Everybody loves unique cars which gives makes them stand out in the crowd. People who have these kinds of cars aren’t satisfied with a typical car even if it is equipped with top of the line parts like Nissan Altima parts.

In China, people are getting hooked into custom-made cars like the Rolls-Royce, which is one of their popular choices. Gavin Hartley, general manager of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, has been helping their Chinese customers in placing their wildest fantasies to build their dream cars. They have been willing to embrace the trend, as customers crave for more of such unique cars. And so, their sales have been climbing steadily. “About 90 percent of the company’s mainland sales are tailor-made,” Rolls-Royce China General Manager Jenny Zheng said.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars offers their Phantom with 15 standard and five contrast color combinations. They also provided 23 mono and contrast interiors made standard for the model. In addition, customers can also request for their own treadplates, embroidery, wood inlays and specific color schemes (non-standard on the exterior and interior). There are also added features like dividing walls with intercoms, and TV and DVD entertainment. They also offer interior equipment redesigning, from glovebox to a refrigerator, putting in more pleasure and luxury on how the customers actually perceived it.

Hartley said, “We have noticed that Chinese customers have begun to have a stronger preference for the customized models. Some even go quite beyond our imagination.” By fact, the extended wheel-base version is held the most popular among their Chinese customers, as they prefer to have a more spacious footrest area. On color, red is one of the most popular, as for Chinese, it is a symbol of happiness.

Indeed, it is a growing trend, evident when Rolls-Royce’s Asia-Pacific region (China, Japan and Australia) sales increased 40 percent last year compared with their sales in 2005. That makes up a big difference between the 25 percent growth worldwide during the same period.

Moreover, Chinese consumers have also been increasingly demanding more compact cars stuffed with state-of-the-art components at competitive prices. This draws auto parts makers to work with car manufacturers in meeting such needs.

Visteon, a leading automotive supplier of custom-made lights and accessories, proclaimed that their study shows that “China will play a leading role in several key automotive areas in the coming years.” Asaf Farashuddin, Visteon’s vice president of strategy, said, “The trends show enormous opportunity for companies that can drive their development by responding to the market changes.” It implies that those will join in bringing supplies to such demand would eventually gain better sales, which is most likely expected.

Getting so bored with your crappy looking VW Beetle or an old Lexus with dirty paints and aged Lexus clutch?  And, you seem to want the VW to turn into something like this cool looking car?

I saw this picture yesterday and it just amazed me with the art work. Some other art cars were even painted under the hood, the engine cover specifically. So, I got curious of how they painted it. So, I searched and ended up with a paint project of Starbucks Customs featured in hotrod.com. They laid out important points in the job.

If you are interested to get your car painted with art, consider these things that I will be mentioning.

Prior to paint preparation, you got to make sure all the bolt-ons are installed properly, making all holes drilled and knickknacks knicked. Starbucks Customs recommend parting the car, “leaving only the body atop the frame where it would stay throughout the paint and color-sanding process in order to mimic the final fitment”.

Getting the entire body part newly painted would be a best time for a fiberglass repair. Get rid of the rust and dents so as to assure the paint would last longer. First, you got to rough up the area to be repaired, with the use of 80-grit sandpaper. Then, blow the area entirely clean. Make sure sand only the areas where you want the fiberglass repair to eventually stick.

There are two varieties of fiberglass sheets: the thinner, finer ones are for small repairs, and thicker, coarser ones are for large repairs. Whichever among the two is needed cut it eight layers of reducing sizes. It should roughly match the shape you are about to fill it in.

Mix a two-part fiberglass resin. Soak the layers of fiberglass cloth into it. Then, stick them onto the repair area one by one. In this process, consider wearing gloves, and tamp each layer with a plastic spatula, removing as many bubbles as possible between the layers.

After such process, it would look a little, or probably really messy. But, have no worry because the resin will just later easily flake off the areas that were not sanded. Letting it dry longer would be much better for it to shrink to its final size and would then leave you with lessen bodywork later.

