BTW, if you hate the gallery format as much as the Grinch hated Christmas, click here.

Scrolling LED Message Sign With Remote: There's so much to say to your fellow drivers on the road that the finger, two signal directions, high beams and horns don't cover. Can you really put a price on the ability to articulate "YOU DRIVE LIKE SHIT", "PLEASE SIGNAL", "DO NOT TAILGATE" and "PLEASE LEAVE THE FAST LANE IF YOU ARE DRIVING 50MPH". $40 [Thinkgeek]

Valentine One Radar Detector: It's still the best radar detector. With sensors forward and aft and an increasing frequency of beeps correlating to strength of signal, you can tell if smokey was passing you on the highway, is creeping up from behind or is sitting dead forward in a speed trap. $400 [ValentineOne]

MiFi Wi-Fi 3G Wireless Router: Car internet was but a dream. Then people started cludging together routers and 3G cards, and it was a little bit more of a nightmare. The little MiFi runs on Verizon's reliable 3G network, supports a few clients and has more than enough Wi-Fi range for your car (or a giant RV). Since it fits in the palm of your hand, stashing it under a seat or in a glovebox is easy. We don't recommend hard wiring these things, either, since they run off batteries for awhile, too. $100 with two year $60 contract [Mifi on Giz]

Duracell Powerpack 450 Talking Portable Power Unit: This portable battery has enough 110v power to run a laptop for 8 hours, jump start a car and inflate tires with its built in air compressor. It also has built in voice prompts to walk you through the process of jump starting, in case you or your loved ones don't remember if its black before red or the other way around. $120 Bonus: Black and Decker's 200-watt inverter turns your 12v cigarette adapter into a 110volt plug for $35. [Duracell Powerpack on Giz]

Wagan Ergo Comfort Rest Heated Massage Car Seat Cushion: The good doctor has made this 12v car seat cover that heats and massages. Knowing the power output a 12v plus is capable of, I'm doubtful this thing will do anything but get warm and vibrate a little bit. But if you need a car cover, a few degrees and some artificially induced butt modulation never made a long car ride any worse. And for $33, it's not such a big risk. [Amazon]

Wavebox Car Microwave/cooler: I don't think this is a good idea. I just think it's kind of cool to be able to make popcorn while you drive. I mean, with the proper in-dash DVD system, I'm halfway to feeling better that drive-in movie theaters are dead. Halfway. I wouldn't rank this a do not buy, but I wouldn't want you to ignore the 1.5 star Amazon rating, either. $300 [Wavebox on Giz, Amazon]

DON'T BUY My Pee Pee Bottle: A nalgene-style bottle for peeing in on road trips. Bad idea. Just pull over — you're not on the Cannonball Run nor are you some trucker late for his interstate Ikea drop off. Just pull over! [Jalopnik]

DON'T BUY Top of the Line Garmin GPS: The Nuvi 1690 is great. It has wireless search and traffic, lane suggestion and a Bluetooth speakerphone with dialing for your cellphone. It's also $500 and is a total waste of money. Smartphones are going to replace these sorts of connected GPS. One day. For now, a good touchscreen GPS should be bought from Garmin by checking prices to see what's on sale for a little over $100. Like this Nuvi 260W that is on sale for $117. For GPS apps, we recommend the free and built-in Google Maps Navigation program on Android, and Motion X GPS for the iPhone, which is a great value at $25 per year. (But not a very visceral good gift, as an app, especially since there are subscription fees after awhile.)

Don't forget to recommend your own favorite Car Gadget in comments-include pics and pricing if possible.

All Giz Wants is our annual round-up of favorite gift ideas, including amazing attainable objects and a few far-out fantasies. We'll be popping guides catered to different interests several times per day for the next week, so keep checking back.

If you're having trouble getting over the price tag long enough to daydream, just think of how much you're saving with the standard HD radio. Or think about a Tesla, which is dirt cheap in comparison. [Autocar via Dvice via Geekologie]

Here we modify battered, crappy cars—like this 1988 Oldsmobile Delta—in just four weeks using "a few motors, potentiometers, a Compact RIO embedded controller, and LabVIEW," which get connected to the iPhone using Wi-Fi. And then we strip out the doors for fun. And we ride it on top of its roof. Hopefully to an In-n-Out drive-in. Would you like to do it yourself? Your lucky day, Mad Max. Here's a video tutorial:

And if that wasn't enough, you can also drive it using a modded Power Wheels truck. America, I salute you. [Engineer Awesome via LikeCool]

There are not a lot of details except what you can see in the video. The GPS- and Wi-Fi-equipped Spirit of Berlin—as they called the car—uses drive-by-wire controls, with mechanic parts to operate the pedals. On its top, there are video cameras and pewpewtastic laser 3D sensors.

