Tuned/Modified high end vehicles...?

[Checkmate]

jb9193 said:

Checkmate said:

B3njamin said:

Alpina D3 - Badges seem to have been purchased from the styling section in Halfords.

Puzzling. I take it you are unfamiliar with Alpina?

I was pretty sure it was a genuine Alpina?

An Alpina in the company of such monstrosities of the Gemballas and a thing called a "Chopster", and people are criticising the quality of the badges? Alpinas are properly engineered to perform better than the car they are derived from, not something that can be said for many of the cars here.

[Kit80]

I like some of them cars in the OP but I definitly do not like matt black on cars. I did not know this until this thread.

[jb9193]

Lol it appears I am the only one who likes matte black cars!
And matte finishes on cars in general?

[spanna123]

I saw a matte black Range Rover in the Bullring car park, Birmingham. The best way to describe it would be a tacky waste of space, probably the same could be said for the driver.

[B3njamin]

Checkmate said:

jb9193 said:

Checkmate said:

B3njamin said:

Alpina D3 - Badges seem to have been purchased from the styling section in Halfords.

Puzzling. I take it you are unfamiliar with Alpina?

I was pretty sure it was a genuine Alpina?

An Alpina in the company of such monstrosities of the Gemballas and a thing called a "Chopster", and people are criticising the quality of the badges? Alpinas are properly engineered to perform better than the car they are derived from, not something that can be said for many of the cars here.

I should have been clearer - The Alpina BMW looks great and I expect it is a fantastic car to drive. I felt that the badges looked as if they had been made using the cheap chrome effect letters that are often found sold in Halfords, which sadly lets the car down. It is hardly a salient point when seen alongside the Gembella Porsches but I can't help thinking that some nice badges would have finished it off perfectly, whereas the ones seen look like an afterthought.

[B3njamin]

jb9193 said:

I like the feedback there!
I agree with you on the SLR definately. I do however like them all otherwise I wouldn't have taken pics haha!
From what I can tell majority of people do not like them like I do! Haha!

May I ask what you like about them? I appreciate your open approach and am interested in what attracts people to them.

Having never been coddled in a great deal of wealth such vehicles display the owner's wealth adequately for me in their factory clothing, however such modifications to most of the cars shown simply turns the vehicles into a bit of a joke, which I find puzzling.

I suppose I am not the target audience for such cars but I would be interested in knowing the attraction they have.

[Kit80]

jb9193 said:

Lol it appears I am the only one who likes matte black cars!
And matte finishes on cars in general?

I thought I would have but looking at those I just want to get some chalk out and write something obscene and childish on them.

[jb9193]

B3njamin said:

jb9193 said:

I like the feedback there!
I agree with you on the SLR definately. I do however like them all otherwise I wouldn't have taken pics haha!
From what I can tell majority of people do not like them like I do! Haha!

May I ask what you like about them? I appreciate your open approach and am interested in what attracts people to them.

Having never been coddled in a great deal of wealth such vehicles display the owner's wealth adequately for me in their factory clothing, however such modifications to most of the cars shown simply turns the vehicles into a bit of a joke, which I find puzzling.

I suppose I am not the target audience for such cars but I would be interested in knowing the attraction they have.

Well I'm not the target audience for the cars either, not yet anyway!
I just like the exclusivity of them and the unique looks.
Not really the Gemballa ones I must admit, but for example I love the Revere ones, I wouldn't say they're over the top at all, just modified (Both cosmetically and otherwise) to suit the customers taste.
So yeah to sum up, pretty much the exclusive side of having these type of made on order cars.

Edited by jb9193 on Wednesday 19th May 00:00

[Bob Fossil]

An interesting thread this one, especially the reaction to the Alpina (ok, I'll declare my bias here... I own a D3 BiTurbo).

For me, considering an Alpina to be in the same realm as those Gemballa / Revere monstrosities (and the rest) is totally wrong - to my mind, Alpina today stands for discreet power, and function over form - more of a "gentleman's express for the discerning" than a mobile bling fest for the nouveau riche.

Granted, the bright red D3 with black glossy wheels currently in Sytners is a little OTT for my liking (and actually steers it back towards Gemballa territory looks-wise), but on the whole I think it's a bit unfair to tar it with the same bruch as the rest of them. I'll admit now to a lack of knowledge on the history of most of the "tuners" above, but don't forget Alpina also have a genuine motorsport pedigree to back up their work... whereas I can't ever remember seeing a "Kahn" GT3 car? Ok, Cosworth have a fantastic motorsport pedigree but their partnership with Kahn is nothin more than branding gone crazy.

Conversely, I would have put some of the early Alpinas right up there with the more extravagant cars pictured above, given they were more often than not covered in big wings and wacky graphics...