After the resin got dried, smoothen it with 36-grit paper first, followed by an 80-grit and 150-grit subsequently. It needs to be thoroughly cleaned before putting in fiberglass-reinforced body filler. Make use of a plastic spatula to feed it deep into the pores of the repair. Then, cut down the high spots with a grater. Let it dry and smoothen it with the 80- and 150-grit paper.

Before getting the body primered, the glassed-in area should be coated with a fine finish filler to remove the sanding marks. And again, finish it with 220-grit paper.

For minor flaws, get it repaired same with the deep spots, but without using heavy filler.

Now, it’s almost ready to get painted. Have the first coat of primer followed by numerous repetitions of sanding and repriming using 150-grit paper and 220-grit after. To even smoothen it up, make use of 600-grit paper.

After several stages of block-sanding and epoxy priming and then wet-sanding and epoxy priming, the body is finally ready for the primer sealer. Make use of four parts hardener and one part reducer. Then, get it painted artistically with colorful paints and handful of skilled strokes. And, behold… a masterpiece!

The creation of BMW Art Cars has been around for the past three decades. Over the years BMW cars were transformed by 15 renowned artists and displayed in fine museums such as the Guggenheim in New York City and the Louvre in Paris. Art Cars, without considering whether they are equipped with premium BMW 318ti parts, has enhanced BMW’s reputation as a company following its own path, according to edmunds.com.

Here is an array of BMW Art Cars for the past years:

Expect a lot more to come…

Racing cars had contributed so much to history, together with the ones with BMW 2800 parts and others of the same kind. But, in the nineteenfifties, those were not the only vehicles that flourished. In the same decade, the world’s fastest racing car transporter broke to fame. It has been a reason why Mercedes Benz hit the headlines off the racetracks.

Would you want to know how it all started? Autospeed.com has the juice: “In 1952 the board of management of Daimler-Benz decided that in two years time, 1954, it would return to Grand Prix racing. The company’s racing department, which had already set up the extremely successful 300 SL racing sports cars in 1952, set out to translate the plans for a Grand Prix car – internally designated W 196 – into reality.”

In relation to that, they needed to equip a workshop vehicle for servicing and repairs alongside the racetrack, and opted to build a truck for transporting the racing cars. Team chief Neubauer has been thinking to have a fast racing car transporter and he couldn’t, even quite, get his mind off the idea. And so, he then presented the thought to master craftsman Hagele, where he mentioned “Come up with something good!” as final words of encouragement.

Hagele, as head of a test department in which chassis and running gear technicians, engine specialists and bodymakers produced prototypes, has then specified the demands in creating a racing car transporter: considering the need for speed, it therefore requires plenty of power and equally powerful brakes… That was the start. And, it will be the only record that can be possibly presented, since it is already difficult to trace back the details in the entire process of its production. What we can hold on to is that the vehicle is a joint development of Hagele’s team.

Let’s jump to the design of the fastest racing car transporter… It was Engineer Hennige who suggested the combination of the X-shaped tubular frame from the 300 S, the high performance engine from the 300 SL and interior fittings from the 180. Rudolf Uhlenhaut approved and so they started to set it up. From that concept, they were able to create a truly unique and incomparably fast car that possesses stunning looks and technical perfection that measures 6750 mm in length, 2000 mm in width and 1750 mm in height and painted in Mercedes Benz blue.

Both the exterior and interior design was actually impressive. How each part has been placed contributed much in its high-ranked performance. The team even sustained it with safety, enhanced by a disc brake installed between propeller shaft and differential as well as by an exhaust brake.

The transporter’s engine was very special.  The 3 L six-cylinder in-line engine produces high torque with a top speed of 160-170 km/h.

