Okay, look, I get it’s late and Halloween has started. Hell, my own kid is already out there in the world, dressed strangely and demanding Reece’s Cups from as many neighbors as possible. But it’s not over yet, and I needed the time to collect all the data about which car-costumes are the most popular of the year. I’m happy to report that the state of car-costumes, often called carstumes in the car-dressing-up community, is alive and well, and we have four standout carstumes this year that I think you should be aware of. Ready? Of course you are.
Unsurprisingly, one of the most popular car costumes of the year is one of the most hyped cars of the past few years, the Tesla Cybertruck. A number of companies make these costumes, usually composed of plastic and aluminum flashing for a pretty convincing impression of stainless steel, though the carstumes seem to show fingerprints less. There are rumors that Tesla themselves has bought a bunch of these for NVH testing.
Halloween is fundamentally about scary things, and this carstume may be one of the scariest of all: an early 2000s Volkswagen carstume. These come in Passat or Tiguan or Touareg or Golf versions, and lots have an optional glowing check engine light decal, so even non-car people can feel the deep-gut fear that early 2000s VW ownership so often entails.
A popular accessory to this carstume is an empty wallet or purse.
The only non-car carstume to make the list this year is an interesting one, based as it is in the often-colliding worlds of politics and footwear. It’s a carstume of presidential candidate Ron DeSantis’ trademark cowboy boots, with their strangely elven upturned toe, widely interpreted to be indicative that the Florida governor is wearing substantial lifts in those boots.
Look at those ridiculous things. I’m a short guy myself, and Ron, if you’re reading this, just own it, man. It’s fine. It’s not your height that’s going to keep you out of the oval office. It’s not a roller coaster.
Finally, a surprisingly popular carstume is a re-package of the old ’57 Bel-Air costume, but now comes packaged with those creepy “time out” dolls that people of A Certain Age tend to bring to local car show. All together, this can transform any car, with the right amount of lawn chairs and laminated Motor Trend articles and Hawaiian shirts with more ’57 Chevys on it, into a dead-on Boomer at a car show display.
What a bold year for carstumes! Happy Halloween, friends!
Look, I know at every office party, in every grade school class, at local bars every Halloween for the past 30 years, there’s always been at least two or three Mitsuoka Viewts, but it’s consistently popular for a reason. It’s a Carstume staple, and you can’t just ignore it for this year’s passing fads.
The ’80s/’90s-themed Trunk or Treat I hosted this year featured a few pretty standard carstumes, such as Miatas draped with sheets and ’80s hatchbacks festooned with fake spiderwebs. There were also a few more elaborate getups, such as a very thorough Jurassic Park presentation (complete with Dino DNA in a false Barbasol can), and perhaps the world’s only Mitsubishi Diamante-based Ectomobile.
A few years back I had to replace the radiator in my daily driver, which required removing the entire front fascia, which I placed a little too close to my project car. This resulted in a rather lame attempt by a Nissan 200SX to disguise itself as a Jeep Renegade.
I wanted to make a Wrangler grille costume for my 4Runner but didn’t get around to it.
It would have been fun to trigger the Yota bros. I’m one of the few 4Runner owners who would in fact rather have a Wrangler.
My first Halloween carstume. Groups of bystanders beware! Oooo scary!!!
note the cape
The Simpsons…err 24 Hours of Lemons did it.
-There is a Ford Ranger with a complete fake Cybertruck body racing in California
-There is a Porsche Boxster with a VW Passat nose tacked onto the REAR so it looks to be driving backwards
-I recall at least one car racing decorated as a shoe
-There are plenty of old cars backdated to the ’50s. A Volvo 240 converted into a ’55 Chevy, and my own E30 BMW converted to Christine the killer ’58 Plymouth Fury come to mind, although I don’t recall time out dolls being involved.
Now this is
podracingcontent!Early 00’s VW. Sexy, then scary. The Succubus of cars.
I loved mine so much, but how does a car go through 3 intake manifolds in less than 80,000 miles?
VW – Our only limit is your imagination.
VW— Get in line, at the parts counter.
Laughed at the last one!
Also great choice with the Skoda 130 Rapid 😀
–and a very happy Halloween to you, Chairman Torchinsky 🙂
This article was written after torch ate 2 lbs of Halloween candy he bought “by mistake” not remembering his wife had already bought some.
I hate that I have a pair of uncomfortable boots that look weird on me, in a way that I thought was kind of attractive in a “discomfort in an age of affordable beauty is kind of heraldic and shows commitment” sense kind of looks like the DeSantis boots. Same way I could never again hear a song I loved with they lyric “My little hand trying to find it into yours, but you put it in your pocket and look away” without thinking of Trump and Melania. This version of reality ruins everything.
As long as you’re not wearing six inch lifts inside of them, they probably look a lot better than DeSantis’s boots
One of my first strong automotive related memories is sitting in the backseat of similar coupe Skoda as in the pictures of this article (minus the costumes of course, but we will come to the frightening part just now (and actually the car might have been a bit older, but whatever)).
I was something like six years old then, and I encountered propably the first time ever rear side windows in a two door car that could open. They were hinged at the front and the rear opened a few centimeters.
