Wide body kits

[ydeardorff]

Does anyone make wide body kits that could be glassed to the cars body say like the puma's or other wide fendered cars?

I was just curious, I have been looking at your tube a lot watching the drive by's of Sterlings. I'm not looking at denying its lineage, just checking options for future ideas.

The only thing this car doesn't have which most exotics do, is width. I know thats due the donor VW pan.

But (insert rod Serling) imagine if you will... a Sterling with sculpted wide fendered body lines, with an over all body 8 to 10 inches wider. (exit rod Serling) This would an awesome add to a next gen Sterling. I wonder if anyone could mock up a photo shopped version to see what it would look like?

Insert claim to fame story:

I was driving to work one evening, in Port Hueneme (pronounced why-knee-me) and I saw a pair of headlights nearly scraping pavement seemingly 8 feet apart coming up behind me very quickly. Instantly I knew this was an exotic closing on me fast. Next I heard was the baritone rumble of the exhaust, not throaty, like cheap exhaust on a Honda civic, but like a deep bass sound similar to that of an electrical transformer, or giant sub woofer. This sound literally made my rear view mirror vibrate like I had a rocking sound system in my pathetically generic minivan at the time.
Suddenly it came into view, damn near scraping the ground,... A burnt orange Mclaren F1. It came to the light (which was red, and dismissed it) turning right with the grace of a fighter aircraft, and dissapeared into the US customs inbound lot to my right.

OK, this made my evening, and was the subject of my Google searches while on my ridiculously boring 8 hour phone watch.

About a week later I walk into a convenience store to buy a soda, and guess whos gracing the cover of motor trend magazine,.... My beautiful burnt orange Mclaren.

I didn't buy a copy, I didnt want my wife to get jealous,...its like bringing the girlfriend home to meet the wife. :worried:

This may be the exact car I saw, I don't know how many F1's there are, and in this awesome color.

 

[letterman7]

Widebody like this:

Or widebody like this:
?

The former is a creation by a guy in California who wants to sell the parts to glass onto existing cars. He's got the molds ready, just not the ambition to really market it. Personally, it (the body kit) doesn't do anything for me, but that's just me. The latter is the former owner of CCC's car, sectioned and widened by cutting another body and fitting it over the first. Lots off glasswork and lots of body filler....

 

[ydeardorff]

Yeah Im kind eeeeaah about this one too. It has its points, but not well done, enough or well thought out enough. Its just not tied in correctly to me. I as thinking more of the fender flared look. giving it a meatier stance, is all.

Those vents in the lower scoops are too ripped off (see lambo diablo). Im all about orignal thinking or design, but putting a spoiler on a lawn mower may be original thinking, and take alittle designing, but doesnt mean i will sell....

 

[ydeardorff]

Funny after 4 years of actually working with a sterling. My modifications have moved forward with a large touch of reality.
Mentioned above I stated 8" of increased width in the fenders. LOL

My modifications have only changed the fender widths barely 1 inch, and the change is dramatic. I couldn't even think of an additional 3 to 4 inches of width per side. LOL Can anyone say Koontz LOL

I know I was told a hundred times "get a car in front of you, then see what you want to do".
This is about the truest statement you can imagine with these cars.

Here is the dramatic difference that is accomplished by only closing in the wheel wells with modern radius, and lip, and widening the over all fender well by about 1 inch compared to a stock sterling fender line.
A stock Sterling rear fender line
1 inch of increased width (per side) and closed in modern fender profile.
The same fender at a different angle

And after a little photo-shopped paint wheels and tires added.


The statement told to me above was without context. So this physically shows how a small change can make a big impact on how the car looks. Be realistic on your aspirations. These photos can be found elsewhere on this site. The stock sterling is just fine the way it is, but if you aspire to change things, keep it real as they say. And take things in a minimalist approach.
Subtle things can and will have a very large impact on a car like this.

Just an FYI for any newcomers into our community with super-car aspirations.

 

[letterman7]

*laugh* Looks good Yaughn! About 20 years behind the times, but looks good!



I'll have to see if I can scan the entire article on that car. Lots of details like you're putting on your car and lots of body work. If memory serves, he got the panel gaps to about 3/16" all around.

 

[ydeardorff]

Funny, that car was my first inspiration to give this car a much more aggressive look.
Id love to see that article and read it.
However, Im keeping my ground clearance in the "normal can drive it anywhere" category. I doubt that car could make it into a walmart parking lot without scraping.

 

[letterman7]

Actually, it rode at a normal height. I'll dig up the article and scan it. It's a good read.

 

[Peter]

TWO of our Eagles were lost for ever when some bright spark cut one in half front nose to tail and let in a 10" section from the middle of another car, looks STUPID and of course it then needed a major rebuild, new internal tubing, chassis job and a wider screen that was just not available other than custom made. Two cars, one heap of junk in the skip. Sometimes Photo-shop has a lot to answer for *insane*.

 

[ydeardorff]

Sometimes Photo-shop has a lot to answer for *insane*.

Yes, Photoshop is a great tool to guesstimate what something would look like. But it should not be relied on. Photoshop can be very misleading to the unwary. Something I learned very early on.

Another thing I learned, was to make changes to the car as appliques. This way at any point if I don't like the way things are going, it can be removed without damage to the original car. If the final look is good to go, then Ill make a mold of it.

 

[ydeardorff]

As a follow up, after several emails exchanging german for english, I finally got a reply from koon design (which was less than forth coming with information). I wanted to know what he did to his car for comparison to what Im doing to mine.
His car has been widened to 86.6 inches.
This translates to having widened his fenders by 8.3 inches each from the stock lines of the sterling/nova.


This modified nova isnt most peoples cup o tea, but at least now we can see what he's done with measurements.
As shown in the earlier pictures, I am only increasing my fender width by approximately one inch. And that has a dramatic effect on the look of the car.
I couldnt imagine widening the fenders by more than 8 inches. With the backspacing and offset Im dealing with, he must be using wheels that are 15 to 18 inches wide.

But anyway, now we know and can use this as a comparison.

 

[Peter]

And it looks what is is too. not my cup of java for sure. The Eagle SS has an increase on the wings (fenders) with a slight flair as standard and it does look a bit wider too.
As I have said before, if you want a low, wide, exotic sports car, buy one, do not bugger up a classic trying to make one.

 

[ydeardorff]

Everyone has the right to do what they want to, to their cars. Though we may not agree with it in the end.

 

[Peter]

May the wrath of the classic car god fall upon them and turn their petrol to dust. infidels.*humpf*

Only kidding, do what you will *nothing to see*