Mean Machine: The Subtle But Aggressive Look

One of the hardest looks to achieve in the car industry is the mean confident look. Something that looks powerful, masculine and brutal but doesn’t show off about it. A car that doesn’t shout its own name from the rooftops is becoming more and more popular in sports car circles. That’s not to say that the loud and brash style is going away, it’s just taking a backseat for now. More subtle approaches are being taken these days to actually not make your car stand out in a parking lot. This includes things like dull or matte paint finishes. Grey, dark blue, black and green have all made a massive comeback. Red, yellow, orange and purple used to be colors that you would see on the most expensive supercars. But now, there’s a change happening. You can see this with Ferrari’s newer models with the Lusso now launching in matte silver. So how can you achieve this look?

Look toward Jaguar

Jaguar has forever been the real James Bond car. It’s the badge that has grace and pace. It’s cool, sleek, stylish and can punch you in the back with over 500 foot-pounds of torque and horsepower. Take the XJ model, also known as the ‘daddy’ of all jaguars. The best kind comes in a British racing green, with subtle grey wheels and black leather interior. You only notice just how stylish it is when you’re up close. When observing the car from afar, you won’t pick out the fine details right away. So keep this policy of dark color schemes in mind. You don’t have to go into full stealth mode and just drench everything in black. But you shouldn’t take a booklet of pastel colors and start playing twister on it either.

The power of the wheel

For years and years, there was a design choice that touring cars made of projecting personality through the wheels. The Denso Supra racing team had a white car with blood red wheels. It was ugly yet so attractive because it was aggressive. However it wasn’t very subtle, but the power of the wheel style had been noticed by many other manufacturers. If you have a slightly lighter car, go with the rims and tyres packages 2 and pick out a wheel that is satin black, with bare rivets circling the entire wheel. The Simmons 17 inch wheel for the Ford Focus is one example of this kind of subtle aggressive style. Satin black shine a little, but not too much and the open rivets give the car an industrial underground look.

The shadow exhaust

Chrome exhausts are slowing dying out for industrial matte black finishes. This allows the pipes to blend into the car’s design more. However, they also allow an aggressive engine’s spitting flame to be noticed much clearer. The yellow and orange of the fire shooting out the back of a sports car is much more attractive without the shiny metal obscuring the view.

Jaguar is the king of the subtle but aggressive cars. Their styling of quietly confident is intoxicating. You don’t need to shout about what you car can do, and in fact, keeping it hush is all the more exciting when you do unleash the power.