| Every great inventor has a muse. In this | | | | painting two black lines across the asphalt, |
| story, my muse is Canadian-born 80's pop | | | | and raced home to begin designing my "car |
| star, Corey Hart. Hart's song, "Sunglasses | | | | sunglasses." Now before I proceed with the |
| at night" triggered the creation of the | | | | story, keep in mind that the year is 1984; we |
| windshield sun shade. | | | | were not the most tech-savvy decade. |
| | | | |
| Side pony tails, parachute pants and acid | | | | Step One: Bringing the concept to life. I |
| wash jeans. Rubik's cubes, hair bands, and | | | | had this great idea, but how would I actually |
| Pretty in Pink. The 80's were my golden | | | | build it? Well, I was seventeen, living in |
| years and the inspiration for my greatest | | | | my parents basement, working at the local |
| invention. It was a warm June evening in | | | | watering hole; my resources were limited. |
| this wonderful decade when an idea struck me. | | | | With the $4.75 an hour I was making, minus |
| Barreling down the highway in my 83' | | | | money for gas, beer, and Def Leppard tickets, |
| Firebird-windows down, music up, cigarette | | | | I could only spare money for a bunch of |
| hanging from my pursed lips-revving my | | | | cardboard, markers, and some tape. My first |
| engine; the odometer's needle fluctuating | | | | design was modeled after a pair of Bob |
| recorded my pounding pulse. As I rocked out | | | | Dylanesque shades. The car wore the glasses |
| to Corey Hart's "Sunglasses at Night," I | | | | with the lenses on the outside of the |
| started to ponder, "What if they made | | | | windshield and the sides wrapped around the |
| sunglasses for cars?" Maybe then the next | | | | side view mirrors. The prototype didn't come |
| time I get into my car on a hot summer day I | | | | out amazing, but it had a cool style. I even |
| won't wince in pain when I shift my scorching | | | | started planning on making different |
| metallic skull shift knob into first. That | | | | styles-circular hippie frames for VW buses, |
| is when I came to the realization that my | | | | nerdy square shapes, even some frames covered |
| car's interior does not need to be hotter | | | | with bands' logos. |
| than Hades. I slammed on my brakes, my tires | | | | |