Yahoo Autos The Gear Box: Sunglasses, Speakerphone and Rum
Shade Shifters
If you, like some of us, believe that wearing sunglasses while driving is compulsory, the Smith Interlock Prophet will make a particularly interesting addition to your road-trip tool bag. The lenses are interchangeable, so you can switch from polarized to nonpolarized or go from dark-gray lenses in daytime to yellow lenses for dusk. What makes the Interlocks special is that they look like ordinary sunglasses. A cam is located near each temple; rotate the temples, and the frame opens slightly to let you swap lenses. The process is a little convoluted to perform behind the wheel, but the versatility is appealing, especially if you live the active lifestyle that your SUV and kayak rack suggest. Each pair of sunglasses comes with two sets of extra lenses; additional sets range from $20 to $70. ($149.00; www.smithoptics.com)
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One Phone, One Cup
The Ego Cup is a Bluetooth speakerphone for cars. It’s shaped to easily fit into a cup holder. It works, but in our experience, the sound quality isn’t as good as comparably priced headsets, plus it needs to be plugged in at all times. But if you like the idea, we’d spend an extra $20 for the Ego Cup FM, which adds a rechargeable battery and caller ID. It also has an FM transmitter to send music from your portable device to your car stereo;
the phone still uses the built-in speaker. ($129.00; www.egohandsfree.com)
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Massa, sí! Molasses, no!
Cabana Cachaça calls itself “the authentic Brazilian rum,” but cachaça, which is Brazil’s most popular distilled alcohol, is made from sugar cane instead of the molasses from which rum is typically produced. As for the Brazilian part, Cabana had a drink named after F1 driver Felipe Massa, which is a tenuous enough link to the automotive world for us to give it a try. Cachaça is also an essential ingredient in the cocktail known as a caipirinha. In a mixed drink or sipped straight, cachaça tastes similar to rum, with a slightly sweeter aftertaste. ($35.00; www.cabanacachaca.com)
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