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Jan
09
BMW Neue Klasse 2800 TiSa
Happy New Year to everybody! Ein Frohes Neues Jahr!
Neues Jahr – Neue Klasse. The BMW Neue Klasse was the foundation on which the legendary BMW 02 and E21 series were built. In the last year, it seemed like every man and his dog customized an 02 or E21. Many of these projects are cool and built to a high standard with excellent finish. A friend asked me if I could photoshop one, but as I had already created the 2002 4-door Touring, 2002 Panel Van and a motorsports orientated V8-swapped E21, I thought the time had come to create something entirely different. There might be some stunning Neue Klasse builds somewhere out there, but I’m not aware of any – and most certainly none that is modified to such an extent.
Wilhelm Hofmeister penned the elegant lines of the body and Giovanni Michelotti consulted to BMW only on some details. I wanted to keep these lines and the overall shape, but give the whole car a more meaningful stance and expression. Imagine a tube frame chassis underneath the body, with period-correct Formula 1 style control arms and suspension. The centerlock BBS E50 feature classic turbo fans and are shod with old-school Goood Year slicks. In order to contain them within the width of the body, the fenders have been flared ever so subtly, E30 style. Front and rear bumpers have been deleted not only to save weight, but also to give it that racecar feel. Accentuated by the front and rear spoilers, reminiscent of an E9 CSL coupé, this machine would look gracefully on any track.
Dec
24
Merry Christmas!
Automotive Art / Blog / Hispano Suiza / Photoshop Chops / PSC Hispano Suiza Posted by sebastian
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Merry Christmas!
Hispano Suiza H6C Xenia Dubonnet by Saoutchik | Santas’ Sled for the 2019 Season
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Dec
21
Ferrari 500 Superfast Bonneville LSR (Land Speed Record)
Salt Lake Racer | Parked in Tokyo, Japan
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Dec
10
Nissan Pathfinder / Terrano Turbo
BRE inspired livery | Volk Rays TE37 | BMX
Japanese Nostalgic Cars recent article about the resto-modded Acura SLX triggered all the right feelings. Classic body-on-frame 4×4 design, modern suspension and drivetrain plus all the amenities not available back in the days. A surefire recipe to get me interested. When JNC posed their question about the reader’s resomod SUV ideas, I booted photoshop and began dreaming. What I eventually came up with, is a more or less timeless Nissan Terrano WD21 with a lift kit and six-lug, off-road spec Volk Rays TE37 wheels, finished in gold and shod with Toyo tires. Most viewers will have recognized the color scheme of the livery instantly, but it has a twist to it. The colors from the famous \\ BRE \\ design have been inverted and instead of two stripes, there are three. Both Datsun 240Z and 510 Coupé had two side windows, so I decided to mimic the 4×4’s three windows in the livery design. Custom bumpers and a roof rack with a bicycle finish off the look.
Dec
09
Suzuki Swift / Cultus / GEO Metro
Just for fun | Not likely anybody would actually do this
A couple of weeks ago I found this cheerful press photo of a USDM Geo Metro LSi (aka Suzuki Swift or Suzuki Cultus) and instantly knew I wanted to photoshop it. A quick just-for-fun project. Lower it, chose a set of interesting wheels, clean up some areas on the body and add a front spoiler – done. Fun was had and it was finished rather quickly. If you don’t like the car, look at the driver instead and get hit with those 1990’s memory flashback vibes.
Nov
17
Cadillac Seville SLS Northstar V8 | HRE Wheels
Automotive Art / Cadillac / photoshop chop / Photoshop Chops / PSC Cadillac Posted by sebastian
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Sep
14
Mercedes-Benz W109 300 SEL 6.3 | Dragster
2019.09 | Photoshop Chops | Dragster Conversion
“Länge läuft”
This is a German expression about cars with a long wheelbase being superior at high speed driving on the Autobahn. This concept also applies to dragsters, even though the acceleration run ends at a the 1/4 mile marker, where the fun on the German high speed road network begins.
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Aug
30
Jaguar F-Type Group 44 | GT4-spec
Ask any of my friends and they will tell you that I don’t like green cars. At all. However, to every rule there is an exception and in my case, the exceptions are the (predominantly white) Group 44 cars with their two-tone green liveries sponsored by Quaker State.
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Aug
25
Citroën CX 22 TRS
2019.08 | Photoshop Chop | Tuning
Growing up at the French border gave me the opportunity to enjoy the weird and quirky French cars. At a very young age, I was fascinated by the sheer elegance of the big Citroën cars parked in the lowest position of the hydropneumatic suspension. Seeing them sink into or rise from their “sleep” position always was the icing on the cake and put a smile on my face. These days now, air suspension setups are the norm, but for me it will always be a reminder of days long gone, when the French engineers’ ingeniuity and driving comfort was more important than the bean counters interference in vehicle development. This photoshop depicts a dream of my younger self: being able to actually drive the Citroën CX in the low position and fit larger multipiece wheels. Ça c’est une voiture très belle.
