Autoblog

In the first half of the 20th century, inventors were kind of like the people with eBay stores: they were everywhere. Of course, there were many inventions that helped change the world, but there were some that never really took off. One of these unfortunate invention failures was the car vacuum. A 1932 Popular Science magazine highlighted this nifty little device.by saying:

"Using the exhaust gas of the automobile to clean the upholstery is the accomplishment of a recently invented device. An aluminum attachment is fastened to the exhaust pipe and the engine is allowed to idle. As the exhaust gas passes through this device suction is created at the inlet hole. Collected by a nozzle, the dust and dirt are drawn through the hose and expelled into the air at the rear of the car. It is made in three models, for cars of different size."

That's cool. By putting the vehicle's exhaust to good use this handy little invention was like the plug-in hybrid kit of 1932. Eat your heart out, Dyson guy. This thing never loses suction and you don't have to dump the bin once a week.

[Source: transporttrends.com]

Voting for the Autoblog Dirtiest Car Contest has ended and a king of uncleanliness has been crowned. Two of our five finalists quickly outpaced the field garnering the lion's share of votes in our poll. Together Chris Gallahan's 1984 Dodge Shadow and Richard Turner's Plymouth Caravelle accounted for 84 percent of the 690 votes cast. Unfortunately for Chris and his Shadow, Richard's crusty Caravelle struck a chord with voters and won with a solid 47-percent of the votes.

That's practically a mandate to clean your car, Richard. To help you do so we will be sending a Dyson DC14 Drive vacuum with car cleaning attachments to your door. I think we speak for all of Autoblog's readership when we say that a pic of a clean Caravelle after the Dyson's done its job is the only thing we ask in return for this $459.99 sweeper.

Thanks again to Dyson for supplying our grand prize, which really sucks. Seriously, ask anyone.



BTW: We're always open to new and different ideas for contests, so if you have a suggestion submit it to autoblog06@gmail.com and it will be considered.

Poll time people, and today we have the five finalists for the Autoblog Dirty Car Contest, the winner of which will receive one Dyson DC14 Drive vacuum with car cleaning attachments. As you will see after the jump, all five vehicles are in dire need of a spring cleaning. Some are perhaps beyond help, but we're offering it anyways. There are plenty of pics of each candidate after the jump, so vote for which vehicle you think is the dirtiest of the litter and the owner will be cleaning out his litter box with a Dyson DC14 Drive by the end of the week.

VOTE AFTER THE JUMP

Entries are starting to pour in for the Autoblog Dirty Car contest and we thought we'd share a shot with you of Jason Brodoski's 1991 Nissan Maxima. It's got 160,000 miles on the odometer and is used to ferry Jason, his son and their recreational equipment around town in an undeniable state of squalor. From the owner's own mouth come these words: "It's usally dirty but I cleaned it for the pics." Gotta love that lived in look, eh?

To enter the Autoblog Dirty Car Contest just do what Jason did, which is take some pics of your dirty car's interior along with a single shot of the vehicle's exterior and send them all to autoblogdirtycar@gmail.com. The Autoblog team will narrow down the entries to five finalists, and we'll poll the readership to pick a grand prize winner. The owner of the dirtiest car will receive a brand new Dyson DC14 Drive vacuum, the Ferrari of vacuums really, valued at $449.99.

Think you got Jason beat? Then take some snaps after work today and send them to autoblogdirtycar@gmail.com.

We bet a few Autoblog readers could reach under their driver seats right now and pull out a pristine french fry that dates back to the Reagan administration. Or perhaps you have a back seat upholstered in dog fur. Well, have we got a contest for you.

The folks at Dyson, makers of the most popular suckers on the planet right now, were impressed enough with Autoblog and its readership from this last post that they offered to clean up our act by providing a new Dyson DC14 Drive vacuum with special car cleaning attachments worth $459.99 as a giveaway prize. We're not even sure if this thing is on the shelves at Target yet, so we're lucky to get one to give to you.

The rules for the contest are simple. Send pics of your dirty car interior to autoblogdirtycar@gmail.com. You can include as many shots of the interior as you'd like, as well as at least one shot of the vehicle's exterior (so we know you didn't cherry pick the junk yard for an entry).

The Autoblog team will pick the five dirtiest car interiors from the lot, and then we'll poll the readership to pick the grand prize winner of one Dyson DC14 Drive vacuum.

Deadline for entries is midnight next Sunday, June 11th. Then we'll take a poll to pick your favorite of the five finalists early next week.  Only one entry per person please and we can only accept entries from within the continental U.S. (This box is huge!)

Good luck. Post any questions in the comments and we'll try to address them ASAP.

The Dyson brand has become a breakout hit in the vacuum industry.  When James Dyson began showing up in commercials with his new invention, we all couldn't help believe the stoic and measured man who said his vacuums would never lose suction. Since then Dyson vacuums have become as common inside the house as F-150s are in the garage. And since the dust and dirt we track around inside the home can be immediately transferred to the car, Dyson is introducing the DC14 Drive, a version of its midrange DC14 line of vacuums that includes three special wand attachments designed specifically to clean your car. The Car Turbine Head has a rotating brush to clean upholstery; the Flexi Crevice Tool extends and flexes to reach tight spaces under seats and the Stiff Bristle Brush works out dirt from deep carpet. The DC14 Drive will be available exclusively at Target stores in June for $459.99, just in time for Father's Day (June 18th).

[Source: Dyson]