For much of human history the domain of the car with a bunch of random bits slapped on as a symbol of the futility of entropy, or something, I think, has been the domain of the slightly "unique." With increasing access to 3D printing, though, art cars with slapped-on bits have become bonafide, gallery-dwelling works.
3D printing allows you to build virtually anything you can imagine, so it was only a matter of time until it made its way over to the art car world. Ioan Florea, a Romanian-born artist, used 3D printing and his own process to produce the new incarnation of his 1971 Ford Torino. For comparison, this is what the front half of a 1971 Ford Torino originally looked like:
So it's a little different.
Florea is keeping the process he uses to get the flowy-metal look secret, according to the Economist, but supposedly Ford wants in on it, as they already use 3D printing in its prototyping process.
Even still, Florea's take on flame-surfacing is much better than anything Chris Bangle did to BMW (discuss this below in the comments, which will be promptly ignored).
Something tells me though that people will now use 3D printing to still stick lobsters and Sammy Sosa bobbleheads on the hood of their automobiles. Because, art.
Photo credits: Ioan Florea/Wikicommons
1969 Ford Mustang
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3D Printing Is Finally Making Its Way Over To Crazily- Sculpted Cars