2012 Hyundai Santa Fe

Some spy pics have turned up of the 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe (I erroneously labeled it 2013 previously), and it appears to look similar to my previous pic, although some grille detail was revealed.  Although I believe the opening above is too tall, I filled it with something similar to what's seen in the spy pics.  It looks as if the grille will be filled with chrome, somewhere halfway between that on the Sonata and the lower grille opening on the Elantra Limited.

BMW Z1

A small coupe - type thingy based off the new 1 Series. Kinda RWD Alfa Romeo Brera meets 1 M.

Reworked front end, longer bonnet, IS-F side scoops, coupe DLO and widened rear track with revised side detailing. Oh - and matte black rims. And it was lowered slightly.

Since it's based off the 1 Series I thought I'd name it after the legendary Z1, although it isn't a convertible.

2013 Hyundai Santa Fe

My guess as to the potential look of the upcoming Santa Fe. Used the Tucson as a base - possibly didn't change it enough, but I stretched the body to match the proportions of the current Santa Fe. So basically the body is a bit taller (especially the greenhouse), and the greenhouse is a bit more upright. The hood is slightly longer, and the truck is a bit wider. Gave it new lighting (from the Accent), and revised the grille to be one larger opening to keep a bit of a similar look to the current Santa Fe (although added some chrome as seen in the Accent and Elantra). Decided to keep the Tucson's bodyside treatment. It's different from the heavier rising beltline features of other current Hyundais, but again is similar to the Santa Fe. Edited the detailing around the fog lights as well.

2012 Hyundai Genesis Coupe

My attempt at a facelift for the Genesis Coupe, as one is coming for 2012 (or 2013?), in the form of a mock ad.

Source image from www.hyundainews.com.

2013 Ford Flex

Spy pics are now floating around - this is my guess as to the facelift. Looks relatively mild, and these updates are based on the look of the current explorer plus what was visible through the disguise.

Version 1: Standard Model

Version 2: Platinum Model - the spy pics seems devoid of the Ford badge, and the current platinum different from the base model in that it has darken chrome, no Ford badge and "FLEX" spelled out on the hood.

Version 3: Platinum Model with painted bars, a la Explorer.

Mini Coupe Recoup

I wasn't overwhelmingly impressed by the Mini Cooper Coupe. For one I thought it should have been named the Mini Couper. But overall I thought the roof was overstylized and that otherwise stock looking rear end looked to abrupt and boxy. Below is my interpretation of a better looking version. My goal was to unclutter the roofline and change the tailights to something more unique and less tall to help visually reduce the height of the rear end. Plus I added a bit of extra scalloping between the taillights. Yeah - the taillights look a bit upset, and it has less visibility out the side windows, but you get the idea.

Thunderbird Reboot?

The photo editing didn't turn out exactly as I'd hope - it looks a bit funky shrunk down (relatively quick chop). But anyway - here's my idea...

I think Ford could use a FWD coupe, the reasoning behind the Taurus coupe chop from which this was based. The Thunderbird name is an iconic one, and I was thinking a mildly retro styled Thunderbird based on the Taurus could serve as a reboot of the T-Bird for modern times. Those who want RWD and sporty can choose the Mustang - this would be more relaxed and FWD or AWD. More of a grand tourer, as the T-Bird was conceived as.

Then the name got me thinking - Thunderbird is a rather "electric" sounding name (what with thunder accompanying lightning), and I was thinking this car could be offered in some kind of relatively ho-po hybrid type of format. Also - the Aston-like grille of the electric Focus has a tinge of 1965 T-Bird to it, so I grafted it onto the front of the Taurus... And then I shortened the greenhouse a tad to look like those earlier birds a bit more (and ironically looking a little like those from the late eigthies as well), and stretched out the trunk. The rear isn't rendered, but it would look a little like those on the pre-facelift MKZ to recall the square birds a bit.

'65 T-Bird for reference:

http://americandreamcars.com/1965thunderbird.jpg

De Tomaso Pantera

A modern version of the DeTomaso Pantera. Car used as the base was the new McLaren MP4-12C. The body is mostly true to the old one's proportions, but updated with more modern curves. It's quite a bit swoopier in the wheel arches compared to the slab sides of the original. But I thought a directly updated original might be a bit dull by today's standards.

Buick GNX

My attempt to make a Buick GNX out of the new Regal GS.

It was hard to turn the white of the original to black and I didn't like how the black turned out as much. I guess it's kind of more of a metallic looking black, or matte....

I was kind of going for a matte black chrome effect on the front end detailing, which might be lost in black.

