An Introduction.

Welcome to Styling Cars. There are a lot of sites out there, devoted to cars of all types, classic muscle cars, exotics, million dollar supercars…well this one ain’t one of them.

Nope this is the design site that’s devoted to the design of cars we average folk drive or have owned.

Don’t misunderstand we’ll do a thorough once over of many great, famous and swoopy high priced cars, just not the usual ones you see repeatedly covered and written about on line.

So just what will we cover? Our focus will be the design of the average and not so average car, not so much on engines and mechanics. We won’t gloss over the nuts and bolts but it won’t be what this site is about. What then is this about and what cars will we review and investigate? Well, that might be your ’84 Fiero, it may be you old ’78 Cordoba. If you remember the AMC Gremlin and ever wondered just who designed that funny looking thing and what drug he was on when he did? We’ll find out here. Want to know the real reasons why the ’70 Rivera got that weird boat tail rear end? We’ll dredge up original design sketches and photos of everyday cars that most have forgotten. Interview and talk to those who put pen to paper, and what the influences for cars like that came to be.

We’ll be taking stock of at the oddball ones, great failures (yes we will cover the design and conception of the Vega & Pinto too). Great everyday machines that looked good, got us back and forth to work/school every day, back in the day, that never got their due.

Once we get up to speed, we’ll be open to taking requests from readers to cover their car or a car they’d like to see reviewed.

Next post we’ll start from the bottom so to speak, one of the biggest known failures of the last 30 years from the General (not including the possible impending bankruptcy failure they may become) the Vega!

Say what you will about it, it wasn’t a bad looking car, and the design influences that shaped it are quite unique.

Till next time.

Tesla Roadster for Essen by BRABUS

If you're going to have a desirable performance car, you're going to have customized and personalized versions of it. That's the way of the industry. Even the electric Tesla sports roadster is no exception. The first modified Tesla (and, arguably, the first "official" modified electric car) has just been released by BRABUS and will debut at the Essen Motor Show.

The first vehicle in what BRABUS says will be an ongoing cooperation with the company, the BRABUS Tesla features a variety of appearance upgrades and personalization features. Tire and wheel options are naturally first on the list, with offset 18- and 19-inch BRABUS Monoblock S light-alloy wheels wrapped in Pirelli P Zero Nero rubber. The BRABUS show car also features a carbon-fiber front lip, rear diffuser and rear spoiler, as well as a striking matte white paint job.

Not so common is what BRABUS calls the "space sound generator." Taking advantage of the Tesla's near-silent electric operation, BRABUS offers a variety of on-board sound generators that can make the roadster emit V8 engine or race engine sounds, as well as "futuristic soundscapes" dubbed "Beam" and "Warp." The sound generators vary in volume based on the electric motor's output.

A leather and Alcantara interior with other BRABUS customization touches completes the show car. BRABUS is showing the modified Tesla to highlight the introduction of its Zero Emission division, which will offer upgrades and possibly limited-edition Tesla models in the future.

Carlsson Aigner CK65 RS 'Eau Rouge' Dark Edition

Carlsson is exhibiting the Carlsson Aigner CK65 RS "Eau Rouge" Dark Edition at the 2008 Zürich Auto Show in what is billed as a World Premier for the famous tuner. The limited edition, highly exclusive CK65 RS will only be offered to 10 lucky customers. Two versions, a 705hp/ 526kW and a 756hp/564kW can be had. Both utilise the V12 Biturbo engine, with the latter going up to 1,150Nm, prompting a 0 - 100 time of 3.8 seconds and top speed of 335km/h.

Partnering with apparel house Etienne Aigner for the project, Carlsson chose the double-coloured combination obsidian black metallic with Himalaya-gray as exclusive paint. Interior is redesigned and fitted with Aigner-branded kit such as the alcantara, leather, headrest embossment, sun shields and rear screen frame. A Carlsson sports steering wheel in a leather/ alcantara combo works well with the sports aluminium pedal pads and illuminated doors.

Other bits that justify its €319,000 base price (€374,000 for the second power stage) are Carlsson sport running gears, brake systems, an LSD, 21-inch forged rims with a varied choice of wheel/ tyre combinations and C-Tronic SUSPENSION which adjusts to reflect appropriate road surface conditions.

Heico Sportiv Volvo XC60

Turning firm Heico Sportive has decided to take on the new Volvo XC60 in order to give it a more sporting appearance and an increase in power.

The big news is under the hood as both the 163 hp 2.4D and the 185 hp D5 engines are retuned to produce 210 hp. Higher spec models with the turbocharged T6 engine will now crank out 315 hp instead of 285 hp.

The traditional black plastic body-cladding disappears as it is now painted in the same color as the exterior. Customers can select from either 19" or 20" alloy wheels while other changes include a new dual exhaust system and a 30mm reduction in the vehicle's ride height.