The iPhone connects to the car using Wi-Fi, transmitting acceleration data to the car in real time. It looks like the real thing, but maybe it's all a four-wheeled Octoberfest joke. []

The free app connects to a Viper SmartStart hardware module installed in your car, and controls five basic functions: It'll start your car, turn on the heat, unlock your doors or trunk, and manage the car alarm. The range is effectively infinite too, since all communication is carried out over cell networks—no line of sight contact necessary, not that the iPhone has the IR hardware for anything like that anyway.

This is without a doubt one of the coolest apps I've ever seen, but as always, glorious novelty comes at a price: while the app is free, the SmartStart car module costs at least $300, and annual service, after the first complementary year, is $30. [Viper]

This is the Nissan Land Glider, an electric car with two seats. it has a narrow body, which Nissan says will help reduce traffic congestion by allowing more cars in the same city space, as well as making parking easier. It has a balancing system to make it stable as it takes curves, compensating for inertia with the car's body movement.

The winner, however, is that stunning cockpit equipped with flat color screens and joysticks with touch surfaces. I really hope it has lasers and anti-matter cannons built-in too.

Head to Pink Tentacle to see the rest of the prototypes at the Tokyo Motor Show. [Pink Tentacle]

Yes. That definitely goes beyond the general area of stupidity straight into the I'm a Bloody Moron, Please Shoot Me Dimension. It had to be a dumb Spaniard, of course, for this Euro-African country—alongside Italy and France—produces the biggest driving—and regular—dumbasses in the planet (I know because I was born there).

The 18-year-old driver—identified as J.C.R—was caught by the Spanish police while racing through the streets of the Northwest city of Vigo. The police noticed the speeding car at 2:50am. According to them, the guy was fishtailing, and running red lights while taking photos of himself using a cellphone.

When the police tried to stop him, the moron accelerated and tried to escape, only to be intercepted in another street. Then he tried to escape running and, when he realized he couldn't make it, he returned to his car, and crashed against one of the police vehicles that was chasing him.

Adding to this list of idiotic things, when the police tested his alcohol levels, he was off of the scale. In Spanish law, that means that you will get your driver's license automatically revoked. But then again—as the police discovered later—this guy doesn't even have a driver's license, so it's not that he's going to care about that. Not that he will need one in jail, anyway. [Yahoo! Noticias (in Spanish)—Thanks Mariló]

Don't get me wrong. If I had a car, I would love it to fly. But more like in a Back to the Future way than on this awkward let's-get-these-big-honkin'-wings out and do the Koji Kabuto. Stephen Harris and his father like the idea enough, so much that they are going to put their company—Leigh Aerosystems, which has created drones and weapons for the Air Force before—on it. These is the design they have came up with.

The specs are good:

• FAA certification for instrument flight operations
• 100LL fuel
• 180 mph cruise speed at 15,000 ft.
• 20,000 ft ceiling
• 500 mile range

And on the road:

• 25 mpg fuel consumption
• 500 mile range

They claim they tested their model at the San Diego Low Wind tunnel and it can fly. Of course, there's a big gap between testing a model and actually getting it to fly and in production. [Leigh Aerosystems via Born Rich]

The Panasonic CY-BB1000D, announced for the Japan market, is a (I call it a car stereo, as dated as that term may be) with GPS, 1seg TV tuner, 7-inch HD LCD, Bluetooth and 40GB hard drive. But the system's biggest claim to fame is the its integrated Blu-ray player (with everything but BD Live).

Save for the guy with a PS3 in his trunk, the Panasonic CY-BB1000D is the first Blu-ray player for cars. But we're guessing that natural selection will prevent this model from ever becoming all that popular following its release this fall. [Impress via New Launches]

I worked 30 hours a week during college and more during the summer. I worked at some computer help desk in Boston, but I spent a great deal of spare time hanging out in a local car-stereo installer's garage, talking to them about what exact set up I should install. They weren't the cleanest or best installers, looking back, but they did recommend some kick-ass gear.

Two giant Phoenix Gold amps, I forget the designation, painted white with clear windows for viewing the ICs. One was attached to a three-way system for everything above bass; 5-inch drivers in the door, and the tweeters and mids in the side foot panels, aimed through the dash to bounce off the windshield of my shitty little Acura Integra, lowered and ricey before that shit was played out. (It was also white.)

