Wednesday, August 5, 2026 n www.TheObserver.com n Volume CXXXIX, Issue No. 13 w
UNDER THE COVER Former Harrison Municipal Court employee charged with theft of bail cash, HCPO says Page 2
THE ‘SOCCER’ CAR
BELLEVILLE n BLOOMFIELD n EAST NEWARK n HARRISON n KEARNY n LYNDHURST n NORTH ARLINGTON n NUTLEY
You’ve likely seen it. Now learn how it came to be
By Kevin A. Canessa Jr.
Y
kc@theobserver.com
ou’ve probably seen Nuno Caleiro driving around Kearny, Harrison, East Newark, North Arlington, Lyndhurst and elsewhere in his orange IQ car. In June and July, it was what everyone was calling “the Soccer Car.” Now, it’s “the Summer Car.” But just who is this man and why does he do what he does? We wanted to tell Caleiro’s story — and so we sat down with him last week to do just that. Caleiro was born in Angola and later moved with his family to the United States when he was a youngster. He now lives in Kearny. Four years ago, when he bought the IQ car, he nicknamed himself IQNuno. And he knew he wanted to do something unique with the vehicle. And it all started during Christmas 2024. “I knew I could jazz this up and really make this a special car,” Caleiro says. “So I figured, let me put some lights for the hell of it. So I decorated the car to make it look nice. And then I thought, you know what, I’ve got to put something else here. I went to Home Depot, I got presents that you could light up. And then I just got carried away. Every time I went to
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a different store, I got more. I got a whole Christmas tree and people noticed it.” Did they ever notice it. And they really liked it. So, a few months later, he re-decorated from a Christmas theme to Valentine’s Day. “And people started hiring me to make flowers deliveries to their wives,” Caleiro says. “I had some music with the car and everything. They loved that, too. It was something unique.” It all grew from there, as the car took on St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, Flag Day, Father’s Day, the 4th of July, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving and then Christmas again. But the biggest success — and what most people remember at this point — was when the car became the Soccer Car for the World Cup in June and July. Not surprisingly to anyone who knows Caleiro, he decided to do the Soccer Car a day or two before the tournament kicked off. And the car just got more unique and had more décor on in it as the days moved on. “I went to a store in Clifton, and I saw soccer balls for sale. And I thought, ‘oh, you know what? I
See IQNUNO, Page 14
n the top photo, Nuno Caleiro is seen with the IQNuno car as it is likely best known — during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. In the bottom photo, Caleiro is seen during his vehicle in the United Irish Associations of West Hudson’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.