Well, it opened much more, because as soon as i grabbed the handle, the whole window assembly popped out of its opening! Luckily I didn’t drop it on the road, but of course the adults were at least a bit irritated and confused of that. But even then at that age I realized it wasn’t my fault and proper cars have windows that don’t detach even when kids touch them.
And once again…
My brown manual wagon dressed up as a SNICKERS® bar gets no love?
Should I be worried that my wife custom crafted a styrofoam tombstone with the epitaph…
Mazda MX-6
Born: 1987
Died: 2017
Got rid of the the poltergeist: 2021
“Ron DeSantis’ trademark cowboy boots, with their strangely elven upturned toe, widely interpreted to be indicative that the Florida governor is wearing substantial lifts in those boots.”
I think he actually has hog trotters instead of human feet.
Now that would be an interesting development, would DeSantis get more or less of the vote if he revealed himself to be a Pan-like creature with goat legs?
The more this hog trotter reveals of himself the less of a vote he will get. This boot thing is hilarious.
I dunno, if he busts out a pan flute and dances around on some furry ungulate legs I think people might find him much more captivating than how he currently presents himself.
Depends on whether or not he’s related to Torgo.
Wow..that may be the first Manos reference I’ve ever seen on an automotive site.
Now that’s something, Torgo severely fucked up his legs from the stuff he was wearing that you never see in the film, maybe these ridiculous lifts will have similarly deleterious effects on DeSantis’s legs
Every Halloween…
I refrain from cutting out ghost eyes stencils, grabbing a rattle can of black paint and sneaking into my neighbors yard under cover of darkness.
It would only take a minute to turn the tattered, soiled, wispy cover on their “project car” into the most classic of last minute carstumes.
A ghost car!
I don’t know what lies beneath that faded morgue sheet. But I’m guessing at this point it’s the scariest of all possibilities. Just a rusted out skeleton of an 82’ Iron Duke Camaro that should have been buried years ago.
Creepy. It’s probably full of spiders too.
Depends on your local climate.
Could be a nest of yellowjackets in the glovebox for all we know.
Could be both. Creepy for sure.
Maybe there’s a snake in the boot too.
Creepy…
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3d/b7/a3/3db7a3dd2353a8d54b349f4d77e87d32.png
I can actually see a clean Iron Duke Camaro being worth mad cred at Radwood.
I’ve always wondered what’s up with those weird dolls at car shows.
It’d be fun to give one a demonic Linda Blair face and rig it up to turn its head (exposing the face), vomit, and scream.
Then again that’d probably kill a few Boomers so maybe not.
And why don’t they have faces??? D:
What, no overlander?
Its a very popular carstume where I live.
Yeah, isn’t that the truth. I’m getting nostalgic for the “tuner car” one at this point. Saw one the other night, complete with the muffler and the stacked strip of monochrome auto parts decals on the door. Felt almost retro.
I hate that I read this in Dr. Zoidberg’s voice.
(Mouth full of marbles)
Friend?
Whenever I see the phrase “Good News!”, I read it in the professor’s voice. It is imprinted on my brain.
Well then. Have I got good news for you.
How about a costume of a C5 ‘Vette for a Boomer at a Cars N Coffee?
Works best if your car is an automatic, looks like it’s in practically new condition, shiny from being waxed more than driven. You get to tell people it’s worth WAY more than whatever they’re willing to offer you…
home run. My FIL (boomer) just bought a C5 Vette with 7,000 miles on it. Automatic.
He loves to tell people it’s a “50th anniversary corvette” when in reality it’s just a regular C5 from 2003 with a “50th anniversary” rear muffler placard. Not the actual burgundy 50th anniversary special edition (which isn’t worth sh*t anyway).
I mean I would flog the crap out of that thing and have some fun. But it just gets washed, waxed, and put back in the garage.
I feel bad stereotyping but when it’s so true it is so hard not to.
I hated those anniversary year cars. It was the same with the 2002 Camaro, every damn V6 advertised as a “35th Anniversary” due to the little 1967-2002 plaque on the dash, while there was an actual “35th Anniversary” model based on the SS with special, exclusive graphics and options.
Remember when GM dressed up a Cavalier as a Cadillac?
Toyota dressed up a Camry as a Lexus
Ford dressed up a Mondeo as a Jaguar too 😛
For the true hipster, how about a Toyota costume for a Cavalier?
that works too
For the extra true hipster, how about a Toyota Voltz costume for a Pontiac Vibe that is a costume for a Toyota Matrix?
That’s even better than mine, which a Rover/Sterling costume for an Acura. Too bad nobody ever saw it because it fell apart before leaving the house.
I want that Toyota badge in a GM parts bag, just to mess with people.
Seriously, Torch? An early 00’s VW costume, and you didn’t even go with the grill-free Passat?!?
YOU WROTE A WHOLE ARTICLE ABOUT IT JUST THIS WEEK!!!
What am I supposed to do with you?
Those were 90s era!
Well…
I mean….
Okay, fine.
Can I just have the Skoda?
Better than some kit cars!