Not surprisingly, today’s Studeamino brought up some semi-dormant thought about a new front clip on my xB. I love my toaster, but the front end is my least favorite part. It needs something decidedly more retro. I’d thought about a classic Mini mug. But the what better than to turn it into what it really is: a mini-Suburban, from the ’69-’72 era, at that. These aren’t exactly on xB’s, but perhaps there’s a kit for them?
And on to my other cars:
I’ve got the Promaster covered with this great kit that is available to turn it into a Citroen H van tribute.
Hmm; this one is a bit harder. How about a 1951 Studebaker? Not very original, and I’m thinking it won’t be very palatable to Stephanie. She’d probably like one of those Japanese kits to emulate a classic British car, like a Jaguar MkII front end.
My ’66 F100? That’s an easy one: a 1965 grille, which I prefer over the ’66. Otherwise, hands off!
I just realized that what I really want for my xB is a ’65 Ford F series front end!
I have a Acura Wagon (btw your comment doesn’t match the pic) but I recently hit a deer so I could use a new grill. I’d probably just go for the European Honda just to confuse folks. Then again, I don’t really want to get in a long dissertation about Acura’s in Europe, Japan and USA.
I was thinking RoW Honda grille, maybe keep the Acura badge but just get rid of the big silver plastic shield.
I don’t feel the need to mess with my current vehicles other than replacing the grille on my 2002 F-150 with a mesh grille from a 4×4 F-150.
One of my armchair projects is to build a Riley Elf Shooting Brake by swapping the Riley front sheet metal and interior onto a late 60s Mini Countryman woodie powered by a Mini-Cooper 1275 engine.
Front sheet metal swaps are a bit hit or miss depending on how well the donor and recipient match up. The Dream Factory Blow conversions like the “Suburban” above work because they match up with the overall shape, sticking 57 Chevy stuff on a Corvette is the stuff of Frankencar posts. The ones that work best are swaps susing a similar platform as in the relatively common Pontiac El Camino which uses the same generation Pontiac sheet metal for a near seamless conversion.
Oh yes please, a Riley wagon is a wonderful idea. The length would make it actually look classy, whereas the Elf (and Wolseley Hornet) just look a bit ridiculous, though delightful artifacts of a time.
Seems a New Zealander has partly beaten you to the punch, albeit woodless. Also, I’d want original wheels and trims (and possibly whitewalls) for the full effect, and not this rather awful metallic green.
Living in the US, I didn’t know what a Riley was, until I went to a soon to be closed auto museum in my parent’s hometown…run by a guy named “Riley” who had several Riley’s in his collection. He lamented it took us so long to see his establishment (though we live 1700 miles away, and hence don’t get back very often) but I did get to see it before he closed it.
I’m not one to mess with cars, figuring the factory knows better than I about stuff like cooling and aerodynamics…only time I kind of did it was when my ’86 GTi was in a parking lot accident in the front, got totalled, and I bought it back and replaced the hood, one fender, and radiator core support with that of another color Golf, so I had a harlequin Golf around the time they were selling them new (though mine was an A2, and I think the new ones were A3). Didn’t mess with painting it, when I sold it (to a guy who worked at a VW repair shop in town) it was still unpainted.
All these are really wonderful.
Saw this the other day, a RAV4 with an early 80s Chevy truck front. I love it:
https://www.autoblog.com/2020/10/29/mitsuoka-buddy-retro-toyota-rav4-japan-tuner/
Possibly the best looking Mitsuoka ever.
I KNOW RIGHT? I wish they’d import a few here. I’d love to see one in person.
My cars are apparently too boring for anyone to offer kits. It might be fun to have a kit that simulates the front of a 95-98 Odyssey for my Honda Fit because so much else about the Fit is a 5/8 version of the old Oddy.
Great comment JP! I had a ’98 Odyssey and when the first Fits came out I thought they looked like an Odyssey that had been in the dryer too long!
I have seen a few people try to emulate the ’69 Charger Daytona by putting a nose cone on the current Challenger.
Reminds me of when the Camaro was reintroduced, a number of tuners offered Trans Am front and rear clip packages. I certainly would have considered it had I been a Camaro owner.
There are kits available to mimic a Plymouth Barracuda for Challengers too.
How about a retro Pinto face for the Mustang?
One word: Why?
Sheer irony!
Just to F€{£ with people….. all the reason I would need. BTW my neighbor is a Ford racing enthusiast,,,,, It would be fun for all the wrong reasons.
People have built Fox Mustang wagons and 4-doors by swapping around front clips. No reason why you can’t build a Fairmont or Foxbody LTD hatchback coupe.
On the 1971-72 Ford LTD’s I prefer the 1971 front end and the 1972 rear end.
There are kits out there that allow the 11-16 front end to be put on my 06 F-250, but as an old beater truck the sealed beams on my XL are good enough.
When I first got a Scout since it didn’t have the correct grille for the year I did think about putting the rectangular headlight 1980 grille, but saner heads prevailed and I eventually found the correct grille and put that on there.
The other one would be to back date an 03 up Crown Vic with the 92 front end. Unfortunately the new frame I’m after means that it isn’t a bolt on proposition as the location of the core support mounts was moved. So If I was going to do that I’d probably just drop the 6 window body on too.
