They're Watching Me, Part 199, lol

Mercedes Benz just introduced its new CLS Shooting Brake in Europe, the red wagon in the bottom of the photo. My Cadillac CTS Sportwagon is at the top. I Photoshopped the Caddy wagon more than two years ago and I find the striking similarity to the actual new Mercedes interesting! Of course, it helps Mercedes showed their new wagon in red, an uncharacteristic choice for the sober Teutonic manufacturer, which usually features its new cars in silver, but I'm sure it's just a coincidence... or is it, lol?

New Tiny Germans Coming: Q1 and A-Klasse

This chop dates back a couple of years, hence the name A1 AllRoad. Today this up-and-coming small car would most likely be called the Q1. Audi already has the mighty Q7 and the slightly smaller and very desirable Q5. There are spy photos circulating the web right now of the even smaller Q3, due to be introduced perhaps as early as the next Geneva show. While I'm not really sure there needs to be an even smaller crossover from Audi, there are plenty of rumors of a Q1. Part of me hopes this would be a small 3-door crossover. At some point as a car becomes smaller four doors become too small to be practical. The tiny A1 is a 3-door right now, so perhaps the crossover will be as well.  I chopped my A1 AllRoad as a 5-door though. Not really a crossover so much as a tall hatchback, the AllRoad concept gave Audi's regular wagons more road-clearance and butcher details, which I have included here.

Mercedes Benz's tiniest line of cars, excluding the Smart cars, is their A-Klasse. Available in 3- and 5-door versions, as well as the slightly large B-Klasse, these are MB's base models in most markets, although they've never been for sale in the USA. The platform is innovative, and features a double floor with the tiny front engine designed to slide in between the two floors in case of a front impact. There is to be a 3rd generation A-Klasse shortly, and will most likely be completely redesigned for today's market. The original A came out in 1997 and was revised in 2004, but has really been changed very little. For my chop, I lowered the car, and made it a bit wider. I gave it an actual wraparound rear glass hatch, instead of the faux wrap that the real cars have. I also beefed up the fender flares and gave it quad exhausts, perhaps a bit of overkill, lol, but let's call this the AMG version. I also made the third rear stop light part of the enlarged MB star logo.

Looking Back at a Few Imports I've Chopped

Fiat has a long history of making hot little coupes based on its smallest platforms. My Abarth-tuned 750 Scorpion, based on the newly-introduced in the USA Fiat 500, fits that objective perfectly. An upscale touch would be the wheel-mounted Scorpion logos, counter-balanced to always stay vertical and "readable,"a la the Rolls Royce Phantom. 

Hyundai is making great worldwide inroads with its new cars, especially its upscale Genesis models. Here is my pillarless luxury coupe based on the Genesis sedan, which would supplement, not replace, the slightly smaller and much sportier Genesis coupe that is out right now.

My "kinder, gentler supercar" is based on Mercedes Benz's new gullwing-doored SLS. I shortened the hood by about 10-12 inches, and dropped in a high-tech hybrid powerplant. I also lightened up the interior with proper C panel windows evocative of the original mid Fifties Mercedes 300SL gullwing coupe.

C H O P S — Several of my chops from the past year appear in Peter De Lorenzo's Autoextremist site this week, in his On The Table column, so I thought I'd post a few more here this morning. It's always a thrill for me to have my work shown on his site, and I thank him from the bottom of my heart. It's hard to believe 2010 is almost over, and that my blog will be a year old in mid-February. It's been quite a fun and eventful year for me, with ups, downs and all-arounds, lol.

For any "newbies" checking in to my site for the first time, all of the images I post in my blog—my chops, my art, or any other subject matter—are clickable thumbnails and open up to full screen for a better look at the details.

