What If?: 2017 "Retro" Chevrolet Caprice?
– April 4, 2016
Although I'm generally quite proud of most of my photoshopped "What If" cars, my skills are no match for someone who is actually possesses a degree in graphic design and is a freelancer for their day job. Some of his creations have been featured here before, but the latest photoshop by Casey from Art and Colour Cars caught my attention and I'm sure it will invoke some strong reactions from our readers. Using the current front-wheel drive Impala as a basis, it uses many styling elements from Caprices of yesteryear for an very distinctive look.
Check out Casey's other creations over at http://artandcolourcars.blogspot.com/
Ugh. Oy vey. No. 1991 is in the past; let's let it rest rust in peace. The Caprice to look to for a retromobile would've been the '77-'79 item.
LightCopperMetallic
The artist's work is great but this choice of car for a "What If" also elicited an 'Ugh' as my first though. Those over-sized rear quarters are better than the original but that said, I'm sure this is one of those experiments in answering a question nobody has thought to ask. Or will. Ever.
…as my first 'thought'.
I'll second that, what would a modern interpretation of the "sheer look" be?
Interesting point. I think it depends a lot on how one defines the sheer look. Viewing it as the sheet metal equivalent of fabric stretched taut over a sharp-edged skeleton, one could argue that modern styling is inundated with it. On the other hand, you could also say that modern styling is seldom that cohesive because there are so many sharp creases. (Just as '50s stylists seldom failed to break up any large area of metal with chrome trim, modern designers can't seem to resist adding torturous-looking edges.) A modern analogue of the sheer look would probably resort to making the primary shapes really sharp so that the "sheer" areas act to highlight how radical the basic shape is. However, I'd envision that looking more like a '61 Dodge than a '77 B-body.
Casey does beautiful work and brings up some fascinating concepts.
For me, I'm not sure that the "whale Caprice" has enough in it's capital account to cash checks like this. Both earlier and later big Chevys (up through the late-whale SS) have a deeper wellspring of icon-ness to draw from. Perhaps the Roadmaster version would do more for me.
This is kind of like doing a 72 Polara treatment on the current Challenger. 🙂
And speaking of answers to questions no one is asking…
"This is kind of like doing a 72 Polara treatment on the current Challenger."
Now that I want to see, if only because it sounds like it would be a real 'challenger' for the artist.
I saw a photoshopped Challenger wagon, but it's more closer to Coronet than Polara.
Althought there was a Barracuda who got the Sport Suburban treatment. https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/what-if-1970-plymouth-barracuda-sport-suburban/
Car Nut Seattle
It's probably just as well that this "retro" version of the Caprice hasn't been produced. The body looks attractive, but the front of the car looks hideous.
There already is a Chevrolet SS sedan that is very similar to this!!!!!!!!!!!!!
johnh875
The Caprice or PPV if you will is probably even closer.
I also see some similarities to the Cadillac CT6, eg the C-pillar shape.
Paul Frantizek
That thing is hideous.
Better to copy the crisp lines of the circa-80s Caprice than its bloated 90s successor.
I admit, I sort of like it. I don't know why, but it clicks with me. Especially the wheels.
LEROOOY
I did really enjoy the "big-disc" wheel look of that era. Things today are a bit too over-spoked for my taste.
No. No. No. Please. No.
Once was enough for these hideous Caprices!
Tony LaHood
Brendan, you realize I can't unsee this…
Yeah NAR.
Probably the worst looking Impala/Caprice ever, and this concept doesn't help it much.
It kinda looks like a car from Back to the future 2……….
AWEboss
This is great. OK, it should be 'stretched' a bit (lower beltline&roof, slightly longer body and longer wheelbase) and wheels are too big – but otherwise, I'd buy this.
Looks like a modern interpretation of something Soviet apparatchiks would have ridden around in.
Now that we've seen the factory dubs version, how about a light bar and V-rated rubber on dog dish steelies?
I kinda like it, but would really rather see a retro version of the landmark '77 models.
Thomas N
I do agree that if the Impala stays FWD-based, having a full size RWD Caprice companion like the SS would be nice; hell, putting that name on the car might give it some actual visibility. But this is not the way to do it. I imagine something starting with the basics of the current cop Caprice or SS, embellished with cues from the sixties and the 77-79 models. The whale model was a styling dead end when new. A new RWD Roadmaster with some hints of its 90s counterpart would be preferable to me.
Jon "Vee" Hanson
There's just… Wow. So much going on with this.
While the whale blubber Caprice did look fat, it wore it well because of the long deck in the rear. With that half-fastback roofline that's trying to adopt the current Impala's greenhouse and belt line and marry it to a car with a much shorter roof and lower belt line, it just doesn't work. The chrome trim along the side COULD work if it stayed thin the whole length of the car. Having it thicken up after the front wheel arch just makes it look like an afterthought. And the wheels themselves need to be cut down to size, or a different rim design used. Having a massive blank space like that in the center of a rim that big doesn't look appealing. The front end treatment could use some shortening as well. Having the headlights wrap all the way around to almost where the wheel wells are doesn't work since it makes the hood look short and stubby.
That's my thoughts on it. Probably won't align with everyone else's.
delerium75
Yeah, no. Anything GM and skirted in the early 90s either lost its fender coverings or was discontinued. I don't think it's a good starting point. That said, lose the fender skirts, lower and shorten the trunk a smidge. The rendering here looks like rear visibility would be at least as bad as the outgoing Malibu and that particular car had the worst view out the back of any car I've driven.
I have a vague sense that without the skirts, it would end up looking like a W140 S-Class in profile. Whether that would be good or bad is a matter of perspective.
