Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Old Chops Never Die. Or Rust.

I'm going to revisit this concept as a chop soon. This is the late and unlamented Tbird roadster, made much more classic than the one Ford produced. I set the cab further to the rear to improve the proportions. I also changed the porthole roof, which is an idea that worked in '56, not 2006, with a sharper edged removable top with triangular quarter windows—a more classic Tbird styling trait. Overall, I tried to "butch" it up a bit more than the production car as well. I would like to start over with a better original photo one of these days. This chop dates to 2007 I believe.

A tongue-in-cheek look at the future of über luxury cars if we ever see $10/gallon gas, lol. This is the Dodge Hornet concept with a Chrysler Imperial front clip from that brown luxury concept of a couple of years ago. I was more concerned with the overall coloration of this piece, and I still love the pastel lavenders, teals and greens. The car, well, it is what it is! I think this is from 2008.

A slightly more svelte Smart ForTwo, the ForTwoPlus. I lengthened it slightly, enough for a few grocery bags on a shelf behind the front seats. I changed the trim, gave it better wheels, and added a whole bunch of small LEDs outling the front airdam, grille surround and center bar. I think it looks less like a grocery cart here. Hopefully it would somehow get better mileage than the real one, which is really disappointing considering how tiny it is.

How about a Yaris coupe? This was chopped from a photo of one of the Autoweek and MotorTrend 'regulars' back in the day, a kid named Brian. This was his mother's new Yaris in 2008 I think. Brian is a really talented musician that is probably going to hit Nashville any day now. He has several CDs he's produced already. For this chop, I wanted to see if I could  make the Yaris lower and wider, a la Harley Earl's mantra, but keep the Toyota-ness of it. I added chrome to the grille's center bar, and modified the headlights, although I don't remember just what I did to them, lol. Chromed door handles, and a glass roof add a suitable upscale touch to this little economy car. I think this is the first chop I made from a personal photo rather than a PR piece.

6 comments:

  1. You've come a long way baby, to get where you got to today.... you've come a long,long way.

    ReplyDelete
  2. is that a quote from something
    or are you dissin' my work, dude?
    hahahahaha.
    Yes, these were a bit crude.

    (Granny's not the only poet, lol!)

    : )

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's an old Virginia Slims jingle.
    It was meant as a compliment, of course. I can really see your growth from then until now !

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks! When I started making 'my' cars, I had used Photoshop for 12-13 years, but only for color-correcting photographs for books, or for coloring in ocean charts and maps for a stint at a boating publisher. I had never actually manipulated images to create something new. It was an entirely different learning curve. The best part is it actually ended up helping me with my 'real' job, ie book design and production. Even though I had taken classes in PS and had taught other people also, it wasn't until I started creating fake cars that I got MUCH deeper into the program and discovered a million new things it could do.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'LL TAKE THE PURPLE CAR. IF I KEEP THIS UP I'LL HAVE TO BUILD A GARAGE LIKE JAY LENO.

    HEY PX.

    MARIUS,, WHERE ARE YOU?

    WOODY.

    ISH.

    GALS.

    GRANNY

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh shoot Granny!! I was going to ask if Casey would drop off the Purple car then I see you called dibs on it!! SO Granny will come pick me up and we'll drive over to the falls?? :P

    ReplyDelete