True automotive enthusiasts in serious driving places like Germany don't understand why Americans need cupholders in every car we drive. "Eef I vant a drink, I vill stop at zee cafe for espresso," I remember hearing from a fellow automotive journalist of German descent. On a purely theoretical plane, he's right. Why do we find it necessary to be sucking something down as we move about town? Leave Plato on the shelf for a minute, and let's take a look at the reality of it. We are busy people doing busy things. Our lifestyles demand some level of multi-tasking, which we can accomplish by grabbing a cup of coffee on the way to work. It's just the way it is.

For those of us who embrace this reality, the search for a proper cup holder is never ending. Some are blessed with a factory holder that can actually hold a 20-ounce bottle of Orange Faygo without turning your car into an Insane Clown Posse show. Others of us are not so lucky, and thus begins the search. Mine has been going on for years. I drove Volkswagens throughout the '90s, and it took them the entire decade to adopt a cup holder. My wife drives a CR-V, and I can say without reservation that this car has the worst four cupholders ever designed. Unless you're using the cup holder for Jell-O shots, you're going to watch your cup and its contents sliding all over the floor of the car.

All gripes aside, I had a revelation one day. I was driving a Porsche 911 at the time (another anti-cup-holder company) and had been helping a friend hang some signs around the neighborhood. In a very ghetto move, we were using duct tape. On the way home we stopped by the great Double-D for a warm-up cup. As I sat down my hand was drawn to the roll of duct tape on the floor, and I inserted my coffee. Amazing! It has enough weight to hold the cup upright, and enough grip on the floor to keep from sliding. Finally, the perfect cup holder. Before you scoff at the idea of duct tape as a permanent fixture in your car, think of how many times MacGuyver saved the day using the stuff. You never know when you might have to make a drag chute out of seat covers, duct tape and an iPod charger to stop an entire family from driving over a cliff. Plus you'll still have something to drink when it's all over with.