It was ugly and unpopular the first time around. Why go for round 2?
Well, ya know…
lengthen the hood so the light complex doesn't go to the wheel well…lengthen the trunk…make sure it is RWD and has a 5.3 in it…and it's good to go. Lower,longer, wider!
I love the 90's caprices, but this is not good.
the still awful tall 2016 proportions actually make the original whale look good by comparison. That's saying something!
Too much a reincarnation of the whale Caprice. I like the idea, but it just doesn't work.
I like the whale Caprice but, while this artist has created an excellent image on a technical level, aesthetically his proposed car is hideous. Mark P is spot-on about how it looks like a modern approximation of a ZIL or Volga.
Daniel Stern is right: the '77-79 would make for a much better inspiration. I'd love to see a modern Sheer Look. One wonders, though, if it might appear to consumers as being too clean and dull given the trends towards accent lines, creases and other contours. Look at Volkswagen's current sedans: they will age excellently, they are neat and devoid of unnecessary fripperies but to many they look deathly dull.
Volkswagen's current sedans (…) will age excellently
Surely! Why, just look how much they've effectively aged since the revelation of Dieselgate!
Old Pete
There's an upside to Dieselgate – they're desperate to move stock now! A friend just bought a new Skoda Rapid Monte Carlo and got a fantastic deal.
Yikes! As ugly as the original, quite an accomplishment.
Technically, it's very well done. However, like most others, it doesn't really work for me on an aesthetic level. Plus, marrying today's aerodynamic styling trends with partially skirted wheels makes me think of those super-low-drag 80's concepts, like Ford's Probe series (before the name went on a production car).
It even has one of the annoying current trends–that little scrap of "window" that ends beyond the rear door, which in practice always ends up as a triangle of black plastic.
+1. God those drive me nuts. If the designers can't figure out how to make it either be part of the door or be an actual separate window, start the hell over.
Scott McPherson (NZ Skyliner)
Possibly a loan voice in the darkness, but I love whale Caprice and love this modern interpretation of it.
Joseph Dennis
Not alone, Scott. I like it, too.
Brendan, thanks for sharing it.
An Impala version without the skirts and less lower-bodyside chrome wouldn't look too bad. I think it's the skirts that kill it – allusions to a model people want to forget.
Very creative work but I think Chevy is too smart to resurrect this pig.
I'm trying to figure out what those side marker lights were lifted from. Can't place it yet, but wanna say some kind of a Ford. Doesn't really matter much; I'm generally not a fan of anthropomorphising cars by referring to nonexistent "haunches", "rumps", "muscles" and so forth, but the car in this rendering has a hideously ugly, giant butt.
Perhaps it was intended as an April Fool's joke.
Orrin
I'm reminded of both the early 80s Escort, and, upon further staring, the Fox Body LTD and Marquis sedans.
Retro-Stang Rick
Clicked the link, and loved some of the cool concepts, but not this one. If you want to do a "Retro-Caprice", simply 'broughamify' the New Impala… As it was in '65, it could be again!
impalafleetta
Everyone is mentioning the 90's whale body, I see the 67-68 Caprice as an inspiration.
http://oldcarbrochures.org/NA/Chevrolet/1968_Chevrolet/1968-Chevrolet-Full-Size-Brochure/1968-Chevrolet-Full-Size-a17
I still think this type of project should be done for a modern-retro Roadmaster. I think that could actually work.
bill shields
this kind of reminds me of one of those cars they had on the merry go round rides when I was a little kid. it kind of looks like a real car but shortened to fit the ride and of course tall so the kids couldn't fall over the side.
I can see it; just add the 70's super-glittery paint job and Bzz-Bzz horn and you're there.
Dan Cluley
I am clearly in the minority as I did like the fender skirted. '91s, but the modern high trunk just doesn't work here. I do like the big wheel disks, getting a little tired of everything having spokes.
What if we went full on Step Down Hudson, and made it a six window fastback?
Never liked the whale Caprice so it is hard for me to warm up to this. The best of the whale sedans was the Cadillac and even its proportions were off then. The front on this reminds me of an early 80s Escort or Mazda GLC.
I will say that, with greater wheelbase and overhangs, this would be an improvement on the original whale. For reasons I don't understand, we can't have overhangs anymore, so now all the wheels are right next to the bumpers. You can get away with that on a small car but when applied to a big boat, it just doesn't work.
Anyway, I commend the artist for his technical work and look forward to seeing it applied to better starting points than the whale bodies.
jonco43
I like the 5 prominent wheel nuts. Thats all.
Jon in Texas
I think they already went bankrupt once. Anyone for seconds?
Everything on it looks fine IMO except the red pinstripe and the retro Caprice badge on the fender. It's too busy with those two things added.
fahrvergnugen
One blowhole short of a classic. Would look better with the spear-side from '65-'66.
If that thing's ugly, then it's in good company these days.
It should exist as a matter of principle; as a matter of butts in seats, a harder proposition… people like their high perches and who's going to convince them to step down?
While an admirer of Casey Shain's work, I just wish that he would have used a different inspiration for a retro-inspired full-size Chevrolet.
My choice would be the iconic 1965 Chevrolet Impala SS. Here's a photo of one I shot back in 2010 that received a very sympathetic update when it was restored almost a decade ago.
mark reimer
Rather reminds one of an update of the classic "Pregnant Packard" body.
I'm not feeling the hate. It looks good to me.
T. Turtle
No. The current Impala already answered this question.
With great respect for the artist's beautiful work, I have to say I'm not a fan of the car, putting it mildly. As many other posters said, the Moby Caprice should stay just a memory.