For the past several years I've owned a silver Vantage, first a V8V and now a V12V. I'm craving something with a little more flair for the summer driving season. I briefly considered doing the gulf livery you can see in my avatar, but I decided that it's a bit much and that I'd probably tire of the colors and/or the attention they attract. So, I was wondering whether a single racing stripe might be a good alternative.

I got the idea from a Balboni Gallardo that I did a mountain run with over this past weekend. One option would be to do a similar stripe in white a bit off center, say to the driver's side of the car. Another option would be a broadening center stripe with the typical AM "lipstick" around the grill. Either way, it's less drastic (and cheaper) than a full wrap and should be easily reversible.

What do you guys think? Am I crazy? Will I look like a D.B. driving around with a stripe on my car? Feel free to blast the idea if you think it's stupid!

 

I think it's a cool idea but would not do it personally as I also like the car to be able to slink, glittering and elegantly, through nighttime traffic downtown. As you note, once the stripe is on then it's pretty much a 'look at me' affair 24/7. OTOH, if I mostly used mycar for spirited/track driving then I think it would be perfectly reasonable to add those elements to it.

Here is an example of a car currently for sale in Calgary where the owner clearly wanted the OTT racing look including the full 'lipstick' treatment. Well suited to the track, but not what I would plan to head downtown in for a fine dinner if you know what I mean.

 

can be very exiting for a short time but for a longer term could be too much, for me a calm appearance add more "power" to vantage v12

 

Resist the urge. Don't do it! You will look like a serious tool.


Only a tosser would drive that thing. Not to mention that it lacks the performance to go with that look. Every jerk in a Mustang is going to be revving up next to you at the stop lights looking to test your mettle.

 

Good point. I get that enough already from kids in slammed Hondas. It's even worse when I drive the Esprit.

 

Oh dang! I had this Charger smoke me last night at the lights!! Until he got pulled over. I tried to warn him but he wouldn't listen. Thank goodness for the K40 radar detector in my car.

 

My friend with a 97 esprit confirmed he did pretty well on the highway with boost controller at 15psi.

 

Gulf livery? You must be joking. Number 1, you'd look idiotic, Number 2, you'd look idiotic, and number 3, nobody knows what that livery represents ...and you'd look idiotic.

However, a subtle darker silver/gray stripe to contrast your paint slightly might look very nice. One stripe, doen the middle...width to be determined.

Lipstick? You must be joking. This isn't a pig car. Stripe, maybe. Lipstick...Egads!!!

 

Racer_X maybe a ghost stripe in mettalic would look nice. The lipstick on the AM goes way back into the history of the marque ane Astons prestigeous race car pedigree and those serial numbers that won prominent races. However 99.9% of people will not understand this out there on the street for sure, and those that do will know that you are copying a cue from the race cars onto a street car. Most people buzzing around on the street will wonder what it is and why? I've heard the lipstick on a pig jpke also for the AM grille with the color around it, I kinda think it makes the grille look bigger and prominent but that could be good or bad...

...all this said, do what makes you happy bud, don't worry about what others say or think...ultimately it's your car at the end of the day, and your friends should support that...

 

Waite a second, give yourself a minute to think and tell us really how you feel. I'm not sure you're getting your point across.

I agree with the less is more concept. You could always go with new wheels. If you do go for the stripe get a wrap or something non-permanent

 

I would say go for it!! It's not permanent and in my opinion will look pretty cool. The V12V is such a great car that it would take a lot to look like a tool behind its wheel... Change is good from time to time.

 

Thanks for the input guys. I'm surprised by the number of "no" votes, and even more surprised that XJRS Owner is a "yes," at least in regard to the single stripe idea (I nixed the gulf idea a while ago). I agree that a silver or lighter gray stripe would compliment the Quantum Silver (dark gray) well.

Still don't know if I'll do it or not, but I'm thinking that it'd be fun for a while and, as long as it's not too expensive and is easily reversible without damaging the paint (talking about wrap material here, not a painted stripe), why not do it?

Anyway, keep the opinions coming!

 

sunir, what's a ghost stripe?

 

Just you chime in... My older V8 (about 2.5 years into ownership) was bored & looking to change up the car, ended up doing a few tests with Racing Stripes. In the end I didn't like the look & nothing was applied to the car.

However, I did see a DB9 in London featuring a Mat Black Wrap w/ the racing stripe done in a higher gloss to contrast the mat. Looked quite good, similar to the Porsche Cayman S Limited Edition One look.


On a side note - my first car was so problematic, I tempted to wrap it with a huge CHECK ENGINE SYMBOL covering 3/4 of the car


(I'll search if I can find picture of the DB9 - was on a older phone)

 

Here's a video I found, not the car I saw, but gives you the idea of what I meant.