No huge changes - made it a coupe, widened and shortened the "teeth" inlets up front. Made the front grille larger. Removed turn signals from the headlights (I think) and replaced it with another projector for a quad headlight look to match the original. Added LED turn signals in the former teeth, mounted lower to try and match the original a bit more too. Also - wheel detailing is black (lace wheels just wouldn't fit the look any more).

Overall, I was trying to keep a bit in line with Buick's current direction but have cues to recall the GNX from the 80s.

Kia Koup RWD

Someone mentioned wondering what a Kia version of the Genesis Coupe would look like, so I did up this quick version with pieces of the Optima. Added the Optima headlights and grille skewed a bit to fit, and rehashed the Genesis Coupe lines up front to match. The lower front fascia is all Genesis Coupe too, modified to fit. Shortened the foglights to look more like the Optimas, and added a chrome surround and grille pattern to the lower fascia (again like the Optima).

For the roofline, I stuck in that of the Optima again and edited it for a coupe, following the cutlines of the Genesis Coupe. The doors are straight and sides are straight from the Genny, except I removed the dip in the rear windows. Also removed the spoiler as Kias look best without one. Oh - and added Optima rims.

Bentley Montrose

Another contest - this one is based off a pic of a Chevrolet Cruze. Also another mock ad, this one poking fun at the Aston Martin Cygnet (I was trying to imply that this Bentley actually had the underpinnings of the Cruze).

Chrysler 300 Pickup

Another competition to make something out of a 300C. I kind of liked the Jeep Gladiator / Studebaker pickup vibe it ended up having. I was originally aiming for something else entirely, but after I put a forward leaning angle on the grille all I could see was a truck so I went with it.

Jaguar XJ

Made for another photoshop competitionto guess at the new XJ's looks before it was unveiled.

I tried to ape the spy photos as much as I could. Unfortunetly the teaser image threw me (I'm quite sure I won't like this weird new roofline with the rear window morphing into the side windows but not at the same time).

So anyway I stuck with what I saw under the camo. Nothing extreme - hope it's not too boring. But from the spy photos I'm not sure the new XJ will be the looker the XF is.

Basically I grafted an XF nose onto a Quattroporte (specificially the Touring version made by some coachworks company I can't remember at the moment). I spliced together the Jag and Quattroporte rooflines, and also shortened the roof get more of a big Jag stance. I also lowered it to the ground - the Quattroporte had a bit of a 4x4 stance. Up front I reshaped the headlights, and made the grille much wider and more upright. I also enlarged the central air intake on the bottom of the front bumper. I brought it up so it matched the height of the two that flank it. I also added more of a booty onto the end of the car.

Dodge Challenger New/Old

Basically the point of this one was to overlay the new Challenger with the old and morph the somewhat bulky new one back to the proportions of the original. Looks so much sleeker this way. Also, at the time I don't believe green was an available colour.

Dodge Challenger Wagon

My ode to big wagons of the 70's, as I find this ended up having a bit of a Vista Cruiser look. A bit long though (especially in wheelbase), but I felt the proportions looked best like this and didn't want to extend the rear overhang any more than stock.

BMW 4 Series (aka 5 Series Gran Turismo)

Another competition entry. Styled my image in the form of a mock advertisement for a new "four door coupe" to rival the CLS called the 4 Series. The original photo was of a 5 Series Gran Turismo, which I personally loathe.

Ford Taurus SHO Coupe

SHOupe? Slightly revised front end with black out trim. Windshield angle raked back some as well. In Grabber Blue with gunmetal Mustang rims. Might add a stripe package afterward...

Ferrari Solstice Coupe

Another one for a competition. This one was to manipulate a pic of a Pontiac Solstice GTP Coupe, and mine actually won. I thought that there were a few Ferrari-ish details to the car, so I edited it some 599 Fiorano details.

PS: This is mine - my pseudonym on the site where this was posted is Speedstick.

BMW 5-Series Dakar Racer

Bit of an old one, I believe for some sort of online competition for bragging rights. I think to make a Dakar Rally car.

2011 Hyundai Elantra 3-Door Hatch

I did the coupe first, and then had a request for a hatch. Most of what I did for the coupe applies, but I found it tougher to meld a hatch roofline with the swoopy Elantra. The rest is kind of Citroen C4 meets CR-Z meets Veloster.

No rear view yet, but it would have a CRX style panel back their to aid visibility.

2011 Hyundai Elantra Coupe

Playing around in Photoshop upon hearing word that Hyundai plans to release a coupe version of the new Elantra. Pretty much a simple coupification - edited the roofline and photoshopped out the rear door while making the front door larger.

Up front I stuck some LED style headlamps in from the recently release i40, and removed the grille detail to open things up and make it look a like more aggresive. I also enlarged the holes for the fog lights to add some extra inlets to make it look sportier.

Lastly I added some Genesis Coupe rims and lowered it a bit.