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Car configurators are one of the all-time great online time-wasters. If you want to dream bigger, though, Boeing will let you (virtually) paint a new 787 Dreamliner. More »
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We're not sure what this Audi R8's owner had in mind with this paint choice for his car's sideblades. It's certainly a high-quality job, and admittedly creative, but it's hard to get around the fact that it's also incredibly ugly. More »
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Over the years car manufacturers have made some interesting choices when it came time to pick paint colors. Which choices were good and which choices were bad varies greatly on a person by person basis. This weekend we want to know which color is the worst to ever appear on a production vehicle. What is the worst car color? More »
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Owners of various Alameda Down On The Street honorees sometimes contact us to let us know how their cars and trucks are doing. Lately, we've heard from a couple who have really spiffed up their rides. More »
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Just, you know, in case you were wondering. Glad we cleared that up. (Hat tip to Backus and Bill!) More »
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Since our jobs are internet-based we're normally part of the "in-crowd" when it comes to pop-culture references, but this paint's got us genuinely befuddled. The only response we can muster is "What the hell?" NSFW. [Reddit] More »
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Josh Keyes has an eye for the post-apocalyptic, dystopian future, painting in a way that causes our brains to run circles around itself. Take a peek inside to see his incredible artwork. More »
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Not wanting to take the usual art car route by decorating the car itself, artist Robin Rhode installed a set of paint squirters on a 2010 BMW Z4 and set it in motion upon canvas. More »
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This BMW owner decided he'd like his BMW 335i to be white rather than black, so he found a shop to wrap his bimmer in 3M shiny white tape. OK, so paint jobs aren't exactly dead yet, but it seems more and more people are choosing to wrap their metal rather than have it re-sprayed. We guess this way, if he feels like changing it to another color, all he has to do is peel off the skin and apply a new one. And obviously, it also protects the original surface underneath, if he ever wants to go back to black. But what do you think? More »
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Not all of us considered the blue-and-yellow of Jerry Seinfeld's Porsche 911 to be quite so bad, though that put us in the minority. We're also totally smitten with the grey and red velour of the 1971 Fiat 130 Coupe, but that may not be a commonly held taste. The snakeskin green + black + red of the 2008 Viper SRT10 is both garish and ridiculous, which actually makes it perfectly appropriate for the Viper SRT10. There may be nothing more frightening than the purple-on-purple Porsche, an eggplant abortion that only a Spice Girl or a true Porsche fan could love. Amazingly, everything mentioned so far came that way from the factory. We haven't even mentioned custom paint jobs. You tell us, what's the worst-of-the-worst in car-color combinations? More »
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We all know that Craiglist posters can be some of the most trustworthy individuals on this planet, but for those few occasions when you need to double check their honesty there is this great invention: the paint thickness tester. It's a keychain-sized device that can determine if a car has had any body work needing repainting. It works by setting a reference value at a designated spot on the car and then comparing all other spots to that value. For example, you make the reference value a spot on the hood that you're pretty sure hasn't been repainted. Then you go to the common areas for damage like fenders and the bumper to check if the same value exists. The paint thickness tester is available for $20 and could save you thousands. Unless, of course, the paint tester itself is a scam. [Product Page via TRFJ] More »
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Proving that saving the environment isn't all about mating electric motors to gas engines, Ford has been working on reforming the painting process to find ways to lessen our impact on our world. If you don't believe that painting trucks creates an environmental hazard, check out the paint shop at your local transit authority's bus barn. According to Ford, the new system "combines an advanced chemical formulation of high-solids, solvent-borne paint with an innovative three-wet application process." Exactly. Fittingly, Ford is testing this new process out on 200 U-Haul vans, which each use a lot of paint to describe the many tourist attractions of Delaware. More »
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We've been hearing about this kind of thing since the mid-80s, but it appears an actual color-shift system could be in place by early next decade, reports World Car Fans. It's the next step from Nissan's self-healing paint, a paramagnetic paint system that can change color from a default of white to a range of shades. It's a polymer-based substance containing tiny iron oxide particles that can be manipulated by an electric current. Doing so adjusts the distance between the particles, altering the wavelength of visible light, and thus the color shade. It's good news for small cars, which will soon be able to blend in with their surroundings so they're not eaten by birds, a growing insurance liability issue. [World Car Finns] More »
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The inimitable English Russia has a gallery from Russia's Aerograph 2007 show, featuring a smattering of obsessively-artified vehicles. Sadly, there's only one ZAZ among the bunch, but as Murilee is wont to say, "...And one Zaporozhets to rule them all!" In fact, most of the vehicles are of German origin, suggesting that while they may have turned around the Germans at Volgograd, Russia's well-heeled would rather drive Mercs than Volgas. [English Russia] More »
