Whilst we all like the individuality of our rides there are some brands that are really evocative of an era or an attitude to cars and we like to tie ourselves to.  More often than not they are associated to some facet of our hobby, Mooneyes for hot rods, 76 for the Euro VW guys, even the rebellious Iron Cross has become as much a brand as an ideal or statement.

We thought we'd give you some more cool brands to have a think about, from stickers to complete car livery, or just a patch on your overalls.

Marchal

A cool brand needs a great logo and the Marchal logo is fantastic, the cat eyes, the colours, kinda cool, kinda sinister.  If you can afford a set of lights from Marchal that is even better, the spot lamps with covers are a great addition to your car, but they don't come cheap.  Strangely Marchal seems to be a popular brand for Shakotan and Bosozoku cars in Japan.

Dunlop

Lets get this straight, we love cars and we love trainers.  Therefore Dunlop is a brilliant brand, you can get your tyres and a pair of shoes to match.  Perfect for those photos where you are demonstrating the dish of your wheels with your funky sneakers, the 'scene shot'.

John Player Special

We don't condone smoking, we do however condone black and gold colour schemes.  The JPS colour scheme is legendary and the logo on its own is very nice indeed.  Maybe that inspiration for a new paint job, or perhaps an awesome set of black and gold overalls.

Champion

The sparkplug of choice for many a competition car, way back when.  You see this logo in a lot of period photos, either as track side sponsorship, or on cars.  Go on emulate your heroes and hit the street with a Champion sticker, or better yet a fully liveried up car or van, 'support vehicle' style.

Castrol

We had to have an oil company in here, and whilst Shell and Gulf all have their place with their logos and colour schemes we are heading a bit more retro with Castrol.  The circular logo looks ace and is a great addition for anyone aiming for some period cool.


What logos have you got on your ride?  Or have you gone the whole hog and done a complete colour scheme?

Posted on: September 2, 2008 05:07

It is easy to take for granted now the idea of 'trying out' car modifications on your car before doing them, a quick lap around photoshop and you'll be able to alter your cars colour, ride height and wheels pretty quickly.  More radical modifications can also be performed, or if you are lucky you'll have a Busselecta type web page for your car.

There was a time before all this was at hand, back when skilled illustrators were required to fulfil these visions.  One of the best known illustrators in the UK is Steve Kirk, with the work he did for Street Machine magazine.

Initially the idea was in two sections, in the first Street Machine magazine from May 1979 we have a Motorvation section that concentrates on modifying details:

Here we can see some illustrations and text around bonnet scoops, the section was introduced with the text "Street Machine's idea sketchpad. Each month I'll be trying to stimulate your imagination with ideas bridging the whole customising spectrum from detail topics".

The partner to the early Motorvation was "Custom Profile" :

Here the Austin Cambridge is taken as a base and illustrated in a number of different guises.  This section was more than just pictures and went a bit more in-depth into the technicalities of achieving the look.

Later in Street Machine Magazine's life the two sections effectively became one, each month a theme was picked and Steve was provided with guidelines for cars to draw and back they would come.  Motorvation was a great way of expressing ideas and stimulate thoughts, it is a shame that we no longer get this monthly injection of ideas.

The ideas are still as valid now as they ever were, here is a little selection

December 1996 'Pro Street' theme:

February 1999 'Roadsters' theme:

January 1993 'Morris Minor' theme:

November 1979 'Street Racers' theme:

There was once hope of a book, but I don't know how far that ever got.  So for now we just need to scour ebay for back issues of Street Machine to get our Motorvation.

Posted on: July 16, 2008 03:10