Click here to see the original picture.
Aug
24
Jaguar E-Type Zero
2019.08 | Photoshop Chop | Electric Vehicle
Yes, there is something missing in this picture. No, I didn’t photoshop it out. This Jaguar E-Type doesn’t have exhaust pipes because it has an electric drivetrain. Jaguar unveiled a modern revival of the E-Type roadster with an all-electric, zero-emission powertrain in 2017. The vehicle is called the E-Type Zero and has a 40 kWh battery-powered electric motor. It can accelerate to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds and has a range of 168 miles (270km) on a full charge. The battery pack is designed to fit in the space occupied by the original six-cylinder motor without any modifications, and will fit in any model Jaguar using the same motor. The single-speed transmission replaces the original gearbox. In August 2018, Jaguar confirmed it will offer all-electric E-Types for sale starting in summer 2020. You can order yours now. To wet your appetite, I lowered the E-Type for an improved stance and fitted a more contemporary wheel and tire combination.
Aug
23
Audi 100 C1 2-Door USDM
2019.08 | Photoshop Chop | Stance
A quick lunchtime photoshop chop once again. A friend complained that I hardly ever photoshop Audis. Well, there’s a reason for that, but I made an exception and went creative on a classic Audi 100 C1. Found this tracking shot of a USDM model and modified it. Obviously the car was lowered and the steelies have a larger diameter now, albeit still featuring a thin white-wall line so typical for this period and location. The rear fender has been relocated because I didn’t want the wheel to disappear into the fender. Quick & dirty? No. Quick and clean style just for fun.
Aug
12
Opel Rekord C Delivery Van
2019.08 | Photoshop Chop | Retro Vibes
It is not often that I use an old black and white picture as a base for a photoshop chop. But sometimes I stumble upon a picture and immediately know what to do with it. Subtle, clean and simple, but with great impact was the idea this time around. The Opel Rekord C delivery van (Lieferwagen) has been lowered, the rear fenders have been widened and the grille has been modified. This gives it a muscle-car-like look and certainly more presence, doesn’t it? Just the right amount of lowering to give it a proper stance adds to the presence. Larger diameter and wider steel wheels with dog dish hubcaps go well with the classic overall look and keep the retro vibes.
Jul
28
SAAB 900 Turbo Cabriolet | Bōsōzoku Style
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Jul
13
Mercedes-Benz C107 450 SLC with Custom Top Chop
Automotive Art / Mercedes-Benz / Photoshop Chops / PSC Mercedes-Benz Posted by sebastian
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Mercedes-Benz C107 450 SLC with Custom Top Chop
2019.07 | Photoshop Chop | Nice Matin
When I found the original picture of this Mercedes-Benz C107 450 SLC parked in front of the Nice Matin building, I fell in love with it immediately. The color hues and saturation just scream late 70’s / early 80’s!
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Jul
05
BMW 2002 ti Garmisch Concept
2019.07 | Photoshop Chop | Concept Car
The BMW 2002 ti was a proposal designed by Marcello Gandini and built by Bertone. It was displayed at the 1970 Salon d’Automobile in Geneva and disappeared after the show ended, never to be seen again.
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Jun
15
Chevrolet 4400 Chassis Cab | Hot Rod Concept
2019.06 | Photoshop Chop | Hot Rod
Sometimes a “quickie lunchbreak photoshop chop” is abandoned because of a small glitch that can’t be fixed at the time. In this case, I forgot the picture on my hard drive for a couple of years. With years more experience now, the then-unfixable glitch was remedied in a matter of not even 15 minutes and the chop finished.
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Jun
02
Porsche 928 LSR Shooting Break | Bonneville Land Speed Record
2019.06 | Photoshop Chop | Land Speed Record
The Porsche 928 is a grand tourer by definition and was never intended to be used for motorsports. Covering long distances at high speeds is what this vehicle feels most comfortable at.
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Apr
19
Jaguar XJ-S Notchback Hot Rod
Building the Hasegawa Jaguar XJ-S kit in 1:24 scale, I noticed that it is virtually impossible to lower the car properly without modifying the wheel arches. Bolt-on overfender are always an option, but it didn’t feel right with the lines of this classy coupé. Instead of cutting up the body of the plastic model, I put it back into the box and switched to Adobe Photoshop. After many failed attempts to relocate the wheel arches, I decided to hotrod the sled just for fun. This is entirely fictional for now, but could be done in reality. XJ-S prices are low and it isn’t exactly a rare car nobody dares to cut apart and weld back together in a different way.
