Investing in a velvet wrap company would have been a bad idea. Apart from a few crazy supercar owners in London, nobody paid big bucks to have a furtastic car, and the media had an overwhelmingly negative response.
But just when you thought velvet is gone completely off the radar, somebody famous put a big black blotch on your screen. Yes, Austin Mahone had his BMW i8 re-wrapped to look like a pair of hippie pants.
Velvet wrapping must have progressed a little bit since we last checked it out. The video detailing how the wrap was done shows the latest generation materials are much thinner and more malleable. Complex shapes can now be catered to, and even though it's a few years old, car bodies still don't get much more complicated than the BMW i8.
The full customization was carried out by Metro Wrapz, a Miami auto shop that specializes in these kinds of things. Not only did they take of Mahone's previous wrap, which had a rusted copper look, but they do crazy stuff like boats or Segways.
Their video is overly dramatic, but we can't blame them for wanting the attention. Nor can we blame Austin for adding contrasting wheels. The copper-colored alloys have the extra benefit of the Forgiato badge to draw attention. As if butterfly doors weren't enough!
You might want to criticize the artists, but we'd at least show them respect for paying attention to the latest trends in car customization. For example, Justin Bieber was one of the first in America with a Liberty Walk Ferrari 458. And as ugly as it might be, Will.I.Am's Tesla Model S is still probably the most heavily customized example in the world.
Check out the wrap process in the first video. The second one cover how the stripped the old rust wrap off the BMW using a steamer. It's got a therapeutic effect, like watching Dr. Pimple Popper videos.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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