as it inevitably will) there'll be panic buying. Better get yours now! — Maggie Woods

• Nodding Dogs & Vinyl Roofs: The Weird World of Quirky Car Accessories by Stephen Vokins is published by Haynes Publishing and is available in hardback from all good bookshops at an RRP of Ł7.99. ISBN: 978-1 84425 422 4.

Stephen Vokins — Stephen has worked at the National Motor Museum Beaulieu for twenty-five years as manager of the film and video department (and now also Corporate Relations Manger). His spare time is devoted to writing and broadcasting about cars, he has been a presenter on Granada's Men & Motors, writes motoring columns for a variety of publications and lives in Beaulieu, Hampshire.

home | top of page | all book reviews | all car book reviews