This Fiat 500 Is Twice the Hairiest Car in the World, Still a Work of Art

Here is something few would think of: a car covered almost entirely in human hair. Maria Lucia Mugno is a hairstylist from Salerno, Italy who decided to do something that would honor her profession. So she turned her Fiat 500 in the world’s hairiest ride.

The record was first recognized in 2010 by the Guinness Book of World Records, and again in 2014, when Maria overdid herself and added another 20 kg (44 pounds) of hair to the car, topping her own record. Today, the Fiat has an added 120 kg (264.5 pounds) of hair. And you thought you were being excessive with your love of car stickers or air fresheners or whatever.

In addition to being a hairstylist, Maria also describes herself as a hair sculptor, which, apparently, is a thing. As one, she does exactly what the term implies: she makes stuff out of human hair and, based on photos on her social media alone, it seems that oversize hats made of hair are a sort of specialty.

Speaking to Barcroft Cars a few years back, Maria said the idea for the hairy car came to her as a dare with a friend. Apparently, that friend told her she didn’t have it in her to cover a car in human hair, and she set out to prove him wrong. It took her 150 hours and an estimated €80,000 ($90,870) to do so, but she did it in the end.

“My inspiration came from a dare, a bet, whilst I was working. My friend didn’t think I was capable of making a car that was entirely covered in real hair,” Maria says. “And when he saw my finished work of art, he was completely shocked by what I’d made.”

The body of the little Fiat is entirely covered in hair: Maria picked different colors to make sure it stood out even more. She sourced all hair from India because, she explains, European women have more fragile locks than Indian women. The interior is also covered in hair, from the seats to the dashboard and the steering wheel, and there’s also a giant piece attached to the back (unveiled in 2014) that, according to Maria, symbolizes peace and freedom because it resembles a pair of wings. From afar and if you squint real hard, one might add.

Indeed, Maria spent a fortune on what many have said is the weirdest, if not the grossest, thing out there. Humans tend to be sickened by human hair unless it sits on their own head, and Maria is aware of this – she calls it a prejudice. At the very least, though, she wants them to understand and possibly appreciate the difficult and complicated process behind the whole thing.

For the record, at this price, her Fiat is not the most expensive in the world (that’s probably the La Dolce Vita Gold and Diamonds 200hp, at $500,000), but it’s up there with the best.

The hairy Fiat is still driveable: Maria takes it out for a spin at least once a week. She made sure it remained road-legal by not covering the engine in hair as well, as that would have created a fire hazard (you don’t say). However, more often than not, she’s to be found tending to the car’s luscious mane as if she would the hair of an actual person, because hair tends to get tangled and messy.

“We keep it clean like we would if it was for clients or if it was a real person,” Maria says. “We shampoo it, we brush it, we trim it, it’s a systematic operation with the car’s hair. I enjoy looking after my car.”

Asked if she would make another hairy car, one that could potentially become a record-breaker on its own, Maria says she could – but she doesn’t want to. There’s pleasure in knowing the one she already made is the only one in the world.