Reading the Fine Gilded Print

My small vintage candlestand table, painted with oddly-shaped flowers in an underwater scene—lilies or starfish? I painted this decorative table, 15 inches wide by 24 inches tall, in November of 2004 after President Bush won his reelection. "Hidden" in the gold leaf filigree around the edges is "Bush Sucks." I just couldn't believe Americans had voted him into office again, and had to paint my feelings of frustration. How prescient of me to paint an underwater scene, as the country would BE under water financially by the end of his sorry second term. I think this will make an interesting pop culture collectible 100 years from now. There are six coats of non-yellowing polyurethane on top of the painting to make sure it's still visible in 100 years.

Parked on the tabletop are three of Mercedes Benz smallest production models, the Smart car, red, a European A Class in blue, and the chartreuse C Class Sporthatch featured in a series of photos I posted recently in this blog. I've painted the mirror behind them, and was recently given the small bamboo plant, which lives in that tiny container of water and small river stones.

Studies in Chartreuse and Magenta

These images date to the summer of 2008. Mary gave me those gorgeous orchids in dark pink and white, white lilies and pale green Annabelle hydrangeas. While I was arranging them, my chartreuse scale model Mercedes Benz hatchback literally rolled into view, and I decided to shoot some color studies with them all. I have a gorgeous vintage art glass vase, also chartreuse, a pale yellow frosted vase and a mint green square kitchen bowl I use as a vase, and gathered all of the items outside on the porch to shoot. The green foliage and trees in the background looks really good to me right now as I look outside today at our barren late fall yard.

Choppapalooza!

Mercedes started the recent "four door coupe" trend several years ago with it's gorgeous CLS model. This chop "reverse engineers" the concept back to the early '80s 123-series. I've given the sedan the coupe's laid-back windshield and given it a period vinyl roof. I made the bodysides a bit lower and incorporated the door handles into the mid-body trim strip to help camoflage them, adding to its "coupeness." I also lowered the car on its suspension and tidied up several other details to make a more elegant four door coupe. The name follows MB's early '80s convention, with this model having a 2.5 liter inline 6 cylinder engine, and CS standing for CoupeSedan.

Keeping the same theme of four door coupes, this is my version of a Hyundai Genesis sport sedan. I used Nissan's old 4DSC descriptive, standing for 4 Door Sports Car. I eliminated the beltline dip and changed the front grille from the donor coupe, in an effort to give this luxury sport sedan a bit more elegance and brightwork. 

Moving back to Mercedes Benz, this is an attempt to bring back some of the class that was inherent in Benzes before the early 90s when MB needed to compete with Lexus. I've called this smaller-than C Class the 190E Heritage, and have given this 5 door hatchback 18" wheels designed to look like the painted wheel covers of the past.

Modifying the current C Class, I've given it a smoother aerodynamic appearance for this hybrid version, changing almost every line on the car. I've gone back to the '80s for the smooth wheeltrims, and painted the slats of the new grille. I've also changed the very clunky Mercedes door handles to a more contemporary appearance.

Meet the VW Taifoon. Yes, the German word would be Taifun, but I'm anglicizing it slightly to make sure Americans would pronounce it correctly, lol. This Golf 5 door has been given a more upscale appearance with added aluminum brightwork, reworked roofline, a carbon-fiber hatchlid and restyled taillights and trim. In short, pretty much everything has been changed in some way to give this high-priced Golf a distinctive appearance.

Strange Brew

C H O P S — Sometimes the pure joy of photoshopping fake cars is creating absolute oddballs—tongue-in-cheek funmobiles, with no eye towards any sort of production reality or statements. I've  mentioned in this blog before that I use my car chops for honing my Photoshop skills for use in my professional life, ie designing books and creating art to hang on walls. Sometimes, I just wanna have fun—cue Cyndi Lauper, "Boys Just Wanna Have Fun," rofl. I hope you have fun thinking of these awesome machines driving around YOUR town. Most of these were done 3-4 years ago, and are rendered in somewhat lower resolution than I use now, but are still fun to peruse. : )

Buick Electra Hybrid Sedanet, with AeroSpats® (once known as fender skirts...) I think this Lexus LS-sized luxury car would truly shake up the segment, and give mileage in the 40s. 

