Houston Auto Show Customs - Top 10 LIFTED TRUCKS 25

Insider: 5 Amazing Truck Mods

Trucks are the workhorses of the vehicle world. They may not have the speed and responsiveness of sports cars, but they are dependable, multi-functional, and flexible in the terrain that they can master. They are undemanding and, more often than not, the pride and joy of their owners. It’s debatable whether you can boost your truck’s performance with freer-flowing exhausts or cold-air intakes, but one thing is for certain, you can boost its aesthetic appeal. The good news is that there are inexpensive ways that you can modify your truck’s look without having to break the bank. Lift kits So, …

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PRIOR DESIGN Makes MB S-Class Into Cold-Blooded Apex Predator Inside and Out

We’re becoming pretty big fans of Prior Design. The custom bodykit house brings a unique style to each of its models, without getting caught in some of the fairly tired ruts of the BRABUS or Mansory style. This S-Class might not be the firm’s trademark widebody style — but it still packs a wallop of visual aggression and exclusivity. Prior Design excels at fairly affordable upgrades that are some of the first-to-market for new exotic cars. Their preference for a composite duraflex material also means they can complete orders in a tenth the time of the carbon-fiber alternatives. Despite that …

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2015 Ford F-150 King Ranch STRIKES GOLD! Leads HUGE 54k January 2015 Sales, Up 17% YoY

The accolades have showered the new Ford F-150 from every direction over the previous few months. Expectations are high, and demand is even higher. Now that shoppers are trying this revolutionary new truck, they are pulling the Buy trigger faster than ever. The new F-150 really is that good. It lives up to and beyond the hype. It is a new era in pickup trucks: tough but light, sporty but comfortable. Luxurious, but hard-working. The King Ranch trim level shares top billing with the Platinum in the new F-150 lineup. These are the boss’s trucks. If the King Ranch lives …

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2015 Chrysler 300C – Houston Auto Show Gallery – Space, Grace and Pace To Chomp A Jag

The new 300C is now the luxury flagship of the Chrysler brand – both objectively as the largest and most powerful, and subjectively as a conscious luxury crusier. The entry of the 300S makes room for the 300C to focus on rear-drive American luxury at its finest: roomy, zoomy and full of …… you-my? Overall, the new 300C makes the existing package 3X as good, especially in the base V6 version. Yes, the AWD models still ride pretty high off the ground, and the leathers are cheap. Yes, the new LED styles up front look the same at first, but …

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Houston Tuner Showcase - 2015 Mercedes-Benz S-Class by MODESTA Glass Coatings Ft

Houston Tuner Showcase – 2015 Mercedes-Benz S-Class by MODESTA Glass Coatings Ft. Prior Design Bodykit

Prior Design, Featuring Modesta Advanced Liquid Glass Coatings? What is this, a rap battle downloaded from your dorm-neighbor via 2001’s Napster?! No, no it is not. These Modesta coatings are the highlight here. The Prior Design bodykits are just stage dressing. Despite the oddly OOF photos, the glass coatings in the paint are truly seductive and special. They make any paintwork feel three-feet-deep. 2015 Mercedes S-Class by MODESTA Glass Coatings Ft. Prior Design

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2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat – Side Exhaust Mystery + 150 New Photos

The 2015 Challenger Hellcat is currently on track to be one of the most popular SRT upgrades ever. And little wonder. What other musclecar has ever achieved 707-horsepower!? Two in-person sightings of the Hellcat since its static debut at Elkhart Lake last summer: first at the Houston Auto Show, where we find an unusual side-exhaust ahead of the passenger wheel….. and next at the Mecum Auction in Kissimmee, Florida last week. Based on the anoraks at Hellcat.org forums, we believe the side exhaust is just a prototype testing detail, and not on the production cars. We have a few zoomed …

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Houston Auto Show Curio - Porsche 356 Art Car Is Janis Joplin Homage 8

