Challenge: Apply racing stripes to a brand new exotic sports car to enhance the sports aesthetic of the vehicle, and meet the expectations of a customer that expects only the high quality designs.
Take a look at the image above. Amazing what a little bit of graphics on your luxury vehicle can do. Right!? Recently we were contacted by the owner of a local computer software company here in San Deigo County who had a brand new Lotus Evora that he wanted to spice up. We added a little bit of custom vehicle graphics and now it screams visually as much as it does on the track.
Our client was referred to us by another one of our customers to see if we could create a custom racing stripe for his new pride and joy. We wanted a design that was clean and that enhanced his Lotus Evora’s natural beauty without going over the top. We began by working with our design staff to explore various ways of creating a classic stripe pattern that would both fit the unique style of the car and at the same time also achieve the look the owner wanted.
After several design mockups we arrived at a stripe design reminiscent of the classic racing stripe of the past. With pinstripes on either side of the classic broad stripe, this racing stripe has a classic, yet modern look. We also added a small twist by following the natural body lines of the roof line and hood to make the graphic integrate into the car as seamlessly as possible.
We then had the customer come in to look at samples of various material options. This included color variations in silver, as well as black featuring gloss, metallic and matte finish options. The final selection was a gloss black metallic material that had a metal flake size virtually identical to the flakes in the factory blue paint. The stripes were then applied to the vehicle using specialty installation tape to protect the vehicle while installing on the challenging compound curve in the hood.
This incredible installation, which took nearly a full day to complete, was well worth the effort when the customer and his friends saw the finished product. He told me he continues to get compliments on it and even heard from the dealer that they can’t believe it isn’t paint!