The car-stereo guys let me cut the wooden mounts which would give the deep speaker in the narrow door frame. I actually remember the amp names now. That was a ZX450 and it was pushing 450 watts through four channels, two to the midbass drivers, and two to the high/mids. I ran the 8-gauge wires myself, too. The other amp was the more interesting story, a ZX500, run in mono for I think close to 1000 watts, driving an 18-inch across, 9-inch deep JL Audio 18W6 (which was discontinued, presumably, because it was insane). The sub was mounted where the spare tire should have been, in a custom-built fiberglass tub, which raised the floor of my trunk so that it would barely hold a suitcase, on top of the sub's grill and half an inch of MDF fiberboard.

The system was played through an Eclipse CD head unit without MP3 capability (this was 1997 or something) which was made by Fujitsu and was very clean. It had an anti-theft system which consisted of a 1-800 number that tricked thieves into calling it to reactivate once they'd tried to get in a few times, which would instead summon the police to your door if you were calling about a reportedly stolen unit.

The first time I powered it up, the car shook so violently the clip on wide angle rear view mirror fell off, and I had to close my eyes because my eyeballs were itching from the vibration. I could also feel the sub pulling the moving the air in and out of my lungs.

I played lots of Biggie Smalls through it, and some Tupac and Mary J Blige when no one was around, and it was pretty gross. I mean, I didn't have to ring the doorbell when I visited friends, they could hear it a block away.

It forever changed the way I listen to music, because I am definitely unable to hear music with the same nuance that I did before the car stereo. The car was so loud, so notorious on campus, I am surprised it took so long for the setup to get stolen. But it did.

I fell asleep on my couch with my car outside my parking lot, on the street, and when I woke up to go drive home for Thanksgiving, it was gone. I called my mom to say I would miss dinner, and two days later, the insurance company wrote me a check when the car showed up, stripped, in Newton, Massachusetts. I used that money to move to California and to buy a motorcycle, which would eventually snap my leg in three places.

Somehow, this post turned into a note about how stupid of a 20-something I was.

It occurred to me, yesterday, on a long drive, beating on my steering while like a snare drum and my dead pedal as a bass, how much faster I drive as I listen to music. (Even if now I drive a boring station wagon with a stock stereo.) I'm not a music nut, but who can deny how much better our lives when there is song in it?

Music is arguably the most powerful medium, despite its often subtle delivery. Perhaps its power comes from how it can be enjoyed passively, while enhancing the things you're focusing on. Things from work, to running, to sex, to sleep, to skiing, driving, or just spending time with friends. Video, words, pictures require your focus, but you stand attention to these things. Audio and music go with along with anything well. A soundtrack.

Over the last few decades, since the birth of recording, technology's changed how we relate to music. In ways that go beyond the white earbuds. Everything in the last twenty years has changed, from how we discover new songs, to how we buy (or steal) it, to how we carry or trade it, to the very fidelity of the recording (which seems not to matter too much to anyone except audiophiles—a dying breed).

The only thing that hasn't changed is how the music makes us feel, no matter what the volume.

So, this week's Gizmodo is dedicated to music and the technology that helps us enjoy it. Let us know what you think of the stories, and let us know if there's anything we should post.

Listening Test: It's music tech week at Gizmodo.

Listening Test: It's music tech week at Gizmodo.

The concept features both front and rear displays, and they're user-customizable so you could show support for your favorite local sports team (go Philadelphia Kixx!) or flash a big stop sign to augment your brake lights. But isn't this just asking for pranks?

It's still in the concept stage, although if a manufacturer picks it up, it could be ready for release in 2 or 3 years. Until then, I'll have to be satisfied with the old-fashioned analog method: the two middle fingers God gave me. [Wired]

Named the 1/X (pronounced 1-x'th) after the fraction of its carbon footprint compared to other vehicles, the hybrid is greener than others not only because of it gas mileage: Compared to standard petroleum-based plastic, bioplastic allegedly produces up to 60 percent less carbon dioxide and uses about 30 percent less energy as well.

Toyota plans on presenting their 1/X concept car at the Melbourne Motor Show on Feb. 28, even though it could be another 15 years until this seaweed car actually makes it to production. Here's hoping that when it comes into fruition, Jason gets one to review just so we could joyride it into a lake of Miso. Yummy. [Wired]

KERS is short for Kinetic Energy Recovery System, an ingenious mechanical device that recovers wasted kinetic energy generated while braking. It converts that energy into electric power, which gets stored in a battery in the car's front. And then the really cool part comes: Once every lap, the battery reaches its full capacity and the F1 car driver can click a button to obtain a 6.5 seconds turbo boost, adding an extra 82 horsepower to the nominal capacity of the engine. Turbo boost, KITT, turbo boost!