According to a retired member of the staff, “For us in the racing department, this vehicle was a blessing. We often had a few more hours to complete the setup or the last modifications on a racing car with greater care and less pressure. By the same token, a damaged or defective car was returned to us more quickly, giving us more time for repairs. After every race, the cars were dismantled and checked, defective parts were replaced, repaired or modified and adapted to the relevant driver.”

They say, “The racing car transporter was a sensation on European roads and motorways during its active time from mid-1954 until the fall of 1955, when Daimler-Benz withdrew from racing again. The vehicle even became a star in the paddocks, where it often attracted larger crowds than the racing cars.”

The transporter, together with the 300 SLR, was shipped across the Atlantic, where both caused a sensation to the crowds in the exhibitions.

The Mercedes Benz Museum became the transporter’s final resting place along with a 300 SLR. However, through time, it was proved to be too heavy for the old floors of the museum. Reconstruction prevented the display of the tandem. It needed to do duty in the testing department until it was beyond repair and finally abandoned at Rudolf Uhlenhaut’s command in December of 1967.

After several years, Mercedes Benz Museum opted to rebuild the transporter since it marked in the history. In 1993, they gave the task to Messrs MIKA GmbH in Molln in the north of Germany, specialists in the restoration of motor vehicles, for them to restore its true-to-the-original style based from photos and data they were able to gather. The job took about 6000 working hours for redesigning and building the racing car transported, which is equivalent to seven years of fiddling, elaborating the steering and gearshift geometries, designing the cable harness, manufacturing the cab’s rear windows and all the details to be found under the sheet metal skin. And, that’s definitely a great task they had to perfect.

For some important purpose, of which mostly regards with safety, the specialists needed to use newer parts such as 1989 SL disc brakes. They have also omitted the disc brake between propeller shaft and differential. Since they are more concerned with having the same as the original transporter, they have retained all other technical data and features such as engine output, axle configuration, transmission spacing, exterior dimensions, bucket-type seats complete with upholstery fabrics, the locations of the rev counter, and the dimensions of the access rails.

Yesterday, I read an article from interiordesign.net about an interesting unique design contest called “Craft my Ride” with the tagline “Not Your Grandma’s Sewing Circle”. A link has been provided for the details. And, it says that the competition is for car accessory designing that encourages “crafters to create a unique handmade car accessory for the scion vehicle”, of which might not include Dodge cargo liners in that case, but an improvised or refurbished liners probably might do.

Scion is relatively capturing the “Do It Yourself” crowd in this line. Arts and craft materials like yarn, fabric, paper, metal, buttons, beads, and ribbons can be used. Unique as they’ve said, indeed. And, that is what they really want, for they are aiming to collect exceptional designs which might actually be used in conceptualizing a real Scion vehicle and car accessories.

Alan Mimaki, Scion business operations manager said, “Similar to indie films, underground music, and the street art movement, we believe the arts and crafts community harbors undiscovered talent… We want to support raw talent in any form, and to build a lasting relationship within these burgeoning artistic groups.”

Several craft-friendly retails stores across the United States will sit as judges. They will decide who will bring home $500 as third place winner, or $1000 as second placer or even a 2008 Scion XD five-door subcompact as a grand prize winner. Not bad prizes, if you ask me. Better get on with your designs and submit it on or even before October 22 (last day for submission of entry) at scion.craftmyride.com.

For those who are interested, you just have to create a hand made car accessory, upload images of your design, upload description of your design and then wait for a mail to know if you’re one of the selected finalists.

Selection of finalists shall be made on November 2. Those finalists would be given ample time until November 16 to mail their completed designs consisting of materials used.

On December, the winners will be posted. So, somebody will be having a brand new 2008 Scion XD as a new year opens.

Fastest… Most expensive… Slickest… these are the things cars are most oftentimes talked about for. But haven’t you wondered about the slowest, cheapest or funniest cars around?

