Passion for our favorite teams doesn’t end when the game is over. Bragging rights, fantasy sports, NCAA brackets, and watching the latest sports news is a 24/7 job for any sports junkie. The game is as much a religion as it is superstitious. Eating the right foods, crossing your fingers, and wearing that salsa stained jersey is all part of the ritual.
But some fans go beyond the ritual. One Seattle Seahawks fan famously got a tattoo of his team winning the super bowl before it happened that very same year. Unfortunately, that inspired one unlucky Detroit Lions fan to do the same in 2015 to no avail. Yet, fandom may never extend as far as the thousands of dollars fans have poured into modifying their cars into their tributes and idols of their favorite sports teams.
Hyundai’s World Cup Cars
The World Cup is probably the most celebrated sports event worldwide besides the Olympic Games. In 2010, Hyundai took part in the festivities by modifying their own i10 models with World Cup themes. These cars were displayed in the UK after being previously damaged by Top Gear expert Jeremy Clarkson.
The exterior of each car is outfitted with artificial turf replicating the design of a soccer field. One interior of the car has a blue color scheme and the other grass green. The headrests of each vehicle have been replaced by footballs, the side mirrors with football cleats and the rims with footballs.
Attempting to modify a ride like this will be next to impossible unless you own a giant soccer ball to place on your roof. While this may not be legal, there are many aftermarket accessories available to modify your ride. Soccer designed rims are very cheap and you can buy synthetic car covers modeled after artificial turf designs to wrap around your entire exterior. The rest just requires you to be creative. Buy some soccer inspired seat covers, floor mats, steering wheel designs and wrap a pair of soccer cleats around your rearview mirror. Slap on some team logo stickers and you’ve got yourself a car ready for the 2018 World Cup, MLS Championship or UEFA Cup.
Hawkmobile
The Seattle Seahawks may have the most dedicated fandom car club in the world. This infamous ride comes from a Seahawks fanatic from Everett, Mike Wear. The inspiration supposedly came from a classic, blue Volkswagen Beetle that appeared for sale on Facebook. With some Seahawk logo stickers and some vinyl wrap, he was able to trick out this classic car into his prized Hawkmobile.
The Hawkmobile was invited to join the Wheels of Boom, a Seahawks dedicated car club that tours the Northwest United States. Soon, Mike Wear was touring charity events, driving down Evergreen Speedway with his ride, and meeting some of the Seahawks most notable players. If that’s not incentive enough to show your spirit, imagine impressing Richard Shermon with your tricked out your ride.
Before you go modeling your car after the Hawkmobile to make some money of your own, it’s ideal to consult the organization your car is modeled after for copyright issues concerning their logo usage. With that said, a few rolls of vinyl wrapping shouldn’t cost more than a few hundred dollars and it adheres to cars without any sticky residue. They also last five-to-seven years and some members of the Wheels of Boom use Exacto knives to make the cutouts. Wear painted his hood panels green and slapped on some Seahawks stickers to the complete the design.
Altogether replicating a ride like this depends on finding the right car like Wear’s Volkswagen Beetle. Altogether, the cost of a ride like this won’t be more than a few hundred dollars and none of the vinyl cutout does any damage to the car’s paint job.
Finding the Best 49ers Ride
The 49ers CEO Jed York conducted his own Twitter contest to find the best 49ers inspired vehicle for an upcoming game. At the top of the list was this beautiful Ford Mustang. With a simple gold paint job, some cool Mustang mods and a 49ers sticker slapped on the side, this car won as the best 49ers inspired vehicle in many fans’ minds.
The beauty of this car lies in the simplicity of the 49ers design. Unlike other teams, the 49ers brand is built around a simple metallic gold and red color scheme. With a metallic gold paint job, red LED lights, red rims, and a 49ers decal, you can transform any classic car into a team inspired mobile statue.
Antonio Brown’s Insane Rolls-Royce
Perhaps the most insane football inspired vehicle came from a professional NFL player himself. This stunning Rolls-Royce was purchased by Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown for his own personal collection. The seductive black design perfectly fits the Pittsburgh Steelers color scheme along with a yellow stripe down the middle of the car. The most surprising feature of this car is Brown’s preposterously big signature lining the passenger side of the car.
While a Roll’s Royce may not fit into your personal budget, a classic muscle car in black could provide the same edge and beauty that a Rolls-Royce does. With a solid color design that conforms to your team’s brand, you can place an accompanying stripe down the middle of your car to truly show off your team colors. Instead of finding a professional NFL player to place an enormous signature on your car, it may be cheaper and more available to simply slap a decal on the side of your ride or some jersey numbers from your favorite players that conform to the color scheme.
“Pac-man Fever truck”
If you’re not afraid to piss off a few Chicago Bears fans than this uniquely inspired Pacman, Green Bay Packers truck could be the ultimate ride for you. Rodriquez ironically acquired the Green Bay helmet from a garage sale for $15 dollars and stuck it on the roof of his truck. Featured on the interior is countless Packers memorabilia, including green and yellow Christmas lights. On the outside is a giant Pacman (cheesehead) devouring Chicago Bears decals. The Green Bay-Chicago rivalry is one the most renowned in the sports world and this truck perfectly displays Rodriguez’s team spirit while expressing bragging rights.
If you’re looking to create a fun-themed ride like this than the first step is obviously coming up with a theme. Rodriquez painted his side panels with green paint and the rest of the car in yellow. You can find countless sports team decals online for a low price and you can modify the interior of your car with team inspired seat covers, steering wheel covers, and dashboard memorabilia. Add some flags, your own team helmet, and some tailgating gear in the bed and you’ll ready to show your pride come next season.
