Unsung Icons: Car Decor

Comedian David Smiedt takes an irreverent, but appreciative, look at the classic things that define you-beaut aussie life

- Matt Cosgrove

In the world of auto accessories, there was one item that trumped all others. They came in pairs, were designed to hang from the rear-view mirror and signalled a certain maverick larrikinism on the part of the driver. We’re talking, of course, of fluffy dice, which was all that many of us could afford having scraped together the asking price of a first set of wheels that sat somewhere between second-hand and more lemony than Pledge furniture spray.

In and out of fashion so many times that no one really knew whether they were kitsch, cool or a combination of both, they became a fuzzy accent of ownership in countless Datsuns, Holdens and Chevrolets. Yet their origins couldn’t have been more sombre: American pilots in World War II would hang two dice above their instruments displaying the lucky number seven on particularly risky missions (pretty much all of them). These symbols of good fortune then made their way into their cars in peacetime and went global.