The best car merchandise, spin-offs and gadgets

Car designers are an innovative bunch - you'll struggle to visit a studio at any car maker around the world and not find it stuffed with non-automotive objects. Here we gather some of the craziest brand extensions, from the devilishly cool to the downright cringeworthy. Judge the results for yourselves - and be sure to leave your comments below!

The Aston Martin apartment - DBX SUV included

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Aston Martin is engaging with the ultimate brand extension - a swanky waterside residence in Downtown Miami designed to reflect the British sports car brand's values and due for completion in 2022.

The sail-shaped luxury condominium tower stretches 66 storeys high above the waterfront where the Miami River meets Biscayne Bay and buyers of the 391 residences will get a free DBX thrown in to sweeten the deal.

Prices for the luxury flats start at A$1.3 million and rise beyond $50 million for the 27,000sq ft triplex penthouse. But if you're splashing that kind of cash your DBX miraculously transforms into the final Vulcan, the 1-of-24 hypercar.

The Bugatti watch with its own W16 engine inside

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Any timepiece bearing the Bugatti name is going to be, well, the Bugatti of watches. So the new Jacob & Co Bugatti Chiron Tourbillon (above) is as astounding in its technical make-up as the hypercar that sired it: the movement has 578 components making up a model W16 engine - press the right-hand crown and the crankshaft turns and the 16 pistons pump up and down.

Yes, really. And if you have to ask about the cost of this top-end watch...

The AMB001 motorbike by Aston Martin and Brough Superior

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Thought Aston Martin specialised in four wheels only? Think again. This new AMB001 motorbike is a collaboration between Aston Martin and Brough Superior and is a track-only, limited-edition racer whose genes are split between Milan and Gaydon.

Unveiled at the EICMA motorcycle show this week, the AMB001 has a carbon fibre body, double wishbone front fork suspension and more exotic materials than you can shake a Vantage at, numbering titanium, billet aluminium and a host of composites in its construction.

With a turbocharged 178bhp V-twin and a 180kg dry kerbweight, this Aston motorbike is going to be devilishly fast... and expensive - just 100 will be made.

Rolls-Royce Champagne chest

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Rolls-Royce’s engineers are at it again; this time they’ve created a bespoke chest exclusively for champagne and caviar.

It’s another solution that solves a problem about 0.005% of people have, but it does look rather good. And to be fair, on a Venn diagram of Rolls-Royce owners and people who need Champagne chests, there’s probably quite a lot of overlap.

As you’d expect there’s Tudor Oak wood, stainless steel, natural-grain leather and carbon fibre featured. A caviar configuration adds two cassions and two Mother-of-Pearl spoons.

One more thing, we did ask, and it turns out you’ll be able to buy one of these even if you’ve not got a Rolls-Royce on your drive. The catch? It’s cost you A$67,000 – the same price as a Mercedes-AMG A35, a Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR – or a Honda Civic Type R with change for a decent bar tab...

McLaren flip-flops

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Did you know there was a world flip-flop day? Nor did we. But supercar giant McLaren does and they celebrated in style by getting all the staff at the Woking HQ to don the new limited-edition McLaren flip-flop, designed in partnership with Gandys.

There's substance to this partnership: the two brands are donating all profits to a new children's home in Brazil run by Orphans for Orphans. It'll be painted in McLaren's colours of orange and blue - just like the flip-flops. What's the link? F1 cars' new Halo head protection device is said to mimic the shape of a flip-flop...

The Mercedes-AMG GT R-inspired bike

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What is it with car makers and teaming up with bicycle brands?! Mercedes has partnered up with Rotwild to create this: the Rotwild R.S2 'Beast of the Green Hell' bike. It's a handbuilt racing bicycle, which ustilises a carbonfibre frame, 29-inch Crankbrothers Cobalt 11 wheels and a load of Shimano running gear. Yours for A$11,500. Ouch.

Renault's F1-inspired teapot

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When Renault entered Formula One in 1977, its cars wore a distinctive yellow livery and often returned to the pits steaming and whistling thanks to over-worked turbos.

Team boss Ken Tyrrell dubbed it 'the yellow teapot' and the nickname stuck for La Regie's F1 cars. So what better way of celebrating four decades in top level motorsport than launching an actual yellow teapot?

Designed by the company's design team and sporting the same yellow paint as the RS17 racer, it's sure to deliver a speedy cuppa.

The Lamborghini boombox

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Can you put any more angles on a Bluetooth speaker? This is the Lamborghini Esavox from iXoost - a massive boombox with enough speakers to blow out your windows and plenty of Lambo design touches.

The on/off button is operated by a starter button switch a la the Huracan and the quad exhaust pipes look like they've been lopped clean off an Aventador SV. Available in four different colours and a steal at A$40,000 a pop.

The Ferrari office chairs

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'Neither a car seat nor a pure piece of furniture or design' claims the press bumf, but these are definitely office chairs that have been designed to within an inch of their life.

These come to you from Ferrari Design and have been sculpted from carbon fibre or 'alutex', which is a blend of aluminium and glass fibre. Two shapes are available; the Executive seat has the shorter backrest, while the taller President version is for the high flyers of office life.

The Aston Martin sofa

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Aston has a long history of dabbling in merchandise. A decade ago, they even made black leather underpants.

But now they've shown off the new Aston Martin furniture collection with partner Formitalia at the Salone del Mobile during Milan Design Week. Handcrafted using Nubuck leather and muted colours, they're 'developed with the same quality and attention to detail as Aston Martin sports cars.' Sofa, so good...

The Pininfarina bicycle

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Pininfarina loves dabbling in non-car stuff - it even had a hand in designing the new Eurostar coaches soon to be whizzing underneath the English Channel.

In August 2015 it showed off its new SK Pininfarina bicycle, developed with Milan-based artisan bike maker De Rosa: weighing just 6.7kg, it's a low-drag machine honed in the wind tunnel, made from carbonfibre and cog-swapped by a Campagnolo eletronic gearset. How to compete in the Tour in Italian style?

The Pininfarina-designed mega-yacht

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Fabled Italian design house Pininfarina doesn't just design cars and bikes, you know.

On 21 September 2015 it unveiled a luxury mega-yacht at the 2015 Monaco Yacht Show: developed with shipbuilder Fincantieri, the Ottantacinque is 85 metres long, has five decks, twin swimming pools and accommodation for 14 passengers and 19 staff. One for oligarchs only, perchance?

Ford electric guitar

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Made from aluminium and wood, and painted Liquid Blue like the GT show car. Neither paint nor guitar are for sale.

Mazda bicycle

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Intended as an exercise in minimalism, the frame is hand-hammered from a single sheet of steel! Seat and stitching are inspired by new MX-5 interior.

This article was originally published at carmagazine.co.uk.