Stay with me.
You probably won't be surprised to read that, as a member of the Autocar team, I have a lot of opinions about cars - but one of my strongest is about air fresheners. For me, there really is nothing worse than getting into a car that honks (no pun intended) before a long journey, and I marvel at how hanging one of these ultra-cheap dangly devices from the rear-view mirror can transform the experience.
I remember the unpleasant smell of the leather seats in my mum's Saab, in which the previous owner had smoked for probably about a decade. It still lingered, but one of those Very Cherry Jelly Bellys (you will surely never read that again in this magazine) made our regular journeys between London and Devon infinitely more pleasant. Because your car smelling overwhelmingly like a jelly bean is far better than the funk of feet or whiff of wet dog, right?
Personally, I'm a huge fan of the California Scents fresheners - you know, the ones that come in little cans. They seem to last forever and are far better at masking odours than the traditional Little Trees.
But it's the wide selection of scents that I like most about car air fresheners. It seems their makers never run out of ideas. You can even get a piña colada one. For me, though, I don't think there's a better scent than Coronado Cherry: that smell always seems to be overpowering (in the best way), covering up all manner of stinky sins.
It's like a very budget-friendly and accessible form of car modification for the otherwise uninterested driver - and, actually, changing the aroma of your cockpit will have a far more tangible impact than fitting a mahoosive performance air filter or some slightly grabbier brake pads.
Since you're indulging me, let's go a little deeper: there are also a lot of different types of air freshener to get your head around. Obviously you've got your standard cardboard conifers, but they don't work for very long. There are the cans I mentioned earlier, which are by far the better option. There are some that you can fix to the air vents so that the smell circulates when you've got the air conditioning or heating on. And you can even get sprays nowadays.
And now car makers themselves are getting involved, including BMW, which will try to flog you an 'Ambient Air Package' that features a customisable fragrance system located inside the glovebox, while Bentley has gone the other way and developed an aftershave flavoured with inspiration from the interior materials it uses in its cars. Eau de dashboard, anyone?
Shapes are also more varied these days. You can get air fresheners made to look like fruits, animals and even cassette tapes.
You should choose carefully, because I think your air freshener says a lot about you as a person. You might be fun and choose the mojito scent in the shape of a cocktail glass, or maybe you're a bit more sensible and opt for the first black ice tree you see (no offence).
It's a fun and fascinating little corner of the car world that you might not have thought about for years (particularly if you're lucky enough to enjoy the heady scent of new car chemicals whenever you climb aboard), but why not indulge your inner aromatherapist and treat your cabin to a new fragrance next time you stop for fuel?
Maybe avoid the dill pickle option I've just spotted online, though.
