Design Study

When it comes to iconic style, the Mini Cooper has to be one of the most recognizable brands on the market. The small stature, the fun-loving lines, the bubbly proportions, the copious detailing, the Union Jack roof… there’s no question what you’re looking at when you see a Mini. As such, it could be interesting to apply the Mini’s style to other major automakers - which is exactly what Budget Direct did with the following six renderings.

Continue reading for the full story.

The new 2020 Honda S2000. Just kidding. The rendering before you is actually a work of Jon Sibal - one of the most proficient rendering artists in car world stardom. His latest work revolves around reinventing the Honda S2000 with contemporary Honda (and Acura for that matter) styling philosophy. It seems that Sibal knocked it out of the park with the new S2000 rendering. I find this study looking right in so many ways it is hard not to imagine it under the spotlights of any car show.

Yet, a new S2000 isn’t likely. At least, not in the day and age where fairly cheap roadsters aren’t exactly popular if they are not wearing a premium brand name.

Back in 2015, Mitsubishi brought the axe down on one its most beloved high-performance models - the Lancer Evolution, a turbo superstar from the rough-and-tumble world of rally racing. While certainly enough to cause more than a few tears among enthusiasts, the Lancer name will continue on, and word has it Mitsu is turning it into a crossover - much like it did with the Eclipse. Salt in the wound? Maybe. But fear not, because there’s still a possible silver lining to all of this, and it’s once again inspired by the world of rally racing.

Continue reading for the full story.

While it’s usually the actors that get the attention and the accolades, folks like you and me tend to see the cars as equally important characters in a TV show. It would appear as though Budget Direct agrees, and as such, the insurance company rendered up 10 posters depicting a selection of four-wheeled stars in their full glory.

Continue reading for the full story.

We’ll admit it - campervans aren’t exactly our thing over here at TopSpeed. We’re usually more concerned about horsepower and cornering grip than we are the number of beds you can find onboard. However, we like to keep an open mind, and who knows - maybe if Rolls Royce, or Tesla, or Ferrari made a campervan, it might grab our attention? Luckily, comparethemarket.comwent about rendering seven such creations, and we’ve got ‘em all right here for your reading and viewing enjoyment.

Continue reading for the full story.

Electric motorcycles aren’t anything new, but a Students over at the University of Zurich have seemingly accomplished designing a bike that offers up 250 miles of range and a fast-charging system that can top off the battery in just one hour. Its name? The Ethec.

Porsche just celebrated 70 years since its very first automobile, the 356 "No. 1," was created on June 8, 1948, and unveiled a speedster model based on the 911. But, while we were expecting a production model this year, the Germans showcased a production-ready concept car.

Developed at the Porsche Motorsport Center in Weissach, which is the birthplace of the 911 GT3, 911 GT3 RS, and the 911 GT2 RS, the Speedster Concept also celebrates the company’s long-standing tradition of making speedster-type roadsters, which don’t have folding roofs and are usually stripped of convenience features. The concept car likely previews a production model, further feeding rumors that a 911 Speedster will follow toward the end of 2018. But until that happens, let’s have a closer look at this concept car.

There’s just something romantic about an old race car. The associations we make usually include memories of going to see it in action on the track or watching it on TV, and it can be a powerful thing for those of us who breathe gasoline. But what if we took these classic speed machines and updated them for the modern era? Well, that’s exactly what Budget Direct did with the following eight classic race cars, and the results are simply stunning.

Continue reading for the full story.

It ain’t easy to break into the world of automotive design, but three talented high schoolers are well on their way to landing their dream jobs, as recognized by FCA in a recent contest to pen the 2030 model year Jeep Wrangler.
Continue reading for the full story.

Every year, Volkswagen drops the sheets on a unique, customized Golf at the annual GTI Fest at Lake Worthersee in Austria. As a showcase of the skills of its various apprentices, the custom ride is typically a real jaw-dropper, and this latest example is no different.

Continue reading to learn what makes the Volkswagen Golf GTI Next Level special.

Okay, I don’t know what the guys over at Mercedes were smoking when the greenlit the design of the Maybach Ultimate Luxury SUV (Not that it’s an SUV, really) but just like everyone else in the world we’re not to keen on the overall design. In fairness, the front end isn’t bad, but the overall shape is about as ugly as they come. Well, Peisert design was a bit disappointed too, and that’s exactly why you’re looking at the rendering here. Peisert Design too the new Maybach and reshaped the rear end to make it look like a true-to-life SUV. And, it looks amazing.

In the end, Mercedes should take some notes from the rendering here. After seeing all the horrible comments all over the internet about the new Ultimate Luxury “SUV,” it really makes you wonder how things are going over there at headquarters. Either way, feast your eyes on what the Ultimate Luxury SUV should have been, then try to forget that it doesn’t exist in this form.

