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Nov
10
To be honest, the Mk2 Granada has never been one of my favorites – I’ve always preferred the Ford Granada Mk1. Yes, I do love cars with straight lines, but the Mk2 Granadas’ design is a little bit too dull. Nothing that couldn’t be fixed by altering a few pixels, hehe. The front grille is from an Escort RS2000, the bumpers are from a Jaguar XJ-S. Why did I do that? Well, quite easy to explain, actually: I had the Granada and XJ-S pictures next to each other on my desktop. By chance! Inspiration struck and a couple of minutes later the idea had been transformed into what you see here.
Nov
09
Would a V8 engine fit into a Citroën HY van? Probably not in real life, but in my phantasy. It would be fun to drive, though. With rear wheel drive, of course. I kept the corrugated metal looks outside as original as possible. Just had to alter the rear fender a little bit to accommodate the more substantial rubber. How about drifting the shed?
Nov
06
Found this picture of the Chevrolet 3100 Pick-Up over at autowp.ru and instantly thought I’d have to modify it. The truck is now a top-chopped dually. Quite impressive, isn’t it? The proportions now make it look like a larger truck. Other than the modifications already mentioned, I kept it mostly stock. No need to mess with a great design like that!
Nov
05
Well, does it always have to be a high gloss paint job and perfect finish? No, definitely not. Sometime less is more. If you focus on the fun to drive factor, optics are somewhat irrelevant. Therefore it’s a base trim model this time. Black bumpers and trim, just a set of multi-piece Alfa Romeo wheels added to this Mk1 33. And lowered, of course. 😉
Nov
03
Why shouldn’t Hybrid cars be fun to drive? Why having a small and lame engine when you could have a nifty Type-R engine? Why are most Hybrid cars so ugly? The first generation Honda Insight had potential to succeed the famous ED9 CIVIC. Unfortunately the potential has never been used at all. The size and proportions of the car are actually perfect for a little runabout – with the engine and powertrain carried over from existing Honda models. Would I drive the Insight Type-R? Hell yeah!
Nov
03
For many years I have been wondering, why Renault didn’t build a proper turbo version of either the 15 or 17 coupé. The powertrain of the Renault 5 Turbo would have fit in the coupé bodies. Well, with some minor alteration to the original shell, of course. Because this is very easy to do in Adobe Photoshop, I just went ahead and did it: transplanting the powertrain and adapting the wide fenders. Voilá, c’est le résultat.
Oct
30
Color splash! When I found the picture of the 1956 Chevrolet Nomad with the color-matched Shasta trailer, I instantly wanted to convert it into a color splash picture. But that’s not all. The car and the trailer have been lowered substantially. The track has been widened along with a few touch-ups here and there.
Oct
29
Relatively small and nimble, with a beefy V8 engine. Why should the Chevrolet Nomad Concept not become a racecar? I imagine it to be quite a lot of fun drive. Many pieces from other cars have been added to this otherwise clean design. Lowered and with uniball joints all around it should go around corners like the looks suggest. There is no idea for a livery as of now.
Oct
28
The BMW M1 has always been a design icon. There isn’t really much one could alter on that fabulous design. Well, apart from converting it into the famous ProCar Championship version, of course. So, subtle design alterations only. Lowered, deep dish cross spoke wheels and a few other modifications. That’s it.
Oct
23
How would a turbocharged FIAT 126 go? Yes, you’re right: it would go like stink! Just imagine the little bugger having a Turbo engine from a FIAT Uno Turbo I.E. in the back. Smoking burnouts? Likely.
Oct
16
Why shouldn’t you have fun making those express deliveries? And have a nice van to use as a billboard for your advertisements? Ford thought about that and created the Transit SportVan. Already a rather nice van as it is, I thought there was a bit of room for optical improvement. The Transit is lowered over 80’s style deep dish cross-spoke wheels and the body has been cleaned. Add your company logo and you’re settled.
Oct
05
Ever since the Dodge Nitro came out I thought that the car had potential. The edgy looks and pronounced fenders sure make a good base for a proper 4×4 conversion. I got rid of the rear windows, installed a suspension lift kit and an ARB-style bull bar up front. Proper offroad tires and a custom snorkel add to the appearance.
Oct
04
The 1937 Delage D8 120 Aerodynamic Coupé by Letourneur & Marchand: a masterpiece of vehicle design. Nonetheless… even a beautiful vehicle may be altered and changed. Not in real life, mind you. Pixel by pixel, exclusively here at VirtualModels.org.
Sep
19
This Volkswagen is called Fox in the United States and Gol in Brazil, where it was built. I kept this one very simple – dropped over oldschool steel wheels with whitewall tires. Actually, this was just a quickie, done in roughly an hour on a rainy sunday afternoon.
Sep
15
Cord 812 Beverly Sedan. A beautiful car… but wait a second! Didn’t that originally have four doors and a shorter nose? Yeah, you’re right about that. Quite a lot has been changed here. Take your time and compare it with the original. Find 10 things I changed and win… a smile. 🙂
Sep
14
You could use a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter for those express deliveries like everybody else does – but you could get there in half the time utilizing the Mercedes-Benz R-Class Delivery Van. It’s not just a sprinter – it’s a long distance runner! Oh… and a mighty fine vehicle for towing trailers as well.
Sep
12
The 1933 Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow is a beautiful car, no doubt about it. However, I’ve always been wondering what a custom version with a straight 8 or even 12 Cylinder engine would have looked like. While extending the front, I also chopped the top for that streamlined look.
Sep
11
Yeah! As long as I can think I loved the third generation of the Chevrolet Corvette. This picture is just a quickie after two weeks of surfing waves on the Atlantic coast in France. Lowered, larger diameter wheels, some touch-ups. That’s about it. More to come soon – promised!
Aug
24
Ever since attending the Citroën 2CV meeting in Lit-et-Mixe (France) in May 2009 and seeing all the fantastic conversions, I created a unique 2CV myself. Voilá… after only two years playing with it in Photoshop: I’m proud to present my V8 powered 2CV – classic Hot Rod style. In order to break up the dull grey paintjob, I added wood panels and a bit of rust. Would I drive this thing in real life? You bet!
Aug
23
From deep in my archives, I dug out today’s picture. Back then in 2007, a photoshop forum staged a contest. The picture to be modified was one of a red Dodge Charger. In order to have something outstanding for the contest besides the usual visual tuning, I decided to cross-breed the Charger with a Viper. Et voilá… the Vipercharger.
Aug
21
Bertone designed the Volvo Tundra Concept in 1979. Volvo rejected it, but it was later used as a base for the design of the BX by Citroën. I thought the Tundra looks odd, with weird proportions and details. Therefore I decided to spice it up a little. Somehow it now looks like a period-correct Group B homologation model 😉
Aug
18
The Lotus Elite is one of the lesser known Lotus cars. Yes, oddball styling and a somewhat lame engine didn’t really make it a supercar. Because it is made of fiberglass, it should be fairly easy to modify it to one’s liking. Be brave, try in real life what I did with moving a couple of pixels in Adobe Photoshop.
Aug
16
Some Lancia cars are elegant on first sight – some are on second or even third. And some even need a little help. This late model Lancia Thema has been lowered over a set of wire wheels with low profile tires. The rear quarter panel has been reworked to give the body a more flowing line. Like it or not – this is going to be one of the extremely rare cars in the future.
Aug
07
The Pinin Concept had a huge influence on the design of many cars of the mid to late eighties. A beautiful and elegant vehicle, designed by Pininfarina. For a long time I wondered what it would look like as a more practical estate wagon. Just as elegant, isn’t it?