Buick Centurion AWD crossover sedan. British Leyland's "Landcrab" FTW! Click all photos, as usual, to enlarge and see in detail.

1959 Cadillac Coupe de Monofin—world's first CHMSL? : )

How about a Lincoln Cosmopolitan woody wagon. In this case, the wood would be a sliver-like micro-veneer layered under several clearcoats, and would be confined to the doors. Brushed stainless steel would comprise the rest of the body. Copper-anodized wheels round out the 'wtf' design of this mid-next century modern Lincoln.

For more crazy goodness, jump to next page.

Mercedes to Sell C Class Coupe. For Realz!

Although the new E Class coupe is based primarily on the C Class platform, Mercedes seems to feel that there is room in the lineup for a coupe badged as a C Class. This 2 year old chop shows a C coupe with the Sport front end treatment, evocative of the SL Class. Instead of a solid black background for the extra-large star logo, I've painted it body color. The same with the grille slats. If I was chopping this car today, I would probably paint the roof black between the rain channels, to blend in with the glass sunroof. I don't go back and edit chops once I've signed them. Adding A R T A N D C O L O U R  is the last step in my chops.

C H O P / N E W S — According to the latest industry press releases, Daimler Benz will be introducing a coupe to the C Class range, most likely at the Paris show this fall. Seeing as the brand new E Class coupe is substantially based on the C platform, and not the E platform as one would think, I'm very interested in how Mercedes will style and engineer a lower-priced, and smaller, new coupe. The E Class coupe is smaller than the E sedan as a result, so perhaps the new C coupe will be smaller than its sedan mate as well. They also sell the C-based Sportcoupe, which is a hatchback. It sounds like they'll have to be very careful not to poach sales from the existing E coupe.

These two Mercedes chops date back a couple of years when the current C was first introduced. The white one has the Sport front end, borrowing a look that has been historically associated with the SL class. The gray coupe has the traditional radiator surround found on the base and luxury models.

Autoblog's article

This C Coupe I chopped shows the base and luxury C Class front end, with the more traditional Mercedes radiator surround. With the optional roof-mounted bike rack, this is a true sport utility coupe, lol.

Leaner and Greener or Bolder and Golder?

Kinder and Gentler Supercar or . . .

C H O P S — The new SLS Gullwing is a pretty interesting vehicle. I always love the idea of a new über Benz, but for some reason, they always seem to leave me cold. While i love the gullwing doors, the new front graphic and the drivetrains, the body of the SLS seems awkward to me. There needs to be more glass area for one thing. The classic 300SL of the 50s had a C pillar window, and looked all the better for it. The SLS's C pillar (B pillar technically?) is just very inartfully rendered. I 'corrected' that in both chops. The SLS Hybrid, above, not only has a proper greenhouse, but i shortened the hood by about a foot. The entire car seems to be ready to hit the road to prove its 50mpg hybrid capabilities, while still garnering the front row by valets. 

On the other hand, the South Beach special edition below, leaves the basic SLS body shell intact. Leading the way is a brushed satin aluminum grille surround, extra strakes are added to the headlights and the now blacked-out roof pillar. In this application the pillar would be glazed with black-tinted glass, and there would be a vertical cabin exhaust vent for those additional chrome strakes to cover. The paint is a special extra-metallic/pearltone gold with several clearcoats. It fairly glistens in South Beach's daily sunfest.

. . .  Shinier and Flashier special edition?

Rewriting History-the E320 Sporthatch

C H O P — In the early 90s, MB had yet to "Lexus-ify" it's lineup. They were still building cars "Engineered Like No Other Car in the World." I think MB should have built a pillarless coupe with a rear hatch. It would have been the only such bodystyle out there and surely would have showcased their engineering prowess.  Their classic straight-line styling worked perfectly for such a car, too. The E320 Sporthatch would have been so cool and useful! I would love to be driving my art around in a Bruno Sacco hatchback to this day—one of the reasons i enjoy creating fake cars so much. Like all the pics on this site, click to see larger.