Cars were originally designed to transport people from one place to another. Apparently, that was not entertaining enough.
Today, drivers can decorate their vehicles with dancing ducks, furry steering wheels, fake eyelashes, miniature trash cans and custom air fresheners featuring the face of their dog, or for the especially confident, themselves.
Some accessories are genuinely useful. Others exist because someone looked at a perfectly normal dashboard and decided it needed a plastic animal wearing sunglasses.
Here are some of the weirdest and funniest car accessories you can actually buy.
Dashboard Decorations That Never Stop Moving
A clean dashboard is simple, peaceful and free from distractions. Naturally, many drivers cover it with objects that shake constantly.
Solar-powered dashboard dancers move whenever sunlight hits them. Popular versions include flowers, animals, aliens, hula dancers and cartoon characters. Bobbleheads are another classic option, allowing your favorite athlete or celebrity to silently approve every questionable driving decision you make.
Dashboard ducks have also become popular (just ask Jeep drivers), especially ones wearing tiny helmets, cowboy hats, sunglasses or gold chains. You can find plenty of these novelty decorations through large online marketplaces and independent sellers.
Their practical purpose is limited, but they do give passengers something to stare at while you casually blow through the next stop sign.
Cup Holders That Are Trying Too Hard
Cup holders have one job. Keep a drink upright.
Novelty cup holders have turned that simple responsibility into an art form. You can buy versions shaped like skulls, flowers, cartoon mouths, robotic hands and even miniature toilets (don’t ask).
There are also oversized cup-holder trays with separate spaces for drinks, fries, dipping sauces, phones and sandwiches. They are perfect for anyone who has decided their driver’s seat should also function as a dining room.
Expandable adapters are available for giant water bottles and travel mugs. Some hold drinks so large that they begin to resemble passengers. At that point, the bottle should at least contribute toward gas.
Steering-Wheel Covers With No Interest in Subtlety
A regular steering-wheel cover can improve grip and protect the wheel from wear. A fuzzy steering-wheel cover can make your car look like you are controlling it through a small household pet.
These covers come in fake fur, rhinestones, leopard print, camouflage, cartoon patterns and nearly every color imaginable. AutoZone currently carries both practical covers and more playful options, including an ultra-soft fuzzy version for drivers who feel their steering wheel is simply not luxurious enough. Walmart also offers a large selection of fluffy and furry steering-wheel covers.
Whatever design you choose, make sure it fits securely. A sliding steering-wheel cover is less of a fashion statement and more of an insurance claim waiting to happen.
Custom Air Fresheners Featuring People You Know
Air fresheners used to be simple. You bought a little tree, selected pine or vanilla and hoped it defeated the smell of three-week-old french fries.
Now, air fresheners can be personalized with photos of pets, family members, friends, company logos, vehicles and inside jokes. A picture of your dog can hang from the mirror while the real dog covers the back seat in hair. It is a complete branding strategy.
Custom Comet is a good place to find fully custom air fresheners that can be cut into any shape you desire. You can upload artwork or a photo and create one for a gift, business promotion or your own car.
Funny possibilities include your friend’s worst selfie, your cat looking judgmental or your own face with an inspirational message underneath it. Because nothing improves a morning commute like staring at yourself while smelling “Tropical Breeze.”
Gear Shifters Wearing Costumes
The gear shifter is another part of the car that accessory designers believe needs more personality.
You can buy fuzzy gear-shift covers to match your furry steering wheel, creating an interior that looks as though it was upholstered with a teddy bear.
Novelty shift knobs are shaped like skulls, pool balls, glowing orbs, cartoon heads and fake grenades. That last option is particularly useful for anyone hoping to make a routine traffic stop more complicated.
Manual-transmission drivers have the most choices, although automatic vehicles can also use certain decorative covers. Just make sure the accessory does not block buttons or interfere with shifting.
Your gear knob can look like a dragon. It should still allow you to leave the grocery store parking lot.
Seat Covers That Redecorate the Entire Car
Seat covers can protect upholstery from spills, pets and children. They can also turn an ordinary car into a rolling theme restaurant.
Popular designs include leopard print, flames, skulls, sunflowers, cartoon characters, sports logos and galaxy patterns. Many sets include matching headrest covers, floor mats and seat-belt pads, allowing drivers to commit fully to a theme such as “purple zebra.”
Pet seat covers are among the more practical options. They protect much of the back seat from mud, claws and hair. The dog will still manage to shed on every uncovered surface, but at least you tried.
Eyelashes, Antlers and Other Car Costumes
Car eyelashes attach above the headlights, giving your vehicle the expression of a cartoon character who just received surprising news.
CarLashes specializes in headlight eyelashes, while Etsy features a wide selection of handmade, sparkling and custom styles.
Seasonal car costumes take the concept even further. Around Christmas, drivers can attach reindeer antlers to the windows and a red nose to the grille. Halloween accessories include monster teeth, spider legs and fake arms hanging from the trunk.
These decorations turn your car into the automotive equivalent of someone who owns a separate outfit for every holiday.
Tiny Trash Cans and Big Dreams
Miniature car trash cans fit inside cup holders or attach to the center console. Some resemble normal household bins, while others look like coffee cups, animals or robots. The funniest part is the optimism.
Buying one suggests you will carefully place every receipt and wrapper inside it. In reality, most of the garbage will still end up on the passenger-side floor beside three empty water bottles and a cheese curd from another decade.
Still, these containers can be useful on road trips. Even a tiny trash can gives straw wrappers somewhere to live besides under the seat.
Making Your Car Slightly More Ridiculous
Weird car accessories are easy to make fun of, but that is exactly why people enjoy them.
A dashboard duck, furry steering-wheel cover or personalized air freshener makes an ordinary car feel more personal. Some drivers spend thousands of dollars on custom paint and expensive wheels. Others hang an air freshener shaped like their cat and consider the project finished.
Both approaches make the vehicle memorable.
Just make sure decorations do not block the windshield, interfere with controls, create glare or affect safety equipment. The goal is to make your car entertaining, not to explain to an ornery police officer why a plastic alien prevented you from seeing a stop sign.
So buy the bobblehead. Add the eyelashes. Order the custom air freshener featuring your dog wearing sunglasses.
Your passengers might judge you, but they will definitely remember the ride.
