Front-end bra

A front-end bra (also known by other terms such as car bra, bonnet bra, front-end cover, hood bra, auto bra,[1] hood mask, car mask, etc.) is a type of vinyl (usually black) cover that attaches to the front of a car or other vehicle to protect the bumper, hood, and sides of the fender from scratches. The inside of the bra is lined with a feltlike material.[2]

A Geo Storm with a hood bra.
1991 BMW 318i (e30) with hood bra

History

Bill Colgan, founder of Colgan Custom Manufacturing, Inc. successfully operated a trim and upholstery business in Burbank, California, for fifteen years prior to creating the car bra business.

The "Original Car Bra" was invented in 1961 when three German engineers from Lockheed walked into Bill's upholstery shop, asking Colgan if he could redesign a protective cover for their personal Porsches.

The very first pattern was for the Porsche 356. The first order for the protective covers for the cars’ front fascia (a.k.a. ‘Car bras’) was for 12 units. After that, he was asked to make 150. Yet, after the second order was given to the buyers, he stopped making car bras, in order to concentrate on the main business.

And only by the mid-1970s he realized that this business took over upholstery, and he concentrated on car bras production, having given this name to his invention. The pattern Colgan designed was the creation of the one-piece "Original Car Bra."[3][4] The word 'bra' came from the woman's breast-support undergarment, the brassiere.

The peak years of popularity of the front-end car bra were the 1980s and 1990s in the United States.

Covercraft acquired Colgan Custom Manufacturing in 2009, committed to continuing the tradition of design and manufacturing excellence Colgan Bra's are known for – setting standards by which others are measured. Still Made in USA using premium Haartz vinyl, new applications and patterns are added regularly giving new life to a tried and true automotive classic. Covercraft manufacturers high-end front-end-bras in the Colgan Front End Covers made in the United States and Economical Lebra Front End Covers made in the United States and Mexico.

Types

There are several types of car bras, including full, sport, and T-style. The 'sport' car bra covers less of the front of the vehicle (displaying more of the car's original looks) than the 'full'. The 'T-style' car bra is generally intended for trucks, SUVs and similar.[5][6] The car bra can also be carbon-based, ostensibly to absorb the microwaves used in police radar equipment and thus minimize the risk of detection when speeding.[1] Car bras are most commonly black, but are available in other colors to match the color of the vehicle.

The 'clear' car bra is actually a stick-on, transparent, protective film that can extend from the front end over the entire car body.

Some automobile manufacturers use larger bras together with disguising panels, plastic and/or tape to cover an entire vehicle (or certain parts of it) to conceal its design when developing and road-testing.

Cobra Auto Accessories introduced Diamond Style hood bras that trended in the JDM VIP car Community.

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Front-end bras.

References
  1. "bra." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 9, 2010). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-bra.html
  2. "101 Projects for Your Porsche 911", Wayne R. Dempsey, MotorBooks/MBI Publishing Company, 2001, ISBN 978-0-7603-0853-0
  3. "A Brief History of the 'Bra' by Colgan" Archived 2012-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, Bill Colgan, 1988
  4. "Car Bras Research Guide" Archived 2013-05-28 at the Wayback Machine, AutoAnything, retrieved 2010-2-9
  5. "Car Bras For New Fashion", Andrew Bernhardt, streetdirectory.com
  6. "A Guide to the Car Bra". Waxner. Archived from the original on 3 March 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
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