The frame was extended to get the proportions right and to make it less butt-heavy than the stock design, I reshaped the C-pillars. Inspiration for this mod came, believe it or not, from the foxbody Mustang notchback. I think it improves the proportions of the car, but at the same time takes away one of the design quirks that make the XJ-S so unique and instantly recognizable. In order to keep with the classic hot rod theme, I didn’t use the Jaguar V12, but added four cylinders to a Ford V8 just for the heck of it. Open headers should provide an adequate soundtrack to match the visual impact.
Mar
24
SAAB Sonett III Race Car
Creating the Sonett I Roadster and the Sonett II Club Racer was tremendous fun and I wanted to add a SAAB Sonett III the collection. Looking at the Sonett III pictures on my hard drive for many months, I struggled to come up with an idea for the conversion. The inspiration finally hit when I found a picture of an old Indy car. Why not convert the Sergio Coggiola and Gunnar A. Sjögren designed four cylinder “sportscar” into a beast with a compact V8? I set to work and came up with the idea of relocating the wheel arches in order to fit some mighty race car rubber under the widened fiberglass body while lowering the overall height. To increase strength, the quarter windows behind the doors have been eliminated and filled in. The rear fenders are re-sculpted and flow into the ducktail spoiler, providing much needed downforce along with the front spoiler. I really like the 1970’s chrome accents on the otherwise more 80’s looking body and kept most of them. The paint scheme is more 70’s orientated: the blue and yellow paint scheme resemble the colors of the Swedish flag and the shape of the yellow stripe mimics the silhouette of a classic glider plane, to add the aeronautics reference typical for SAAB vehicles.
Jan
27
Bentley S1 Continental by Mulliner
Class and distinguished elegance. This is what most people associate with the Mulliner-bodied Bentley S1 Continental.
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Jan
02
A good friend of mine recently complained that most of my photoshop chops are side-view only. That is true, because I have more ideas than time and 3/4 view pictures need a lot more time to finish properly than the simpler side-view pictures.
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Dec
24
Merry Christmas!
2018 was a successful year for my photoshop blog VirtualModels. Many thanks to everybody for your support, encouraging words and great ideas for improvements.
I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
2018 war ein erfolgreiches Jahr für meinen Photoshop Blog VirtualModels. Herzlichen Dank an alle für Eure Unterstützung, ermunternde Worte und großartige Verbesserungsvorschläge.
Ich wünsche Euch allen Frohe Weihnachten und einen Guten Rutsch ins Neue Jahr!
Herzliche Grüße and yours sincerely – Sebastian Motsch
Merry Christmas to everybody! Frohe Weihnachten!
Dec
23
What if downsizing the US land yachts went a little different?
Every car enthusiasts knows that the oil crisis in the early 1970’s eventually spelled the end for the gas guzzling land yachts. Cars from Europe and Japan with much better fuel economy flooded the US market and created a situation the big three had to face. They tried frantically to build something suitable. However, most cars they came up with were great achievements horrible miniature caricatures of the bygone era of dinosaurs. You fondly remember the downsized barges and new designs like the Ford Pinto, AMC Gremlin amongst others. Especially the shrunken Cadillacs and Lincolns put a sad expression on most peoples faces. But hey… what if they had approached the whole downsizing trend with a little bit of humor and left the interiors of the cars full-size and only compromised on the outside of the body and the drivetrain? They might have come up with something like this 1959 Plymouth Fury Hardtop Coupé Shorty concept I created. It puts a smile on your face, doesn’t it? 😉
Dec
22
After a long time since creating thetop-chopped Harley-Davidson Special Edition Lonestar, I wanted to create another one. The 2008 International Lonestar looks like a show truck from the factory and it didn’t need much customizing to create the slick rig you see in the picture. Lowered, larger diameter wheels with low profile tires and a a little clean-up here and there.
Dec
15
NSU Ro 80 Custom
Most articles ever written about the NSU Ro 80 focused on the technical side, mainly the futuristic rotary engine designed by Felix Wankel. The design pinned by Claus Luthe was also praised for being ahead of the game, too – back in the time when the car was new. When I was a young boy, frequently riding shotgun in our neighbors’ lime green metallic Ro 80 in the 1980’s, it was just an old and somewhat anachronistic car. Always maintained by the (ex-) NSU dealership, the car was in great shape and absolutely spotless, but in my eyes it lacked something I could never really pinpoint back then. Now, three decades later, I know what it was: presence – or rather the lack thereof. The upright greenhouse with the slim pillars and chrome trim, the narrow track and the huge ground clearance made the still modern looking shape of the body feel aged.
In this photoshop chop, I adressed the above points and as a result the car has a lot more presence. Most obviously the ride height has been altered and the track widened. Apart from that I fixed the greenhouse by performing a top chop and modifying the rake of all pillars. To tie in the design of the pre-facelift taillights with the widened track, they have been modified as well instead of opting for the ugly facelift parts.
