I’ve pulled some photos of my favorite late-model customs I’ve found online in the past year to share here on supafly.com. What I love about these rides are the big rims, low stance, and minimal after-market accessories. It’s all about being understated.
(You’ll have to wait some time for the photos to load because they’re big photos…perfect for a desktop wallpaper.)
Candyce, Norah, and I went to a big car show in Scottsdale on Sunday. Here are some photos from the event. Don’t miss my commentary at the lower left of each photo. Also, be sure to look at galleries 1 and 2.
I am a fan of boxy compact SUVs because they are the most interesting of the affordable cars on the road. Readers of my blog already know this. If share this enthusiasm, you’ll be interested in some new news in the world of boxcars…
It’s official debut is at the LA Auto Show in a couple months, but some photos of the Cube leaked yesterday (thank you, Autoblog) that prove Nissan has the courage to put asymmetry into production:
Don’t hate me because I’m different.
The Nissan Cube stares down the incumbent Scion xB. Photo from Edmunds
If you are interested in a battle of the boxes, head over to Edmunds.com to find out what they thought of a Japanese-spec Cube they played around with earlier this year. My favorite line from the article:
Nissan is finally convinced there are enough of you to buy its Cube, a boxy car so far out on the funk continuum that the Element and xB might as well be Corollas.
The more I look at the Cube, the more I think of the neo-80′s crew Fanny Pack from America’s Best Dance Crew. They occupy a charming space in pop culture that is both odd and cool. …okay, maybe more odd than cool, but they had enough style to earn a poem from Lil Mama.
There is not a lot of buzz online about the Suzuki Wagon-R / Mazda AZ-Wagon, but it’s worth noting that the look of half box/ half compact car (think Scion-xD) is sticking around.
I saved the best for last. It looks like late next year Honda will give a clean new look to my beloved Element…
Source: Autoblog.com
In the last 10 years, two marvels have injected new life in the custom car scene: big rims and airbag suspension. Now full-size sedans finally had their chance to get a balanced proportions of more compact sporty cars.
In the photo gallery below, I’ve compiled several clean custom sedans I’ve found online from the past 40 years. With stock rims and suspension, most of these cars are forgettable family haulers. But with big rims and a low stance, these sedans have a whole new look on a Friday night cruise down the strip.
The Smart car is finally in the US! I’ve followed this little car since I first saw it eight years ago on the narrow streets of Rome. I learned from an the Italians that it was a collaborate project from Mercedes Benz and Swatch, the fabulous watchmaker known in the US for its vibrantly styled wristwatches in the mid 1980s.
I was seven years old when the Swatch watch craze shook up my hometown. In hindsight, my fascination with those brightly colored watches hinted to my future career in design. It sounds a little silly, but I had a “designer’s crush” on those watches. I was fascinated with every detail…I couldn’t get enough. I could stand and stare at those watches for hours. (I particularly loved the watches with the graffiti-influenced characters by second-wave pop artist Keith Haring, whose influence you can see in my work today.)
A few years ago I was listening to an NPR story celebrating BB King’s 80th birthday. There’s a point in the story where BB King describes the joy of putting on a set of new guitar strings:
“That’s the time when I am so motivated, when the strings sound fresh. The tone is–I don’t know the word–but it’s so pleasing to my ears.”
If you listen to the story, you can hear the passion in his voice as he closes the sentence. He’s a musician and I’m a designer, but we both know what it’s like to be hypnotized by what is inherently beautiful. And when I first spotted the Smart car parked on a cobblestone street in an ancient alley in Rome, I knew I was looking at something special.
So you can understand why I’m so excited that the Smart car is now in America. There’s a dealership not far from my house, so I’ve seen many of these cars zipping around streets and through the neighborhoods. It looks like everyone is having fun, but I had to do some research to see if the car has what it takes to compete with traditional cars…
Writer Eric A. Taub offered convincing review of the Smart Fortwo Passion in The New York Times. You can read the full review on NYTimes.com, but here are my favorites parts:
Uncanny good looks:
“…its shape and colors draws admirers as if it were the latest gadget from Apple.”
Bad handling:
“Rounding curves on city streets, the body roll was pronounced, causing a friend to reflexively grab the dash. When accelerating, the dreadful 5-speed automated manual transmission shifts awkwardly and slowly. It may be enough to make you reach for the Dramamine: the engine temporarily slows as the car is about to upshift, jerking the driver forward and then back with each shift. Several times, my wife threatened to walk home.”
Underwhelming gas mileage:
“In the mileage department, the Smart also failed to live up to expectations. Even with its tiny engine, the two tankfuls of gas consumed while I had the car worked out to readings of only 30 and 34 miles a gallon. That was less than the 36 m.p.g. E.P.A. rating for combined city/highway driving, and certainly not “amazing” as Smart’s press materials proclaim.”
All that bad news is enough to discourage buyers. But I read some good news on Autoblog.com this morning:
IIHS President, Adrian Lund, made it clear that normally bigger and heavier vehicles are the safer choice, “but among the smallest cars, the engineers of the Smart did their homework and designed a high level of safety into a very small package.”
I found it amusing that the car even looks cute when it’s getting smashed up, almost like bad guy that you just killed on Super Mario Brothers. I almost expect the car to flicker a few times and then disappear…
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