Cadillac Seville: The New Standard of the World

This is a rendering for a 2014 Cadillac Seville, a longer-than-XTS, rear-wheel drive, twin-turbo hybrid flagship with all mod-con electronic geegaws and doodads.

Starting with the XTS donor image, I replaced the original fastback 6-window greenhouse for a more tradition 3-box sedan. The new C-pillars are nicely faceted and lead to a roofline nodding back to the '75 X-body Seville. I lengthened the hood and pulled the front wheels forward for the new V8 drivetrain. The wheelbase is 10 inches longer than the front-wheel drive XTS with an extended rear passenger compartment as well. The extended range battery pack is nestled in the platform's raised center spine for handling and packaging needs, making this the first top-of-the-line Cadillac sedan to offer four Nappa leather-covered electronic Recaro bucket seats.

Cadillac ATS coupe—ATC

It's just a matter of time before Cadillac's newest star, the ATS sedan is given a coupe sibling. My version, above, is not the all-out dramatically styled geometric paragon of haute couture as is the larger CTS coupe. This ATS coupe, or ATC most likely, is a bit more "practical" in appearance, more akin to the 3 series, A5 and C Class coupes. Gently rounded lines first seen on the sedan are gently becoming the new Art & Science norm, with proportion and stance as much a part of the brand's DNA as is the overt angularity.

One of the great commenters over at CarSpyShots.com's Photoshop section, where I have been posting my car chops for years, suggested I increase the glass area of the coupe a bit. Since I had raised the beltline from the donor sedan, I lowered it back to production height to see how it looked. I'm torn. I always like my original intention, but I have no problems at all with the increased glass. I think it looks quite fetching, actually!

Lincoln Continental. 21st Century Flagship

Artandcolour's admittedly over-the-top Lincoln flagship, the 2014 Continental sedan. Besides dwarfing its contemporaries in wheelbase and interior room, Lincoln's aluminum and carbon-fiber construction allows it to be the lightest in weight among its competitors. Add in a twin-turbo V12 Eco-Boost Hybrid drivetrain capable of 0-62 in 5 seconds and a combined city/highway mileage of 45mpg, and you have a very capable performer well able to carry the mantle of this vaunted brand. Polished aluminum fender shields, a new Lincoln styling cue, are thermostatically controlled engine compartment vents as well as inlets for the HVAC system. 22" wheels are aerodyamically designed for maximum brake cooling.

Audi e100 Coupe: Electric Boogaloo

Seeking to add a bit of old time drama and elegance to the electric car "scene," I submit my Audi e100 Coupe. Besides the unexpected pillarless greenhouse there are "hidden" C pillar windows behind the aluminum extruded roof louvers. The wheelbase is extended in the front for additional battery storage as well as giving a better front wheel-to-driver proportion and additional weight balance in the Quattro all-wheel drive system. Introductory color is Opalescent Pewter Mink.

Mercury Hybrid Project

Back in early 2010 I was "desperately" trying to save Mercury in the only way I could: with renderings. It was my idea that Mercury could become FoMoCo's high-tech, hybrid division. Ford would be the mainstay bread-and-butter cars, the volume sellers, in a position it has held for more than 100 years. Mercury would be a step-up in price and features, but instead of just "fancy" upholostery, the drivetrains would have been exclusively hybrid and electric. The styling, inside and out, would be more contemporary and high-tech than Ford's more traditional looks. Lincoln would have been pushed further upscale, ensuring Ford's presence in the full luxury market. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. Mercury was dead not long afterwards. In all, I believe I created more than 40 Mercurys in about 2 years of trying to bring the marque back to relevancy. 

My first car was a '69 Comet sport coupe, the bottom-of-the-line pillarless coupe. It was nicely optioned though with 302 V8, power steering, power brakes, air conditioning and a power trunk opener. I'm not sure how many low-line Comets were equipped like that.

The renderings:

 

Subcompact "B" market Comet sports hatch.

 

 Compact-sized Medalist sedan. "Medalist" was last used in the mid '50s by Mercury.

 

Slightly larger Marin sedan, a prototype to replace the then-current Milan, but...

 

 

then I created this new Milan 4-door "coupe" which I preferred.

 

Sitting at the top of the Mercury heap would have been this Cyclone sedan, a full size hybrid sedan with supercar levels of power.

 

Moving to crossovers, this Villager would have anchored the compact segment ...

 

and the Mountaineer would have elevated their top-shelf SUV to Range Rover levels of capability at Land Rover prices.

Audi Revisited

Until I can carve out a night to finish several chops I've started, how about some cool Audis from my past... Above, the first generation TT coupe reimagined with a larger glass area, smoothed contours and detailing and more ground clearance for true snow- and off-road capabilities. The better for those quick trips to Gstaad in the winter.

One of my early chops, but still one of my favorites, a mythical Bi-Turbo V12 hybrid mid-engined super saloon.

My futuristic third generation TT e/Tron, based on a recent concept car from Audi.

Audi really ought to have a large coupe to compete with the S Class coupe (CL). Above is my large 2-door A8L-c.

The Black Forest edition Avant. I will keep trying to get today's manufacturers to use micro-veneers until my Photoshop is taken away from me, lol.

Another of my very early chops, this Audi A6C was inspired by the large Italian luxury coupes of the seventies, such as the Fiat 130 and Lancia Gamma.

Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing Longroof

Looking through my earlier work, I realized I haven't yet posted this mid 1950s Mercedes Benz 300 Gullwing Tourer on this blog. I chopped this up in 2007 or so. All the cool people that collect station wagons these days refer to them as "Longroofs" and that's certainly true of my version. I don't believe this change would have added too much weight to the original coupe and with that rear hatch and additional loading space, might have made this incredible sports car just a bit more useful for Grand Touring.

The New Gullwing 

My primary reason for modifying the current SLS, the newest Gullwing, was to change the window graphic. The new one has a solid B/C pillar instead of having rear quarter windows as the original. I just don't think the car looks right without them. I'm sure the blank quarters add torsional rigidity, but I'm also certain that Mercedes/AMG engineers are brilliant enough to overcome any loss with added windows. Above, my "South Beach" edition is metallic gold with additional strakes and silver trim. You just can't be "bling" enough for South Beach! Below, additional work was done to shorten the very long hood. I wanted this Gullwing to be a hybrid, and to be as lightweight as possible to I changed the proportions accordingly. I still think it's a beautiful car and could be the Hybrid to end all Hybrids if produced.

Future Lincoln Town Car

I created this fully contemporary Lincoln Town Car replacement more than three years ago. There is still no real replacement from Lincoln for this once-popular long wheelbase sedan, and I can honestly say that my rendering would still look good in a Lincoln showroom today.

Earliest Chops: Crude, Outside-the-Box

Some of my earliest digitally-modified cars. The technique! Or lack of it! These date to the 2005-07 era. Many were done in less than an hour. I was participating nightly in Autoweek's Combustion Chamber, an online forum. Someone would ask "what if" about a various cars and sometimes I'd do a quick chop and post it as fast as I could. Still, I like looking back at these.

 

International Harvester Travelall "Sedan Pickup." Behold my suicide door 4 door pickup with wraparound glass and an immense rear seat at the expense of a very short pickup box. Answers a question no one has ever asked. 2007-ish.

 

Exaggerated stab at a Toyota hybrid sedan, ca 2005-06. Interestingly, spy shots of the next '14 Corolla have some similarities with this futurist rendering.

 

Done in 2006 or 2007 this was my attempt to show GM that, yes, Saab's DNA could be made to work with a crossover... Body modified from some European GM crossover from back then.

 

This Wildcat was done just a few days after the first Enclave prototype pics were released, 2006 or '07? It was to be a tall, AWD, Enclave based sedan with a touch of Thirties Buick trunkback sedans in the rear.

 

I'm pretty sure this is Chop #1. It's an Escalade sedan. I was very interested in seeing what a really tall, truck-based sedan would look like. To me, the Escalade was a station wagon, and thus should have sedan and coupe variants. I had used Photoshop professionally for my book designs and production, color-correcting images, fading, feathering, collages, etc, but had never tried to modify a photograph into something entirely different. I think I might revisit this concept with the newest Escalade one of these days.

 

A quick attempt to turn a European Ford concept car, the Iosis if I remember correctly, into a domestic Lincoln sedan. I used the then-current Lincoln grille cues in a larger/wider form. I still like this front end. The rest of the car was pulled and made taller. I used the tall, slim C-pillar windows that classic Town Cars sported. 2007-ish.

Some Not so Oldies but Pretty Goodies

 

This 2012 Charger coupe is my most viewed chop on the 'Net. Many of "my cars" have found a life outside of casey/artandcolour-cars, but this particular one has been uploaded to more than 100 websites and has more than 7,000 views on my site alone. And unlike many of my more polarizing redesigns, has met with almost universal "likes."

Taking the rather mundane but very competent new Malibu, I added a coupe greenhouse much like the 1970s Chevy Monza subcompact, itself a nod to an early '70s Ferrari coupe by, I believe, Pininfarina.

Yes. Hard as it is to believe, I designed a new 4-door Lincoln without suicide doors! This is my idea for a new MKS sport sedan. It would be based on the Mustang platform, rear wheel drive with optional performance all wheel drive, and I think it would go a long way in reestablishing Lincoln as an aspirational brand.

Another Mopar coupe, this time a flagship Chrysler Nassau V10 with pillarless styling. It was my idea to use the Viper's powertrain but wrap it in velvet instead of velcro. I still hope the powers-that-be at that company do something like this eventually. It could be sold in Italy, like many new Chryslers, as an imported  highspeed luxury coupe with American flair.

This little Chevy Cruz Z/11 hatchback was based on the Europe-only hatch. I correctly predicted Chevy's abandonment of its longstanding dual grille, only they introduced it on the new Impala and Traverse, not the Cruz.

A funky little longroof Hyundai "Shooting Break." Hyundai and its sister brand, Kia, are making leaps and bounds in styling and engineering and they're taking chances with new cars. I could see them coming out with something like this in the not-so-far future.

 

With Cadillac just announcing that its Volt cousin, the extremely gorgeous ELR coupe, is going to be priced from $75,000 and up, perhaps my idea for a Chevrolet Volt coupe isn't a bad one. The Volt lists for closer to $40,000 and with a similarly priced coupe, might just find a decent audience. Perhaps selling more of the coupe platform as a Chevy might help lower the Cadillac's pricepoint a bit. I was shocked at the "75 large" asking price and I don't shock that easily anymore!