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What happens when you've followed all the instructions outlined in "Ghost Ride It" (e.g., dance on the hood, buy some car kicks, ice up your neck)? Time to paint your brake calipers. But this job isn't for Mssrs. Moore and Krylon. You need G2 Brake Caliper Paint, perhaps in a shade of purple best known among a tight circle of working magicians and diminutive pop stars from Minnesota. It's made to take whatever the physics of frictional heat transfer can dish out. [via G2 USA] More »
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Many of the Jalops worked as house painters during their formative years. And of those, at least one was involved in an accident involving a ladder, physics and a five-gallon tub o' latex. Paint, it's said, knows no loyalty. – Mike Spinelli More »
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We couldn't imagine how much it cost for the UK's Mansory to provide a middle-eastern client with this matte-finish Rolls-Royce Phantom. But after seeing all the new flatness that showed up at SEMA last year, we knew something like this was imminent. We just think to follow the money all the way to the UK. Note our mate Nick Hall on the right, angling for a test drive. – Mike Spinelli More »
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Let's face it: Twenty-odd years hence, the 1985 Corvette's rose isn't exactly dewy in the best of conditions. In fact, maybe this eye-tingling art-car sendup is a response to how poorly the '85's aged. At least its owner's priorities are in order. More »
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Billionaires turned off to the Maybach's dearth of color choices finally have a new tone, and it's not kandy orange peel (sorry Mr. Barris). It's a pearly white paint scheme, which on a giant German car is harder to pull off than an iron bracelet from the ankle of Ilsa, Tigress of Siberia. Nonetheless, we'd imagine there are at least some Maybach buyers who want to recapture some of the lost Liberace mojo. To them, we say godspeed. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=200581&view=rss&microfeed=true Pinstripers are a strange breed. They're steady as surgeons, with the spacial awareness of a 3D camera. Their capacity for close-work would make a Swiss clockmaker smash his cukoo in envy. Only check out this video of some of the top pinstripers in action if you've got 10 minutes to spare and a high tolerance for tedium, or at least have a deep appreciation for tiny brushes and real flame surfacing. [Thanks to Scott for the tip.] More »
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We'd never have pegged the folks at BMW for fans of the rat rod sensibility, but according to Australia's CARSGuide, BMW is working on special matte finish paint for its cars. BMW project manager for the Z4 Coupe told the Aussies such new paint will "turn the car's surfaces into sculpture." It'll also make polishing a moot point, and "rewrite the rules on car styling and presentation." The only problem, according to the project manager? More »
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Dear sweet Lord, what the hell is going on here? If you can't tell by squinting at our pixelated photo we'll give you a hint. This is called the VWgina. Um, yeah. At least the National Christmas Lighting Association won't call us gay anymore. Click on the link to see the full, NSFW version if you're really interested in seeing porn painted on the hood of a VW Bug. For more NSFW, check out the re-design on our sister/brother/slave site, Fleshbot. More »
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Fans of colloid chemistry (c'mon, who isn't one?) will be particularly psyched by the work of a team of German researchers. They've produced new particles that could lead to car finishes (or cosmetics) that can change color based on temperature or humidity. We'd imagine the allure of such a product would be lost on our SoCal audience, but us four-season types could soon have a new way to lose our cars in parking garages. More »
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Nissan Motor announced it's devised an automotive clearcoat that repairs scratches on painted car surfaces, including those created by fingernails, car-washing machines and vengeance. The company's "Scratch Guard Coat," which is effective for three years, contains an elastic resin that helps not only keeps scratches superficial but also will return to its original state "anywhere from one day to a week, depending on temperature and the depth of the scratch," a company release said. No word yet on when the product will be available on Nissan cars. More »
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As the driver of a silver vehicle, we feel like we're Q-shippin' it. Or we would be if our truck weren't so durned slow. Anybody got a spare supercharger for a 318 Magnum lying around? In any event, research by DuPont shows that while silver's reign as the color of choice for the last six years is starting to wane, there's still life in the old girl yet, as paint manufactures infuse it with other tints. Meanwhile, black remains strong updated with new metallic treatments and eye-poppers like orange and yellow are a growth area. Is it only a matter of time until matte red oxide becomes an OEM color choice? That's when we'll know the rat rod thing is really dead. More »
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German scientists have been working on a number of different paint technologies that could appear on new vehicles within the next few decades. One of the most prominent is "chameleon" paint, which would change color to somewhat luminesce at dusk, making vehicles more visible. Not thrilling enough for you, techboy? Then how 'bout electrically-conductive paint that fatigues and cracks along with metal and alerts the vehicle's pilot to impending structural failure? More »
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For a time, we lived with a custom painter, so we know a bit about paint techniques. In fact, some of our stuff still has blue metalflake stuck to it. Rather than being urethane-based, Auto Air's new paints are water-based, which confers a number of advantages over urethane, including the elimination of reducers and hardeners. Plus, they release no volatile organic compounds, making for a far-less toxic work environment for painters. If the durabilty is there, these paints could cause a sea change in the way painters work. More »
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