Houston Auto Show Curio – Porsche 356 Art Car Is Janis Joplin Homage

Janis Joplin’s very famous Porsche 356C lives today in the North Carolina Art Museum, where it sits in a rock & roll showcase with its top up and musky, phsychodelic cabin sealed from onlookers. THe rag-top Porsche was a big part of Janet’s rise to stardom, and one of her first gifts to herself when she started making money in the San Francisco music scene of the 1960s. This is where the real birth of the hippie movement happened, starting as early as 1955 and only going national a dozen years later. Janet was a riddle herself: poor and loving …

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Houston Auto Show Customs - Top 10 LIFTED TRUCKS 21

Houston Auto Show Customs – Top 10 LIFTED TRUCKS!

If there is one memory of the Houston Auto Show that really sticks with you, it is the dominance of lifted trucks. Tuners, custom shops and even new-car dealerships all are deeply into the custom truck business. We have little idea who the tuning companies are who created all these beasts, so we’ll just label them by the base machine they started as from the factories when tuner branding is not available. 1. RAM 2500 Bolt Locks If the challenge is to be tallest, this Ram definitely won. Seeing its handler come down from the cabin was shocking. He literally …

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Houston Auto Show Tuners – Hand-Airbrushed Nissan 370Z LowRider

Despite graphics that make us think of Saved By The Bell, this Z-car is exceptionally cool on its stanced-out air-ride and giant wheels. Looking closely at all the photos, we do not know the vendor showcased here. Nor even if it is airbrushed or a wrap. It is quite alarming up close, actually…. Hand-Airbrushed Nissan 370Z LowRider    

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Houston Auto Show – 2015 Dodge Charger R/T vs Charger SXT

The 2015 Dodge Charger is really growing on me. After scoffing at its pretty basic exterior facelift when revealed last spring, we now really admire its slinky LED signature up front and unmistakeable ‘racetrack’ of LEDs in back. The real achievement in design of the new Charger is that all trim levels look good. As anyone knows, a BMW M3 is going to look nearly 10X as cool as a base 320i. The base-effect applies for nearly all cars and SUV types. The coolest models, of course, are at the top of the price chart. At times, you would not …

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2015 Hyundai Equus on Hyperdrive Evolution in Chase for S-Class Clients

Any student of Darwin, or perhaps Pavlov, will know that the secret to exceptionally rapid evolution is simple: short generation gaps. As the Mercedes-Benz S-Class has evolved since 1910, Hyundai had serious ground to make up with the Equus in 2009 or whenever it launched in the US. This type of goverment limo has always been popular domestically in Asian markets — but bringing the Equus abroad was always going to be big news for Hyundai. This Equus for 2015 is perhaps the fourth or fifth generation of updates since the basic bones launches on the previous Genesis chassis a …

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2015 Chevrolet Silverado Rally Sport and Custom Sport Trucks + New Midnight Edition Preview

The 2015 Silverado packs four special editions for 2015: the Texas Edition, upcoming Midnight Edition and the just-launched Rally Sport and Custom Sport Trucks. The Midnight Edition will bow in Chicago next week, while the Texas Edition has been on sale for a month or so already. In between are the new RS and Custom Editions — which we caught up with in Houston. They look good and are a cool way to have a distinctive and customized rig – right from the factory with warranty intact and lifetime durability for the paintwork and finishes.     2015 Silverado Midnight …

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2015 Jeep Wrangler Willys Edition 3

2015 Jeep Wrangler Willys Edition in 20 New Photos + Freedom Edition Preview

The new Willys Edition Jeep Wrangler looks very, very cool and desirable with its gloss-black grille and wheels. The Freedom Edition with a dark grey grille and military star is pretty cool too, mind you. That being said, Jeep Wranglers have never struggled to be ‘cool.’ They have always been cool as hell. But these minor factory customizations just might spark a must-have sentiment in shoppers. Even after deciding on a Freedom or Willys Edition, the doors and roof options are still plentiful!   2015 Jeep Wrangler Willys Edition      

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Houston Auto Show – 2015 BMW 228i xDrive Convertible in Luxury Trim

