Fireball Red, Black Ice, Golden Ochre, & Silver Cyan

Crude Renderings in Radiant Colors—Some of my Early Chops

Corolla SR6 was a nod to the rear wheel drive Corolla Lifttbacks of the '70s and early '80s.

Lucerne GS could have been GM's Banker's Hot Rod bor Buick buyers..

Severe Audi A6C coupe was inspired by the elegant large Italian coupes of the '70s by Fiat and Lancia.

An alternative to Mazda's 4-door RX8, this 2-door RX7 coupe would have been shorter and more of a focused driver's car, equipped in fairly austere trim to save weight for better balance and handling..

Blocky Cougar XR7 was a take off on Maestro Giugiaro's bright orange Mustang concept from several years ago. What I lacked in technique at this point, I made up for in brashness, lol.

Ferrari's smallest and most basic sports car, the H330's short-wheelbase, carbon fiber structure and body panels, would have been the lightest hybrid on the market.

 

Chevrolet Bel Air—a 2+2 rear-wheel drive V6 hybrid sport coupe. Consider this the big brother to the Camaro.

Gathering of Lincolns: Spot the Chop!

Recently I found this photo of a gathering of Lincolns. I was googling for photos of the 1970-71 Lincoln Continental sedans and coupes, and spotted this image. The immaculate '71 sedan in the foreground was beige in color, originally. The '42, (or '46-'48) 'Cabriolet in the upper left was as is, a deep burgundy and beige. The white MKX in the upper right was as is, also, and there's a '41 black coupe in the "way back." The car parked next to the '71 sedan however, was a different story. It's a mid-to-late '80s Mark VII, but had been converted into a convertible—a black convertible with an ill-fitting roof, rear quarter windows that didn't quite fit into the original space for them, and gaudy gold spoked wheels. Not to be rude to the owner, if s/he sees this chop, but it ruined the photo for me.

I decided to make that black Mark VII into a "proper" Lincoln cabriolet, and used the Cabriolet in the photo as inspiration. I completely chopped the body, pushed the front wheels forward, added full rear fender skirts, and changed the color to the same burgundy as the '42 (or '46-'48). I made the roof into a reasonable facsimile of the first Continental, also. The wheels were enlarged and made silver, and I used the same chrome pushbuttons for the doors that the early Continental used.

I made a few changes to the '71 in the foreground, changed the colors of the building, too, but this is the first time I've spent most of my chopping time on a car in the background. All in all, I think it's a "proper" gathering of Lincolns now!

Original photo as found with Google Images.

1961 Lincoln Continental Coupe(s)

1961 Lincoln Continental coupe—Lincoln has long been my favorite luxury carmaker, and a favorite subject for me to play around with in Photoshop. I chopped this production coupe a few years ago, but it has held up well—one of the advantages of starting with classics! I know that the 1961 Lincoln Continental sedan's design began as a Thunderbird prototype, and I've seen black-and-white images of the clay models. I found this publicity photo of a sedan, and thought I'd see how a production coupe would have looked. I didn't modify anything except the roofline. Lincoln came out with a Continental coupe in 1966, and I think you'll agree the '61 version would have been just as desirable!

If you look on the wall in the photo above, you'll see an image of a '61 Lincoln station wagon. I  added that little touch to the photo for the eagle-eyed among us. I never got around to creating that exact wagon, but I've photoshopped a '65 Lincoln station wagon, also pretty desirable if I say so myself. This example has been a bit "resto-modded" with "mag" wheels. It's pretty obvious how much I love Lincolns. Now if they can just get on track for the 21st century!

There are other coupes!

• For a slightly different take on a '61 Lincoln coupe, click here. I took the proportions of the Continental Mark series for this chop, shortening the trunk, lengthening the hood and gently massaging the entire car.
• For yet another take on a 1961 Lincoln coupe, click here. For this one, read the short text accompanying the image. It gets a bit confusing, lol.
• I've also created a '64 Continental coupe, the square-edged, facelifted version of the '61-'63.

Oldie but Alrighty, lol: 2008 Nissan 240SX

2008 Nissan 240SX—I haven't been too inspired lately, and haven't had much time to chop any new cars, anyway. Looking through my older chops, I found this 240SX sports coupe I created back in 2007 or so. I started off with a FWD Altima sedan, and made a reasonable facsmile of a RWD sports coupe reminiscent of Nissan's classic SX series from the late '80s and '90s.

Rolls-Royce Phantom Silver Brake: Limo Wagon!

Just the ticket for those high-speed, mid-Winter runs through Europe to Gstaad, this Rolls-Royce Phantom Silver Brake is ready to hit the cobblestoned roads of the ski slopes of the über rich. I've intentionally moved away from the Phantom's formality with a greatly enhanced glass area and extra-large rear hatch window—the better to keep an eye on those proletariat Mercedes Benz 4Matic wagons in its rear view mirror. As luxurious and as "over the top" as this large wagon seems to be in 2012, it really has exactly the same proportions as the full sized family wagons of the 1960s and '70s, the Country Squires and Kingswood Estates of our youth. I  tried to create a version of this Shooting Brake with wood on the sides, but just couldn't make it work!