As urban areas get more and more crowded, the city car segment is responding with new and updated models. However, not everyone is looking to get into some barebones transportation bubble, so what if you could combine the practicality of a city car with the presence and prestige of a high-end luxury car? Well, Budget Direct Car Insurance did exactly that with the following seven renderings, showing us what to expect if an automaker like Rolls-Royce or Lamborghini decided to downsize in a big way.

Continue reading for the full story.

These days, it seems like you can’t turn around without bumping into some new SUV tuned to perform like a sports car. But what if you went the other way around, taking a sports car and adding a dash of off-roading goodness? Or maybe try a gallon of off-roading goodness. Well, that’s exactly what Budget Direct did with the following seven renderings.

Continue reading for the full story.

There’s something about a child’s imagination that brings out smiles on our faces. Whether they’re drawing their families with stick figures or imagining their ideas of what cars will look like in the future, there’s are no grey areas involved in how their imaginations work. What they put on paper ends up being more intriguing, if not fantastical, than anything we, as adults, can come up with.

GoCompare, a Welsh auto insurance company, put that to the test when it invited a group of children to draw their ideas of what they think the cars of the future will look like. The results are incredible, if not amazing. At the very least, they’ll bring us back to a time when we also thought the cars of the future would run on chocolate.

You know, I’m not that old, but I am old enough to appreciate the occasional throwback or reboot. You know, something that recalls a pleasant memory from my earlier days, but with a modern twist on top. Just so long as it’s done right, though – don’t wanna go around ruining peoples’ childhoods, now. Of course, Hollywood is all over that, injecting old franchises with new money to see what pops out the other end. But what if rather than digging up old TV shows and movies, we applied that modernization gloss to cars instead? Well, that’s exactly what Budget Direct did with the following seven renderings.

Included is a classic compact, a gullwing that takes us back to the future, a classy muscle machine, the grandfather to Jaguar Land Rover, a Czech beauty, a slippery pony car, and a Swedish revival. Each of these machines carries with it a long history and more than a little nostalgia, but didn’t quite make to the modern era. But that’s about to end, because we’re bringin’ ’em back, baby.

Which is your favorite? Care to share an automotive memory with us? Feel free to post it in the comments below as we remember the times...

Continue reading for the full story.

We’re still coming to grips with the long-awaited arrival of the Lamborghini Urus, but that hasn’t stopped artist X-Tomi Design from making us crave once again for a Urus model that may not even come. Just as soon as Lamborghini unveiled the four-door Urus, the rendering genius decided to create a different version of the super SUV, one that has two doors instead of four. This is what a two-door Lamborghini Urus looks like, and it looks incredible.

In case you’ve been living under a rock (or maybe you’re just in denial?), demand for crossovers and SUVs continues to consume just about every automotive segment imaginable. Even the well-established performance marques are susceptible to the siren song of profitable jacked-up suspension plus tons of practical rear cargo room, with models like the Porsche Cayenne and Lamborghini Urus upending decades of sports car traditions. But what if we took it a step further? What if we gave eight iconic sports cars the SUV treatment? Welp, Jennings Motor Group did exactly that with the following renderings.

Continue reading for the full story.

The third-generation Mercedes-Benz CLS is here and it cooler than ever. It’s sleeker, sportier, and stands out alongside any other Mercedes car thanks to its unique styling cues. It has a brand-new engine too, making it the first time when Mercedes debuts such a feature through the CLS. With the four-door coupe now official, there’s a lot of talk as to what versions will follow. Will there be a high-performance AMG model? How about a shooting brake in both standard and AMG guises?

We’ve seen these variants before, so it’s only natural to think that Mercedes-Benz will keep them alive for the third-generation. But are we getting new versions too? Like a coupe, or maybe a convertible? How about a pickup-style version with a big bed behind the cabin? Sounds pretty crazy, right? Okay, the Germans probably won’t go that far, but a new batch of renderings suggests that the CLS would look awesome in various body styles. The pictures come from X-Tomi Design and include five different CLS-based models. Let’s have a closer look at them below.

Continue reading for the full story.

The evolution in car design is one of the biggest identifiers into how far the auto industry has come in the last 50 years. Classic designs from years-gone-by have given way to modern designs that sit on the shoulders of cutting-edge technology. There’s no going around how things have changed in the industry, but what if there was a way to mesh the classic designs of yesteryear with today’s design language? Would the results be something you’d be interested in? Would you cringe and run away from them as fast as possible?

Fortunately, we won’t have to imagine what those cars would look like. Marketing agency NeoMam Studios prepared a few renderings of these cars, which we’re going to show below. There are seven renderings in total, with each car getting an injection of old-school design touches. Not everything worked out as well I’d hope, but you might have different reactions altogether. Let us know in the comments section below how you feel about the renderings.