The new 228i Convertible joins the 235i in the BMW range as the smallest and most affordable ragtop BMWs since the first-gen Z3 of the 1990s. We’re excited to report that the style of the new 2 series convertible really looks fantastic. The car’s distinctive nose and new kidney design is ultra subtle, but very new actually versus cars like the current 5 series. As evidence of BMW’s utter brilliance in product variations: this new ragtop even offers xDrive AWD. No demerits in ride height, either. Clever stuff — and the xDrive 228i has an extra 60 pound-feet of torque …

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Houston Auto Show – 2015 BMW X6 xDrive50i – LEDetails Front and Rear in 50 New Photos

The first-gen BMW X6 seemed like a huge joke, if we’re honest. All the impracticality of a tiny rear seat, plus barely half the total luggage volume of the X5. But the new X6 really does make a convincing style argument for itself versus the very-practical new X5 shape. The X6 also wears the new wide-spaced LED headlamp signature only visible on the X5M. The base X5’s have an indicator in the corner of the lamps, and tighter and smaller angel eyes inside. The M Sport model shown here does a very impressive M truck impression, despite being just the …

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Houston Auto Show – Camp JEEP – Animated Action Sequences!

The Houston Auto Show brought some really cool drive experiences inside the convention center this year: with Camp Jeep a real highlight and crowd-pleaser. It might not seem realistic to simulate off-roading with ultra-steep ramps, buck-board surfaces and steeply tilted later angles. But based on the screams and smiles of drivers sampling Jeep hill-descent-controls and off-road prowess, we’d say the internal thrills and G-forces are authentic! Enjoy these two brief sequences of the Grand Cherokee and Cherokee making their ways down a 45-degree ridge. Smooth and under control, like true off-road pros. Houston Auto Show – Camp JEEP – Animated …

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Houston Auto Show – 2016 Lincoln MKX Really Impresses in 27 New, High-Res Photos

Like us, you might have been slightly underwhelmed by the design of the brand-new, 2016 Lincoln MKX when it was revealed in Detroit just two weeks ago. It seemed new, yes — but virtually identical to the MKC crossover!? In the flesh, there are dramatic family resemblences between Lincoln’s two new crossovers, but the MKX does impress with its own premium details and much-larger overall profile. The MKC is bite-size next to this luxury cruiser. They both seat five, but the MKX will have much happier occupants in the posh second row of seats, and more luggage room in back …

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Houston Auto Show – 2015 MINI 4-Door Hardtop Inside and Out in 25 New Photos

The new MINI does look pretty fresh in person, despite the extremely subtle workover for this full redesign. Considering that the car has an all-new, BMW-designed chassis and all-new engines — you might expect the design to be a lot fresher than it is. The three-door without these cool puppy-eyed LED rings (which are optional) is a pretty familiar sight indeed. It looks just a bit freakier and more bizarre in its details, like the oversized rear lamps that are comically huge. But the game must move on, and car companies need new models to keep the sales engine chugging. …

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Houston Tuner Highlights – AMG SLS Roadster by IKON Wraps

This AMG SLS benefits from more than just a perfect shimmery red foil-wrap — but actually a black-out all around for the grilles, detail pieces and windshield surround and matte racing stripes up the hood. Cool stuff. The car looks absolutely fresh in a way that few SLS Roadsters do. AMG SLS Roadster by IKON Wraps    

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Best of Houston Auto Show – Vorsteiner 2015 BMW M4 GTRS4 by ELITE Customs TX

Let’s say you love the hottest and wildest customs from Germany, like the outrageous GTRS4 by Vorsteiner for the new BMW M4. But you do not live in Germany or near a Vorsteiner installer. What to do? You have to find a local customs shop with major bodywork and custom fabrication expertise. Elite Customs and Collision in China Bay, Texas is a go-to place for flawless execution of a major supercar upgrade like shown here. The parts arrive from Germany unpainted and without full instructions, so you want some proof that a shop can handle a job this big and …