Well, while I was looking for a centerforce clutch, I suddenly thought about what could possibly be the world’s ugliest car? What unfortunate make and how it actually looks. So, I searched for it and finally ended up hooked to an article in b92.net, featuring the Yugo as one of the ugliest cars on earth. It was followed by Ford Pinto, Pontiac Aztek and Chevrolet Vega.

Have you heard of the auto company Zastava? It owns the Yugo model, definitely one of the ugliest creations I’ve ever seen. It is a Kragujavac-based company with state subsidies.

Yugo was not actually on the top of the list. It placed second. It has been titled “The Most Questionable Car Designs of All Time”. Maybe, at least, it is titled and recognized, though not desired. It was not only a symbol of poor design and quality, but of Serbia’s only carmaker’s troubles as well.

They say, “2,500 of Hagerty clients who deliberated models that either were present or are still sold in the U.S. market, decided that AMC Pacer took the proverbial cake when it came to the world’s ugliest car.”

Yugo is priced EUR 6,500, making it quite hard to be sold… or probably impossible with such looks and quality. So, the factory opted to no longer produce the model and just turn to cooperation with global automobile industry leaders, like Fiat and General Motors. They absolutely made the right decision for that.

The Nissan Mixim concept car has recently been on display at the Frankfurt Motor Show.  If you are a fan of Japanese comic book, you might actually love this thing.

Yoo Eusun was what’s behind the Mixim’s interior-design concept.  This young Nissan’s in-house Mixim competition winner has surprisingly conceptualized this Nissan model from computer games, manga comics, anime and Second Life.  She said, “I am influenced by Japanese animation, like the film Ghost in the Shell.”  She basically adopted the concept with what see thinks the young individuals are getting hooked these days.  Though she doesn’t yet actually join the Second Life, as she said, everyone in Japan is part of it.

An article from independent.co.uk, said “The Mixim is a car aimed at the next generation of drivers.  Through extensive research, speaking with and observing teenagers in Europe, the United States, Japan and even China, Nissan has come to the conclusion that the driving generation to come has no interest in engine size, driving dynamics or speed, but is looking for an alternative to the conventional notion of the car.”  Thus, the market they are in focus with is seen barely looking over of how a Honda engine mount would look like.

General manager Francois Bancon, advanced studio, explained, “The young of today have a different sense of reality…  They are no longer so interested in products, but in experiences.  They interface with the world through the computer.”  “This is a digital-era car,” he emphasized.  So, almost all interest is attached with the computer technology.

The Maxim is powered with a motor/generator using Nissan’s new compact lithium-ion batteries.  It has 4x4 capabilities aided by one motor driving the front axle and another for the rear.

This latest Nissan concept car only measures 3.7 m in length, 1.8 m in width and 1.4 in height.  It is seemingly light at 950 kg.  155 miles (250 km) is the farthest it could run before it needs to be recharged.  It could even go accelerated up to 112 mph (180 km/h).

Chief designer Masato Inoue said, “We didn’t want to produce another cuddly EV, but a concept with genuine character that just happens to be battery-powered.”  According to him Nissan’s design language is the where several elements are derived, including head and tail lamps.  However, “non-defined wavy surfaces are a metaphor for free thinking and are the antithe-sis of conventional machine appearance,” he explained.

Eunsun believes that “today’s youth see no boundaries between the virtual and the real worlds.  She said, “With the driver being in the centre, he is in command of the car…  You also feel like you’re in your own world.”  That is for making the driver seat inspired by Formula 1 and computer games.

Eunsun also said, “The inspiration for Mixim’s design development was ’99 per cent evil, 1 per cent cute’.  This mini-monster theme was developed from a spectrum of Japanese computer-game animations.”

Bancon said, “It may have originated from Japan, but it’s not part of, say, any French kid’s culture.  They probably don’t even know where it came from originally.  It’s now a global vocabulary.”  He believes that this strategy will make them attached to global vision.

