Macenstein

Do you know someone who owns an iPod?
Do you hate them?

Well, if the answer was “Yes“, then we may just have the perfect Christmas gift suggestion.

The iCar, by expert model manufacturer Corgi, is an interesting, if unnecessary idea; take a 1/24 scale model of a Cadillac Escalade, pimp it out with some lights, hydraulics, and working spinner wheels. Then, slap it on top of a fairly cheap speaker system with a headphone jack, and then call it an iPod accessory.

If the iCar sounds cool, then I apologize. Apparently my sarcasm did not read very well in print. Let me be clear, YOU MUST STAY AWAY FROM THE iCar.

Sound

The iCar only costs $29.99, so you may not be expecting the sound coming out of the iCar to be “all that”, and you’d be right. The iCar is a victim of trying to reach the sub-$30 sweet spot the American wallet fondly reserves for “throw away” gag gifts. I have heard $30 speakers WITHOUT a model of a Cadillac Escalade mounted to the top that sounded much better. By trying to combine a motorized, light up car model AND a speaker system, Corgi has had to make some sacrifices here.

The biggest problem with the iCar (and there are a couple big problems to choose from) is the horrible sound. By “horrible sound”, you may think I mean the sound coming from the speakers. While that IS bad, what I was referring to is the grinding sounds of the cheap motors in the iCar, and the high-pitched squealing of the spinner wheels. Since words may not be able to do this justice, please watch the videos below for an example.

Design

There was very little thought given to the styling of the iCar. The Escalade model itself is fine, however the speaker pedestal it is fastened to is as bland and un-iPodlike as it gets. Three big, cheap-looking buttons dominate the front of the unit, and these control the volume and whether the iCar “dances” to your music or not. There is no dock connector (as you might expect for $29.99). Instead there is simply a mini stereo jack for your iPod to hook into. This means the iCar will work with pretty much ANY generic MP3 player and not just the iPod, so you may say Corgi doesn’t necesarily have to cater to the iPod crowd. However, Corgi does call it the “iCar”, and has a picture of a 4th generation iPod Photo on the box. One has to assume this is meant to be by and large an iPod accessory, yet it lacks any hint of the iPod’s style.

As I mentioned, there is thankfully a button which can stop the iCar from moving, flashing, and spinning its wheels, allowing you to use the iCar as simply a passive speaker system. However, the odds are you will not want to. The sound delivered from the iCar’s speakers is tiny, shrill and just plain bad.

The iCar requires 6 AA batteries to run, but there is an optional AC adapter you can purchase as well. Unfortunately I cannot tell you how long the iCar’s battery life is, as I could not keep the iCar on for more than 40 minutes or so in my testing. It was just too annoying. The Escalade iCar is available in both black and white, and there is also a Nissan Silvia model if you would rather return THAT model to the store instead.

As far as I can tell, the only reason you would choose to buy this is presumably you are either both a fan of the iPod and a fan of the Escalade, or you are shopping for a 5-year-old who owns an iPod and is impressed by toy cars. Either way, you will be disappointed by the iCar.

Conclusion

When I showed my kids the iCar, they both said “WOW! Cool!” (they are 3 and 5). After about 2 minutes of seeing the iCar in action, both requested that I turn it off, and one left the room. If you are looking for a gift to give a child and simply want the initial “Wow!” factor, then by all means give them the iCar. However, if you plan to stay in the room long enough for them to open the box and try it, I would suggest you keep looking.

The iCar by Corgi.

Price: $29.99

Pros: Has a picture of an iPod on the box, is returnable at most stores

Cons: Horrible sound quality, loud grinding gears, built-in rap song is very annoying, cheap looking design, AC adapter is extra.