All IMO of course.

[jb9193]

Bob Fossil said:

An interesting thread this one, especially the reaction to the Alpina (ok, I'll declare my bias here... I own a D3 BiTurbo).

For me, considering an Alpina to be in the same realm as those Gemballa / Revere monstrosities (and the rest) is totally wrong - to my mind, Alpina today stands for discreet power, and function over form - more of a "gentleman's express for the discerning" than a mobile bling fest for the nouveau riche.

Granted, the bright red D3 with black glossy wheels currently in Sytners is a little OTT for my liking (and actually steers it back towards Gemballa territory looks-wise), but on the whole I think it's a bit unfair to tar it with the same bruch as the rest of them. I'll admit now to a lack of knowledge on the history of most of the "tuners" above, but don't forget Alpina also have a genuine motorsport pedigree to back up their work... whereas I can't ever remember seeing a "Kahn" GT3 car? Ok, Cosworth have a fantastic motorsport pedigree but their partnership with Kahn is nothin more than branding gone crazy.

Conversely, I would have put some of the early Alpinas right up there with the more extravagant cars pictured above, given they were more often than not covered in big wings and wacky graphics...

All IMO of course.

Nice car
That red one sounds interesting though, I may upload more as I see them, all of those pics on the first post were taken on my travels at some point!
Yeah I think on Khan it's almost ALL cosmetic, but I like that side of things. To me personally, the way they look is really important as well as performance.
I do see where you're coming from with the early Alpinas but I just simply haven't seen any lol.
Do you have any pics of your Alpina posted anywhere?

[jb9193]

Gaz. said:

Checkmate said:

jb9193 said:

Checkmate said:

B3njamin said:

Alpina D3 - Badges seem to have been purchased from the styling section in Halfords.

Puzzling. I take it you are unfamiliar with Alpina?

I was pretty sure it was a genuine Alpina?

An Alpina in the company of such monstrosities of the Gemballas and a thing called a "Chopster", and people are criticising the quality of the badges? Alpinas are properly engineered to perform better than the car they are derived from, not something that can be said for many of the cars here.

Almost without exception I prefer M-division stuff over Alpina.

I second that!

[98C4S]

Theoldfm said:

The Alpina D3 looks great (although I am biased )

Me too

I think its quite possibly the best real world car out there, And I've owned a fair few

[Zad]

I do like Alpinas, always have (although not keen on them being autos) but those badges do look wrong somehow.

[jb9193]

Zad said:

I do like Alpinas, always have (although not keen on them being autos) but those badges do look wrong somehow.

So not all of the Alpinas have badges like the ones in the pic? I haven't seen many Alpinas in general tbh though.

[ian_c_uk]

Novitec 360:

[SmartTowelGS401]

TheRoadWarrior said:

Isnt that just a 599 with different wheels?

Hamaan website said:

HAMANN Motorsport offers a comprehensive tuning program for the amazing new 599 GTB Ferrari. Their latest model is a tuned version of Ferrari's flag-ship production model, the 599 GTB Fiorano - the first tuner to offer an aerodynamic range of accessories for the 599. The new car features an aero kit that includes a carbon fibre front splitter, side sills, and an adjustable rear diffuser. Other new details include a subtle rear wing and Edition Race exclusive alloy wheels.

So no its not just the wheels! I rather like Hamaan's work in general, in general its not too OTT like other "tuning" companies. Still as someone said about this sort of car earlier, its probably slower than the standard 599. Wheels are lovely tho.

eta:

Edited by SmartTowelGS401 on Wednesday 19th May 19:50

[pimpin gimp]

I think the problem with a lot of the cars in the OP is that they are Matt black, and not satin.

The cars with satin wraps and paint jobs have an element of sheen about them which helps, bu the pure matt stuff just looks like blackboard paint.

Oh, and the shocking bodykits don't help either, but the paint is the worst bit in my eyes.

[dtmpower]

Whilst in Tokyo I saw many a European supercar having some 'tasteful' modifications....

Here is a typical Japanese Lamborghini tuner : www.libertywalk.co.jp

or for sale on goo-net.com




The Rauh-Welt Porsche style of tuning has been widely discussed on PH already. I
personally like it, but I wouldn't think it would go down too well in the UK, too many stuffy middle aged Porsche owners worrying about their residuals, warranties and exclusive main dealer oil changes

[jb9193]

ian_c_uk said:

Novitec 360:

I think I've seen a 599 done by Novitec on YouTube and it looks really good, this 360 looks good too in my opinion

[jb9193]

A couple more to add, thoughts on these...?

Matte Black GranTurismo (S?)


Chrome R8 V8