Anyone who has ever done a restoration and modernization process on anything – from a pencil to an airplane – will probably give you one simple piece of advice: prepare your bank account for a black hole.
But since I am no paper aircraft specialist (just to mix the above examples of pencils and planes), let us just stick to the wonderous realm of the automotive industry. When I started writing about the cars I love, which happened during what now seems like immemorial times, it was not long before I also came into contact with Singer Vehicle Design and their reimagined air-cooled Porsches.
All of a sudden, I found out that you could take an old sports car – which I never cared too much for because they were hard to maintain and even harder to drive – and bring it up to 21st-century, modern specifications. But making a vintage Porsche on par with a contemporary sports car came at a cost – one that I fell off my chair when I first heard it. Well, it took me about a decade and a half to get used to the quotations.
Sure, I understand the painstaking level of attention to detail needed to create such automotive works of art (make no mistake, they belong in an art museum, frankly) by Singer and other restomod specialists or aftermarket companies (the list is long, and that would only be when talking about Porsche), so the price is mostly warranted. But it is still cringy to think that you could live a regular lifestyle for the rest of your life on the single check needed to cover such a luxury restomod.
That being said, there are also cheaper solutions, even if sometimes not by much. First, do not go for an old-school, air-cooled Porsche, but rather for a classic car that can be found everywhere, if you live in the United States, that is. Such as the iconic Chevy Camaro, for example. Then, just take matters into your hands and involve yourself in the restoration and modernization process. You do not need to become a major specialist in the field, just research enough to find the best and most affordable ways to make your visions come true.
Photo: personalizatuauto / Instagram
To continue the examples, you could ask someone from across the imaginative realm of digital car content creators to CGI-materialize your vision in front of your eyes before even embarking on the journey of parts searching and DIY or aftermarket shop tinkering. One good illustration of the pre-build visualization case also comes from Emmanuel Brito, the virtual artist better known as personalizatuauto on social media, who takes us on yet another novel journey of rendering-to-reality discovery – with help from a Matte Black on Glossy Black 1968 Chevy Camaro riding slammed on top of charcoal-like and mustard-style aftermarket wheels.
This pixel master is no stranger to such creations – and his regular enthusiasts know that he is going to fulfill every whim and desire, including the stupid ones, such as that one time when a 1966 Ford Mustang Coupe looked like a pointy-lipped shark that got punched in the face by a hammer. Alas, just like other dreams that will eventually come true – of the Impala, Challenger, Chevelle, Charger, or Fox Body Mustang variety (you name it, he’s got them all) – this 1968 Chevy Camaro looks stunning and just makes me hope that one day, soon enough, the restomod process will become accessible to everyone – not just a select few.
In the meantime, I will refrain from drooling any further over this tasty, dark, and menacing yet elegant build anymore. Otherwise, I am afraid we might virtually damage the glossy black paint job, the matte black stripes or aerodynamic elements, and possibly even those subtly contrasting aftermarket wheels. I was kidding, of course, but let me get serious once again and scold the pixel master for leaving us out in the dark about what could possibly hide inside the cockpit behind the tinted windows and windshield or inside the engine bay.
By the way, although this CGI expert is mostly focused on the Americana lifestyle, he is no stranger to Euro ideas either, so the second post embedded below (which is entirely wishful thinking, on this occasion) has to do with one of the greatest roadsters of all time, a 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL sibling to the ultra-legendary gullwing coupe. Albeit, on this occasion, I am pretty sure some of the model’s fans might start running amok crying their outrage at the sight of these two versions featuring a carbon fibered slammed widebody atmosphere – with either matching black or contrasting chrome big-lipped aftermarket wheels!
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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