A front-end bra (also known as a car bra, bonnet bra, front-end cover, hood bra, auto bra,"bra." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 9, 2010). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-bra.html hood mask, car mask, etc.) is a (usually black)

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

cover that attaches to the front of a

car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

or other

vehicle A vehicle () is a machine designed for self-propulsion, usually to transport people, cargo, or both. The term "vehicle" typically refers to land vehicles such as human-powered land vehicle, human-powered vehicles (e.g. bicycles, tricycles, velo ...

to protect the bumper, hood, and sides of the fenders from scratches. The inside of the bra is lined with a

felt Felt is a textile that is produced by matting, condensing, and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic fiber, acrylic or acrylonitrile or ...

-like material.

History

Bill Colgan, founder of Colgan Custom Manufacturing, Inc. successfully operated a trim and

upholstery Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something. ''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English wor ...

business in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

, for fifteen years prior to creating the car bra. The front-end bra was invented in 1961 when three German engineers from Lockheed commissioned Colgan for protective covers for their Porsches. The very first pattern was for the Porsche 356, the first order for which was for 12 units. Following a subsequent order of 150 covers, Colgan paused car cover production in order to concentrate on his main business. By the mid-1970s, Colgan's comfortable position in the upholstery business allowed him to resume car cover production, having given a name to his invention: the "Original Car Bra." The popularity of the front-end bra peaked in the 1980s and 1990s in the United States.

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

-based Covercraft acquired Colgan Custom Manufacturing in 2009.

Design

There are several types of front-end bras, including "full", "sport", and "T-style". "Sport" car bras cover less of the front of the vehicle than "full" bras. The "T-style" bra is generally intended for trucks and SUVs. Front-end bras can also be carbon-based, ostensibly to absorb the microwaves used in police radar equipment and thus minimize the risk of detection when speeding. Front-end bras are most commonly black, but may be available in other colors to match the color of the vehicle. "Clear" front-end bras exist in the form of a transparent protective film that can extend from the front end over the entire car body. Along with dazzle camouflage, automakers may use larger bras together with cloth covers to conceal the design of an entire vehicle (or certain parts of it) during development and road testing.

References

{{CarDesign nav Automotive accessories

History

Design

See also

References