Lamborghini Gallardo Elite Carbon Fiber Bodykit

US bodykit-maker Elite Carbon has unveiled a new kit for the Lamborghini Gallardo inspired by the LP560-4 and the Superleggera which the folks over at MotorAuthority.com say gives this Lambo a "more aggressive" looking visual style.

The kit features side skirts and scoop from the Superleggera (which means super-light in Italian), a diffuser on the back bumper, a rear wing, and a whole new front bumper. All parts are made of lightweight carbon fiber with the black color coming from a clear coating of the composite materials.

Elite Carbon also offers a separate rear diffuser and custom door mirrors out of the material.

No pricing details have yet been released. But a pair of carbon side mirrors by Elite Carbon carry a price tag of 3,000 US dollars and the previous rear diffuser is listed at 4.499.00 US.

In this economy, prices like that can seriously undermine your family's budget. Maybe you should think about delaying your next Lambo bodykits until next Christmas.

VW CC Gold Coast Edition at SEMA 2008

The term Goldcoast no doubt comes from the German term Goldküste, which is used to refer to the wealthier neighborhoods in a coastal setting. In the U.S. it is probably taken to mean California. And why not? Who wouldn't want to take a drive down the Pacific Coast Highway in something like this.

VW has tried over the years to take its brand a little up-market. They did so with models such as the Touareg and the Phaeton. This did not always make business sense, since they brushed up against their own Audi premium brand and consumers were a little taken aback about the price tags on what are supposed to be the "people's car". But the cars were great and critics appreciated them.

So VW's latest offering to confuse our sense of their humble roots is the CC which they have taken to SEMA to show off their lux credentials.

And the highlights aren't just the paint job to tie into the "gold" theme. Using DuPont's Pepe Pepper in a tri-coat mix of brown, gold and silver tones the car looks its name. But it is also a real sports sedan, with interior finish names like Latte Machiatto, 19-inch wheels in propeller form, and the engine beneath the bonnet to provide the proper boogie.

The Passat-based CC Gold Coast Edition features a 3.6 liter FSI engine with 280 hp and 265 lb-ft (360 Nm) of torque, married to the VW Group's DSG twin-clutch 6-speed automatic gearbox -- a respectable amount of power for such a mid-sized sports sedan.

That 3.6 liter CC will see the streets. But this Gold Coast Edition is eye candy only.

9ff GT2 670 for Porsche 997

There's a reason German engineering is considered one of, if not the, best in the automotive world. It's because you have some of the world's greatest engineers devise a vehicle like, say, the Porsche GT2 and then, along comes a tuner like Dortmund-based 9ff, with its own crew of lab coats, and "optimizes" the results.

The head of that team is 9ff owner Jan Fatthauer, who himself oversees development, and with extensive modifications the 9ff GT2 670 reaches a maximum horsepower of 670 (hence the name) and top torque of 800 Nm (that's 140 and 120 more respectively compared to the serial model).

The engineers (we can call them lab coats. lab rats, or worse but we have to be respectful here, after all, they're the ones who make these machines we love) call the tweaks they put to the specially constructed V670 turbochargers "variable turbine geometry". What does that mean?

• Air inlet system with 9ff manifolds
• In-house racing headers
• 100-cell sport catalytic converters
• Titanium mufflers with driver-adjustable sound

Yes, the driver can adjust the sound from a "close-to-production" sporty sound to a "powerful" racing sound, which one has to take to mean very loud. They've also done some jimmying of the clutch and suspension. You can read the press release for those details.

Final numbers: 0-100 km/h in 3.6 seconds, 0-200 km/h in 9.8 seconds, 0-300 km/h in 25.8 s.

JMS new Audi A5 Coupe Racelook

German tuning firm JMS has taken a more discreet approach with their Audi A5 tuning kit compared to their recent Audi A3 Sportback. The new Audi coupe starts with the JMS Racelook body kit which includes a front bumper lip spoiler (Euro 269) which sits only 3cm closer to the ground, side skirts (299 Euro) and rear apron (Euro 259) with diffuser look that is a perfect fit with the standard bumper fascia. For the S5 look JMS has also created a stainless steel exhaust system with 4 oval tips which JMS says provides a little more horsepower and torque. JMS is planning to make available the same Racelook kit for all S5 and S-line models.

For the chassis JMS has added H&R lowering springs (EUR 239) which drop the front end by 40mm and the rear by 35mm. The springs are compatible with the standard Audi shock absorbers. In the footwear department JMS has fitted 3-piece racing wheels 9.5x20 and 10x20 with 255/30R20 Dunlop tires (Euro 5699).

Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano by Kahn Design

The good folks at Kahn Design have been kind enough to send WCF these initial photos of their first Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. Admittedly, there's not much in the way of actual body and performance upgrades, but Kahn keeps it simple with their first 599 project. Here they have added a lowered suspension, volume enhanced exhaust system and 20- and 21-inch Kahn Design F1-X Carbon wheels front and rear respectively, but the photos are quite nice.