Retro-mod your used car!

07/03/12

Every year, we see fashion designers and high street stores revisiting the past to think up new ideas, and it seems that the desire for retro and vintage fashion isn’t going to go away any time soon. So why don’t our cars reflect that too? Ok, so we might not need to revisit the clunky driving of yesteryear, but modding up your car with a few choice retro touches might bring back a bit of nostalgia for those first heady days cruising round the mean streets of, er, Grimsby.

First of all, you need to get the look right. If you’ve got a used or second-hand car, that doesn’t meant that the interior will be suitably retro in order that you can take a trip down memory lane. In fact , a lot of our used cars are perfectly modern in every aspect – meaning you’ll have to work extra hard to revamp the interior. A brown and cream wooden beaded seat cover will set the scene nicely: don’t worry about the uncomfortableness, just fling a few floral scatter cushions in and settle down for the ride. In fact, talking of soft furnishings, don’t forget the orange carpets or the fluffy steering wheel covers!

If you’re a fan of retro music (and let’s face it, who isn’t?), you’ll need a suitably vintage sound system to bust out the tunes on. In the US, the demise of tape decks in cars from 2011 signalled the end of an era, but with second hand and used cars you can still experience the joy of rewinding, fast forwarding, and that weird thing tapes do when it gets too hot in the car and suddenly your cassette of Frank Sinatra sounds more like Joe Pasquale singing ‘My Way’. If you’d like to go even more retro, what about an 8 track for your car – or even install a record player like the optional extras in Cadillacs during the 1950s?

There’s a lot of great retro second-hand cars available that mean if you really do enjoy classic design and a touch of old school, you’re sure to find something to suit your tastes. Often older cars bring back excellent memories for us – the first trip to school, your first drive by yourself, or even a road trip with friends. Shiny new cars might have that lovely ‘factory fresh’ smell, but, like our favourite pair of old shoes, those retro cars hold an appeal that can’t be recreated in a factory, but instead worn in over the years. And that’s why we love second-hand cars so much – because they’ve got stories behind them, as well as some of them having fantastic retro appeal!