We don’t usually notice that there are innovations on Mazda wheel hub or any other parts of car wheels. It’s not that obvious, but there are several upgrades made involving the car wheels, stuffing it with future technology.

Automiq Power & Light, a little company, has recently released their new product, the “GloRyder Wheel Light”. The name itself piqued my curiosity. According to an article from emediawire.com, GloRyder is a custom chromed aluminum device that replaces a wheel center cap and light up the entire face of the wheel.

Putting in this GloRyder doesn’t require replacing the wheels, only the center cap. It is not, even barely, a plastic cap replacement. “It is a high quality, precision made metal housing containing a sophisticated circuit board, long lasting LED’s, a photo sensor, and motion sensor, that turns on the GloRyder only at night.” Cool, isn’t it? I think this is a better way for sports fans, corporations, designers, manufacturers and the-likes to flaunt their logo and colors on the wheels in the dark. The design of the chromed cap permits the light to shimmer through those marks, showing off a fascinating hued glow.

This technology is expected to remain as an option. It will be classified among after market equipment, which could actually capture about 10 percent or more than $3 billion of $31 billion U.S. market. Is this the next big thing? In a way, it could actually contribute to traffic safety, as it increases a vehicle’s visibility on intersections. It could even be the new glowing wheel style for a new era, making the most in the world of custom hot rod design and automobile wheels.

November 2005 was when this GloRyder showed off in the 2005 SEMA show. Two years have just been enough for Automiq Power & Light to get it through field tests and make it at its perfect package. So, this year has been the best time for its readiness to be released in the world market.

At the 2006 SEMA show, GloRyder has gained the title as the “Best New Product, International Award”, proving that it doesn’t only have national stature, but international as well. Obtaining recognition through such awards and several write ups will help it move forward in the market.

So would you want this new kind of wheel?  

Behold, the offspring of the Typhoon and Echidna and sister of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra.  As it approached, everyone turns their gazes. Stopping dead in their tracks. Lost in their thoughts, trying to comprehend what is upon them. With curious eyes and searching thoughts, waiting for it to stop just to have answers to those questions forming in their minds. Though it may not breathe fires off its mouth, but it sure has the making of a chimera. Enter the Back Seat Betty at the 2007 Street Rod Nationals North at the Kalamazoo Country Expo Center & Fairground.

“Everywhere it goes, it’s a sponge,” said Tommy Carroll, Back Seat Betty’s owner.  It is captivated with 3,100 rivets, instead of welded steel.  The lots of work given for such much rivets made him say, “I’ll never do that again.”  But most probably, he would really be that dedicated because the vehicle is from his father, who served in the U.S. Air Force in the 1940s.  He said, “It’s a tribute to my father, John T. Carroll II, who was a navigator in the South Pacific during World War II.”

Crooks…  Criminals…  Lawbreakers… move fast ‘coz here comes the muscle machine, the Carbon Motors E7. Get ready to be caught by the world’s first purpose-built police car! It has been employed with the latest hi-tech crime-fighting equipment along with its tough bulletproof bodywork.

Hi-tech law enforcement kit has included a 360 degree interior and exterior video surveillance system, including night vision. It significantly monitors the vehicle’s surroundings and rear occupants. Specifically for the officers, head-up display, biometric ignition and automatic number plate recognition equipment has been added.

Of course, a police car should never be left behind the track, so it has high-speed pursuits and premium brake parts as good as or even better than your regular Dodge brake caliper. According to an article from autoexpress.co.uk, BMW provided a 300 bhp 3.0 L six-cylinder turbodiesel engine for this car. It boosts the vehicles power to run 0-60 mph in about 6.5 seconds and attain a top speed of 155 mph.

Tough? Absolutely, it is! Its structure can withstand a 75 mph rear impact; so, dare not to ram it off.

Well, it is great.  We just don’t know when will it be on the road and if it will hit other cities besides those in the United States. This car should be as efficient as we expect it, just don’t let the criminals get their hands on it.