Neat Car
All the accessories you need for your organizer on wheels
Cell phones, sunglasses and loose papers in your car can cause
accidents. Reaching for a runaway pen or soda bottle may distract
you. Why not stash them in handy holders? Initially, most storage
was designed to prevent cargo from rolling around in the back of
vans, trucks and SUVs. Today, a variety of organizers solve storage
problems in passenger cars. Most containers are lightweight and
portable enough to tote into the office or home.
Two new products are space-savers that loop over the back of the
front seat. One is Case Logic's $28.99 ABS-20 (www.efunctional.com), an organizer with a nylon tray
and padded foldable wrist rest, storage compartments and mesh
pockets. Want something smaller? Creekside Products' Cargo Tote
(www.creeksideproducts.com) is a net that hangs from
your car's headrest and can be rolled up when not in use.
Creekside also sells a roomy fabric Cargo Tray for $24.95, and a
larger tray, the Cargo Mini, for $39.95. Both pop open easily on a
spring mechanism.
Perfect for the working traveler, the $119.95 Mobile Office
Console (www.autoacessory.com) is belted in to the passenger
seat. Its nonskid workstation is large enough for a laptop, with
slots for files. It has a fold-out writing surface, compartments
for small items, and holders for cell phones and cups. Smaller
consoles fit between seats and range from $10 to $20 at the same
site.
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Visor caddies come in all sizes. The $5.99 Axius Visor Organizer
from Auto Barn (www.autobarn.net) holds receipts, pens and coins.
New passenger cars usually have trunks equipped with nets, but
you may need something sturdier. Cargo AIP (www.cargoape.com)
offers interlocking plastic egg-crate panels you put together to
suit your space. Twelve cost $29.95.
Editor and consultant Jill Amadio has been reporting on the
automotive industry for 24 years.