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Houston Auto Show – 2015 GMC Sierra Elevation Edition in 20 New Photos + Pricing From $35k

  Updated 1.23.15 With Pricing and 20 New Photos The Sierra Elevation Edition is one cool black 1500 on the Houston Auto Show floor! Just as we snapped these 35 new photos, GMC revealed the pricing of this new factory custom– with an enticing $34,865 base for the rear-drive V6. It is great to see the double-decker LED lights as standard on the Sierra Elevation, despite them not being lit in these photos. 2015 GMC Sierra Elevation Edition Pricing: 4.3L 2WD: $34,865 4.3L 4WD: $38,795 5.3L 2WD: $35,960 5.3L 4WD: $39,890   2015 GMC Sierra Elevation Edition     PREVIOUS …

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Houston Auto Show Debuts – 2015 Mazda3 Ti Edition Rocks Gloss-Black Body Styling

The new Mazda3 Ti Edition joins a revised Mazda6 and CX-5 on Mazda showroom floors early this year, but had an advanced outing at the Houston Auto Show. This fall, the Mazda range gets really thrilling: the new 2016 MX-5 and hot CX-3 will join in the Zoom-Zoom fun. Production-ready with a window sticker, this new Mazda3 Ti Edition jazzes up the exceptional Mazda3 with some really cool style additions: titanium metallic wheels are joined by a sweet body kit all around in contrast gloss-black. The lower splitter, side sills and rear diffuser are all a pure and silky dark …

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2015 Volvo V60 Cross Country – Updated With 20 New, Real-Life Photos from Houston

First details today on the newest Volvo – a US-bound V60 Cross Country! The new V60 XC is a tough and rugged version of the V60 sportwagen, and will ship to the US with standard AWD and the 250-horsepower T5 engine. Some have asked if the V60 Cross Country is necessary, considering the presence of the XC60 SUV in the lineup. There is certainly some overlap, but the V60 XC will appeal to a sportier customer and have pricing a few thousand less than the taller XC60 SUV. More models are a good thing for Volvo in the US – …

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Houston Auto Show – 2015 Chrysler 300S Reveal + LED Detail Shots Front and Rear

The new Chrysler 300S is the real pick of the range. With V6 and Hemi V8 power offered, the 300S is sporty in all ways: suspension tuning and handling feel, but also exterior style and cabin ambiance. The most impressive part of the 300S is plain to see: stunning gloss-black details and a full de-chrome of the exterior. The 2015 Chrysler 300 feels familiar, but updated and very nicely refined in all ways. We love the cool technical detailing of the 300S grilles up front, the flush-mounted exhaust finishers in back, and the subtle but convincing rear end with pert …

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2015 Porsche 918 Spyder Weissach Package with XPEL Paint Protection 15

Houston Aftermarket Highlights – 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder Weissach Package with XPEL Paint Protection

The Houston Auto Show has a tuner and aftermarket section to melt even the coldest hearts: exotica galore and customs as wide as a Texas Mile. This Porsche 918 Spyder looks amazing in yellow with the optional Weissach Package – consisting of the huge fixed-wing rear spoiler, gloss-black side spats and other delicious detailing. To keep all this pricey paintwork safe from stones and chips, this car features XPEL Paint Protection film – a self-healing wrap that is completely transparent. The XPEL wrap over yellow here creates a really stunning and deep finish for the paintwork. It all comes together …

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2015 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro 8

Houston Auto Show – 2015 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro In Black/Black

 When the bright orange TRD Pro Toyota Tundra first was revealed and arrived in dealers a few months back, did you ever think of how amazing it would look completely blacked-out? Everything on this big Tundra is black: badges, grille, running boards, headlights, wheels — everything. Stunning in person and a great truck flagship for the front of Texas Toyota showrooms.    2015 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro   Houston Auto Show Tickets Admission $12 for adults. There is an ATM on-site. $5 for children 6 to 12 years old; children 5 and under admitted free when accompanied by an adult. …

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