Next, Mario Kart-style power boosters floating on the road. [Thanks Sergio]

As previously mentioned, the car also has a solar panel used in the roof used to ventilate the car while parked, reducing AC usage once in motion, and LED taillights and daytime running lights.

The fore mentioned Ford dash, here:

Full details of the new Prius are over at Jalopnik.
[NetCarShow via Jalopnik]

The Alpine headunit I tested was plugged into a iPod nano instead of an iPhone but an Alpine representative assured me it has the same functionality when connected to an iPhone.

Alpine's has had iPod compatibility for a few years and the iXA-W404's menu navigation for the iPod and iPhone is nothing new. There has always been touchscreen navigation based off your iPods media folders and this works the same with the iXA-W404's 4.3-inch touchscreen.

The only notable feature is Alpine's attempt at mimicking Apple's Coverflow. The album cover browser is like a very basic Coverflow and only allow you to select full albums rather than specific tracks within an album like the real Coverflow.

Yea, this imitation Coverflow is a cool idea but using it on a small 4.3-inch screen is stupid because there is not enough screen real-estate to browse through a ton of albums, especially when trying to drive a car. This issue made me question why Alpine chose a 4.3-inch touchscreen form factor over their popular 7-inch touchscreen media loving IVA-W505 unit which would have made finger navigation of music by album cover a valuable feature.

According to Adam, he would have needed to apply a force of 3,900 Newtons with his fingers to stop from falling. His calculations, however, don't take into account the friction of his body, as some of the comments in his article point out. But then again, he gave Kirk a 4m/s liftoff speed on his jump—which is quite high.

In any case, we stand by our answer: Who gives a vulcan ass about this. [PopSci]

The song is "Dead" by the Pixies, from the album "Pixies at the BBC". Go get it. It rocks.

The car's interior features a step machine, rowing machine, bench press, pull-up simulator and weights, and the energy outputted during a workout would go to powering its batteries. The exterior design of the car is supposedly inspired by World War II fighter planes, which sounds a lot more professional than "inspired by Batman."

Given the many laws prohibiting something as easy as talking on a phone while driving, we've got to believe the transit authority would frown upon any combination of exercise and driving, but I could see the benefit of a little stationary bike or something to help pass the time during a long commute. [Jalopnik, Wired]

Made by London's Mutoid Waste Company in four weeks, Larry is a walking robot made out of spare parts and a Citroen 2CV engine-an old popular car in Europe that probably nobody knows in the US.

Watch Robo Dog in Game Videos  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

[NotCot via Don't Panic via Gizmowatch]

He even added a second seat on top—to drive his kid around—and other modifications that Lockheed Martin can't possibly match, like spitting confetti off its engine exhaust or the horrible built-in soft rock soundtrack. [ muziekkunstenaar via Dark Roasted Blend]

The first part of the run will be propelled by a jet engine, originally designed for the Eurofighter. After the Bloodhound reached 300mph, propulsion duties will be taken over by an experimental "bespoke" hybrid rocket, during which time the driver will be subjected to 2.5Gs of acceleration force until he hits 1050 mph. The whole process will take about 40 seconds, amazingly.Naturally, possible blackouts, horrific crashes and mechanical malfunctions are all in the cards here. Dont' worry though — according to the Times, he is preparing in the most ludicrous way possible: "He will practice... in a stunt aircraft, flying upside-down over the British countryside." No date for the run has been set, but we should get a few more details after the Minister Drayson's formal announcement today. [Times Online]

The Peapod will run at 25 miles per hour with just a 30-mile range per battery charge, which can be reloaded using a standard electrical plug in six to eight hours. [Jalopnik and Mocoloco]

Yes, the thing does look like an UFO. For anyone who doesn't have a clue about what a solar car is, anyway. Or who doesn't notice the big honking wheels below. Or the fact that the "UFO" is rolling on a road.

The fact is that Marcelo, who is trying to raise awareness about renewable energy and energy independence driving across North America trying to break a long-distance record, has been stopped a total of seven times by the police. Marcelo, seriously, I think the third time was enough to paint "This is a frikkin solar car, you idiots" in fluorescent yellow all over the car's rim. [Xof1 and NPR via New Launches]