These are lots of fun!
Goofy idea, but I always wished for some kind of modification that could make a late-1990s Kia Elantra wagon look like a “Mini-Me” to my (Gen3/Catfish) Taurus Wagon. Just a pipe dream, I guess.
*Hyundai Elantra. At the time, the Elantra and Kia Sephia/Spectra were unrelated. They wouldn’t start sharing platforms until 2004.
Whoops—-that got right past me, an area where I know very little. Thanks a bunch for the alert!
X2 on the ’60’s F-100. My all time favorite trucks (and probably vehicles in general) are the ’67-’79 series, but with my 93 Ranger’s rounded body the ’66 nose would look better.
How about offering Lexus buyers an alternate front end treatment-Call it the “Classic Front ” option.
This
Instead of this
Rather sadly, that nasty Lexus grillage has completely grown into the scenery, and practically ceased to bother me.
That either 1) doesn’t say much good about the rest of what’s appeared out there since, or, 2) probably more likely, I’m out of touch with what now appeals to younger buyers. As has been mentioned here before, those late ’50’s US cars of such whacky appeal to us later folk were much derided in their own time.
Despite all of which, I’d have your Classic over the real one any day!
If you’re going pay homage to a design from the past, why choose a ‘61 Plymouth, of all things?
They’re not complete clips, but there are lots of aftermarket grilles available for my Tacoma. It’s a real cottage industry. Unfortunately, they’re mostly even uglier than the pretty awful stock grille. And the aftermarket grilles aren’t cheap.
I do remember the first gen Toyota bB (xB) was pretty popular in the modding scene in the home market. Wouldn’t be surprised if there was such a kit at one point or another. There at least was one made to look like a 90’s Suburban, vertical headlights and all.
’77 to ’79 T-Bird front on same year Ranchero-been done-looks good
80’s Monte Carlo SS front on 80s El Camino-looks good-been done by Choo-Choo
Customs
GMC Sprint-Cabalero parts on a Chevelle-Malibu to create a GMC “car” Not been
done AFAIK You could tell people it was built in Iran or someplace and
they’d buy it .
’68 or ’69 LTD hideway front on a base Custom-That’s been done 🙂
’71 Barracuda convertible converted to never-built round tail light ’72-Watch
episodes of Mannix, Brady Bunch and Medical Center—that’s been done.
Valiant front clip on a Dart body-Chrysler did it themselves in Canada.
’66 Toronado grill in a ’67 (the ’67 car had a lot of safety upgrades-it’s preferable
except for that ugly egg-crate grill …haven’t seen it done
’67 -’69 T-Bird front on a ’70 to have a fastback bird without the Bunkie Beak(tm).
Ford did kinda like with a concept car
I have seen two ’77 Ranchero/T-bird cap on used car lots.
Loved ’em!
I tried to purchase one, the salesman thought he had last year’s Maybach.
🙁
After the many visual affronts Tatra 87 insists be foisted upon the readers of this site with his mini dissertations on the wonders of the Mitsoka and its like, I thought it was not possible for Then and Now to be conjoined in harmony by way of a kit that lifts the face.
Whilst standing by that ground, and not saying I was wrong, I must comment sotto voce that that view was one that was not entirely supported by an appropriate degree of factual precision, which is to say it now appears that there may be acceptable exclusions from the first-stated statement.
Put another way, those kits on the Suzuki Lapin at top are damn cool, and if there’s one like it for the xB, buy it immediately. You gotta admit the Box is an ugly bastard, and could only be improved by a face like this. The interestingly-named Blow company makes most excellent stuff to my eyes, as the look from old commercial vehicles seems to scale down a treat. (My choice of Blow is below, though it’s probably far to cool for me to actually board it).
In every other case, the answer to re-fronting a car is a strict “no”, unless it was to give one’s Rolls a Thatcher face and drive it over the working classes.
I have always wanted a wrap around back window ’75 Camaro with the split front bumper, “Ferrari grille” of the 1970 1/2 Camaro.
I think it would be fun to transplant any full-size Ford’s front clip from ‘65 to ‘78 to my Flex. And then perhaps also adding the Country Squire’s wood package (someone already makes a wood package for the Flex, but it lacks the lighter wood moldings).
I’d switch out the grille, headlight trim and the hood on my ’68 Fury VIP for the ’67 version. I like the looks of the ’67 better, but I’d leave the rest of the car unchanged.
I was thinking a 1966 Dodge Pickup front on my Caravan, but despite my awesome photo editing skills it looks like a surprised schoolbus.
Haha. I like this one. Surprised school bus indeed.
Since we are talking about our own cars, and not just front clip swaps we’d like to see…
I’ve wanted to do the 300 SRT8 front clip swap on my Magnum SRT8 for a long time now. They were sold like this in EU & AU, so it’s a bolt on affair. Right now I have all the parts collected, I’m just waiting for my SRT8 front bumper to arrive. I hope to have this completed by the end of the year.
Could put a Chinese front end on the ’86 Jetta.
+1 !
Or how about the Chinese front end on the XJ Cherokee?
This.