So What Is The Difference Between a Car Bra, a Front End Mask, a Steinschlagshutzshulle, a Hood Mask, a Nose Mask, a Mini Mask and Hood Protector?

In 1960 Bill Colgan operated a shop with 5 employees doing custom auto and boat upholstery. One day a group of engineers brought him a ragged piece of canvas with sewn-in wooden slats, rubber bands, crude hooks and other miscellaneous innovations. They told him it was a protective cover used by a German manufacturer to protect the front ends of a new car during road tests. They asked him to redesign it.

After spending about as much time road testing as sewing, he finalized his design and called it “Steinschlagshutzshulle”. Dissected, the word means, stone/strike/shield, and for short he tagged it “Bra”, pioneering the Auto Bra product category that’s still going strong 50 years later! Over the years, many other names such as Car Bra, Front End Mask, Hood Mask, Nose Mask, Car Mask and Front End Covers have all become popular names for the similar products in the Automotive Aftermarket.

In recent years, a variation of the Car Bra known as a Mini Mask or Hood Protector was also developed. Rather than cover the entire front of the vehicle, these products protect just the front hood of the vehicle.