Greatest car transformations of all time… from Aston Martin’s glitzy DB4 revamp to Fiat’s whole new look
HUMANS aren’t the only ones to go under the knife for a makeover.
Plenty of motors have also undergone dramatic transformations.
Cars can often change body, engine, and even badge to become unrecognisable from their previous selves.
Below are five of some of the most breath-taking motor metamorphoses, featuring everything from Aston Martin supercars to the basic VW Beetle.
Aston Martin DB4 → Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato
“No Mr Bond, I expect you to change you car’s bodywork” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, does it?
This iconic four-wheeled star of the 007 film ‘Goldfinger‘ first wowed onlookers at the London Motor show in 1958, and boasted a 240bph straight-six engine which could accelerate to 100mph and break to a standstill in less than half a minute.
Even this classic underwent some changes, however, as it lost more than 85kg in a bodywork diet, got an engine upgrade, and even a body rework in 1960 by Italian coachbuilder, Zagato.
The result was 19 hugely rare models of the DB4 GT Zagato, which are both eye-catching and eye-wateringly expensive – one sold for $9.52 million at an auction in the US in August 2021.
Citroën 2CV → Citroën Mehari
Back to basics we go.
First drawn up in the 1930s, sold in the 1940s and still being produced in the 1990s, the Citroën 2CV has one of the longest legacies in car history, and was a masterstroke of simple but effective design.
Its body was bolted onto its chassis, which made conversions very easy, and resulted in a number of cousins being produced including the British-built Bijout – but none were quite as striking as the Mehari.
But the Citroën Mehari was built for the optimistic buyer.
It was mechanically identical to the 2CV, but had a plastic body and no roof, so while perfect for a reliable trip to the beach, it wasn’t much use for a rainy day.
Fiat 850 → Fiat 850 Coupe
Who doesn’t love a glow-up?
The Fiat 850 was first introduced in 1964 as a larger, more powerful version of the 600 which had been brought out nine years earlier.
The technology in the 850 wasn’t much of an upgrade, but the car was a relatively successful for small, mid-engine European cars, and it became recognisable for its soft, yet unremarkable look.
This was a feature someone at Fiat clearly took issue with, as they redesigned the 850 and produced the much prettier coupe and spider models.
The cute coupe was described by one car reviewer as “one of the handsomest, best-balanced designs ever seen on a small car,” and it’s rather hard to disagree.
Volkswagen Beetle → Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
The most produced car in history – first commissioned by arguably the worst person in history.
The Beetle did indeed start life as a cheap, functional car for Germans under Nazi rule in the late 1930s, and was commissioned by Adolf Hitler.
But it was resurrected by the British Army for the Allied forces occupying Germany at the end of the Second World War, and was then put into mass production with unrivalled popularity – and even underwent a rebrand as a cute, wholesome family motor.
The Beetle was then given a sporty, Italian makeover by Ghia, and manufactured in Karmann, Germany, thus giving it the joined title Karmann Ghia.
This stylish cousin of the Beetle debuted in 1955, and has since been regarded as one of the most beautiful cars in history.
Mercedes-Benz SLK → Chrysler Crossfire
Outfit change anyone?
First produced in 1996, the Mercedes-Benz SLK was a successful sports offering from the German outfit, with various engine options including a fearsome 3.2 litre V6 AMG version producing 350bhp.
The SLK had many incarnations before Mercedes changed its name in 2016 to the SLC, with one even having a different badge…
Enter the Chrysler Crossfire, the product of a corporate merger between Mercedes and Chrysler, who became DaimlerChrysler and discontinued the original SLK model.
Well, not quite. They gave it an American-style body and badge, and sold it as a Chrysler Crossfire.
Sales of the model started well, but soon tanked, and the Crossfire was pulled in 2007, the same year its parent companies divorced.