sorry guys, i've been really slowing down lately. been sick and generally out of sorts. hope everyone caught my chops at autoextemist.com a few weeks ago. he picked up my recent Mercury chops, and maybe the Aztek too, can't remember exactly. it's so cool to see my work in an industry-read blog. here are a few recent chops. enjoy!

first up, a notchback coupe version of the early '70s Saab Sonett IV. i've always like notches more than fastbacks. this would have had a liftup window and a separate trunk opening. dig the '70s fashions too! i changed every proportion on this car. from wheelbase to overhangs.

two of the now ubiquitous Buick Regal chops. Top, the GS coupe, bottom, the GS Tourer.

2010 Riviera. base photo was a new Peugeot coupe. at some point i'll go back and redo the headlights, but you can see where i'm going with this one.

2 chops of the new gullwing MB. the top one is a trim package, the South Beach, with a revised C pillar consisting of embedded opaque black glass, to extend the look of the greenhouse. added strakes to that area and to the headlights as well. minor brightwork changes too. the bottom one is a shortened version, cleaned up of all strakes, and with an actual glass rear quarter window for a more classic Gullwing look. it would be the kinder, gentler hybrid supercar. i took a lot of length out of the hood.

lastly, a new 1 series sized Hyundai to replace the Elantra. this is the Cantata hybrid sports sedan using new styling cues from the upcoming Sonata base photo.

All the chops look great. Never knew SAAB had something that nice! lol. But I still think that's a fastback, just like a Fiero GT is a fastback. I think you're thinking of a Liftback. Which is what you described as the rear window and everything lifting up. Regardless what you did looks great! It looks much better with the way you did it.

I really like your Reviera chop, just one thing keeps bugging me and it's nothing to do with the design, but just that the grill and the center ridge on the hood does not line up with the name plate on the front so it looks off aligned. I really like the name string across the fender vent on the SLH. And that hyundai concept is FAIL..... it looks too good to be a Hyundai

yeah, the front of the Riv is pretty messed up in general, lol.

but about the Saab... a fastback is generally defined as a roofline that flows in an uninterrupted line from the windshield to the tip of the trunk. a notchback roof flows down to the trunk and there is an actual flat trunk lid. technically, the first Mustang Fastback, the '65-'66 wasn't a fastback at all since the trunklid was horizontal. the '67 Mustang was a true fastback since there was no horizontal trunk lid at all. Liftback refers to any hatchback really. Toyota made up that name back in the '70s for it's sporty hatchback models. i'm going to include a photo of that series of Sonetts. i can't find the original photo i used for the chop, but you'll see that the Sonett had a roofline that swept all the way to the end of the car. and check out the actual front overhang on the little sucker!!! btw, the interiors were for the most part, done in corduroy, a very lush fabric for a small sportscar, just like the Triumph GT6+ used back in the day.

another couple of quick chops before i have to go back to my real work this afternoon. first up is a new version of the small Mazda, the Mazda3 LX/H. it's my idea that LX/H would become a sub brand, like 'speed' is for the sports Mazdas, hence there might be Mazda6 LX/H,too. LX stands for a car with most luxuries standard, like the panoramic roof, sat/nav, leather/aluminum/alcantara interiors, and the H is, of course, hybrid power. Mazda would have several dedicated hybrids, with an almost RWD-like look to their wheelbase proportions. front overhang would be shorter, signifying the smaller petrol engines, but the wheelbase would be longer in the cowl area, for the compact lithium/ion battery pack behind the transmission for good weight distribution. the cars would have slight design changes from their gas counterparts too, like this 3's wrapped rear hatchglass and modified front grille treatment.

original photo:

next up is my Kia AktivKoup, the hatchback version of the Koup. now don't get me wrong, i don't think there is anything wrong with the real Koup at all, this chop isn't to 'fix' anything on it, just give another bodystyle. the C pillar is a different shape, with a wider rear window that now lines up with the taillight angle, allowing the new hatch cutline to flow uninterrupted. i've added some rocker panel brightwork, and there is now a chrome handle for the hatch, to ease opening and closing without needing to touch the paint work.

original photo:

Well I won't argue with you on true meanings since I know you'll just trump me with your superior automotive knowledge.

The LX/H chop you did kinda makes me think of something just under the CX7, maybe could be called a CX5. I like all the touches you added to the Kia, but I feel the best one you made was to increase the contrast in the tail lights, it's subtle but to me it really stands out. I like the chop top look, I wish more cars modders would do it.

thanks AJ for noticing the "small stuff!" after i get done with the main changes to the car, i work on the backgrounds and then finally i color correct the piece as i do for my books. i think the last step is neglected by even the 'professional' choppers out there, most likely just due to the fact they don't work professionally in photoshop. i can't tell you the absolute crap photos that arrive for books on a constant basis. sometimes you have the luxury of sending them back, or requesting better ones, but these days, 9 times out of 10,what you get is what you get. i'm 'asked for' by a lot of editors because of the attention i pay to color correcting photos, bumping up the contrast, making skin tones even throughout a book, sharpening when needed and blurring when it's needed, things that many book designers just don't bother with. so thanks again for noticing!

and you're also right, don't ever argue with me about car history, lolololololololol. just kdding! it's just what i do-i love cars so much i try to read and learn something new everyday, and when i don't i'll re-read my original sources and books over and over again hoping more knowledge 'sticks.'

Ah coo, maybe sometime I can ask to see if you can fix a couple photos or tell me how in photoshop since I sometimes mess with the balance but it doesn't seem to come out right. Adjusting how the photo looks sometime is just amazing.

sure, i'll help you anytime with photos. you could email me some, let me see what i can do, then i'll tell you exactly what i did so you can pick up some 'tricks of the trade.' you're right, sometimes the difference is night and day, and it's pretty simple stuff a lot of times. probably the most difficult part is correcting in RGB, which are video/monitor colors really. i have a CMYK background, due to print materials, and it took me a long while to be able to go back and forth easily. then i realized how the two are actually related, and i do both now without thinking. i'm pretty sure i could save you the learning curve though.

anyway, here's another november chop.... the totally French Volkswagen... i decided to do something completely different, something VW would never actually do. VW is a very cautious company with regard to it's own cars, so i didn't use any VW cues except for the logo and wheels. the base of my car is the new Peugeot RCZ sportscar, and i used the greenhouse from the Citroen C5, and then massaged the two together for a VW Prius fighter. i actually love the way it came out, but it's not teutonic at all. i also have it on 'good authority' that i'll have some more of work published in the Autoextremist.com this Wednesday.

behold the New Small Hybrid .

Thanks, I'll be sure to pass on some photos. I may ask for you to look at one photo I took a while back, all the red and gold in this mountain scenery just got all washed out and I couldn't take a photo that really represented what I saw =/

As for the chop, bravo! Honestly I could see something like this in the VW fleet, well not the grill/air dam but I can kinda see how this could be slightly tweaked and be 4 door Scirocco hybrid or something of the like. I personally like fender flares. Some of the cues that are found on your chop are also similar to ones found on the VW CC. I could really dig a more aggressive 4 or 5 door Scirocco hybrid.