If you’re on a tight budget then buying a car usually involves a trawl of the second hand market where the choice of interior often plays second fiddle to the model. Since you spend more time inside your car than looking at it I find it’s not always the best compromise. There again, you can always spruce up the upholstery reasonable cheaply and make your surroundings more pleasant by keeping them clean and tidy.
Car rental Europe can help you avoid trips with the unusual decor of foreign taxicabs.Source
If budget isn’t a major factor you can always improve the upholstery yourself with a bit of needlework or employing the services of a professional. Ladies who wish to extend their fashion sense to their vehicles often fall into two camps: the creative girls who experiment with a range of material, cuts and colours and the high-end fashion conscious who opt for Chanel and Luis Vuitton fabric prints.
Chanel Upholstery
Gucci
This interior fabric was designed by Wesk Louis
Louis Vuitton
Girlie pink reigns supreme with this gorgeous fabric print and complementary styling.
A Louis Vuitton print can be carried through into the boot compartment but you may be reluctant to transport your weekly shop home.
If you thought he’s only for the feminine ladies then think again. This 2007 Hummer SUV whose interior was based on the Louis Vuitton Patton Pink embossed purse was auctioned on eBay for $69k.
Celebrity Trendsetters
Famous for being famous, Paris Hilton had her Bentley Continental GT pinked-out by ‘Pimp My Ride’ regular, West Coast Customs. The first photograph would look better if Paris had moved a metre or two to her right (yes, her right).
Hello Kitty
Staying with pink we have a fantastic melange of design and branding culminating in the amazing ‘Hello Kitty’ logo steering wheel. This vehicle made its first public appearance during the International Extreme Motor Show Thailand back in 2008.
Straying now to the experimental designers we have this interior created by someone who I can only imagine was thinking of a pre-school brief.
Noddy-esque?
‘Which colour do I want? I want them all.’
Honey Monster?
We strive to keep our homes warm and well insulated. It’s good for our pocket and the environment. Well, why not apply the same logical thinking to our cars? I hope she won’t be pulled on suspicion of drink driving; she would soon tire of ‘hair of the dog’ jokes.
Zebra Stripes
Animal stripes are always big in the fashion world, be they tiger or zebra. It’s often a case of less is more but style issues aside I just hope she can find all the controls; they seem camouflaged to me.
Pastel Pale
This interior is understated and elegant. The pink LEDs under the fascia and console give a warm glow that just adds that extra dimension to this unfussy cabin. Driving in daylight would be difficult though as light from the dash would reflect up onto the windscreen making it hard to see through. My top tip: always make sure the dashboard cowling is as dark as possible.
Rolf Sachs
Acclaimed London designer, Rolf Sachs unveiled this car at the Zona Tortona during Milan Design Week last year. He used sprinklers to decorate the exterior and buttons to the interior of the vehicle to give it a unique pattern. Going for colour and energy he daubed it with red, yellow, blue and green. Chic is the word.
And finally…
If you want fashionable upholstery ideal for the lady about town then there are options available as saleroom fresh and the Lancia Ypsilon has my vote. Voluminous purple abounds with its luxurious royal overtones. The ceiling and Velour mats carry on the rich colour and it’s little surprise that the Italian car’s interior was created by a professional designer; in this case, Elle. Leather edging and clean, white piping finishes the effect and makes the cabin an opulent place to be.
Guest blogger, Greg Coltman, writes prolifically about transport and the automotive industry and personally prefers more neutral decor.
