An Idle Mind Is The Car Configurator’s Workshop

By Santosh

Updated: Tuesday, July 14, 2015, 14:31 [IST]

So you're interested in car customisation. But since all of us are not artists, most of the time we have to get external sources to create custom designs for our cars, which often ends up being time consuming and pretty darn pricey.

However, there are ways for even the non-artistically-inclined to experiment with a variety of looks and designs for their rides. Cases in point - online manufacturer and mod configurators.

This was one of the most enjoyable articles to put together simply because of the brilliant time I had playing around with these extremely fun, yet superlatively simple online tools to transfer your ideas from mind to machine.

So let's take a look at how you can bring out the artist in you next Saturday afternoon. We begin with some cool online car mod tools and move on to slick manufacturer configurators.

1. 3D Tuning

This seems to be the best one out there for novice and wannabe customisers, with a huge database of cars and several customising options, including mods to the bodywork, paint, suspension, wheels and much, much more. The sheer expanse of the true-to-life car and accessory collection is stunning, and gives you a great reason to get your mouse clicking this weekend. The adjoining picture is our mod idea for the famous rotary-engined Mazda RX-7.

Click here to visit 3D Tuning.

2. Mini Selecta

You will be in full exterior design control of one of the world's most loved cars of all time, the Mini. Play around with paint options, wheel designs, decals and more. Although not in the league of 3D Tuning, Mini Selecta has a lot of heart, and you can save your final creation directly from the site as well. Always wanted to play around with a classic Mini, we opted for a red and grey race-prepped machine.

Click here to visit Mini Selecta.

3. H Modder

This site pays homage to one of the most widely customised cars in the world, the Honda Civic. You can pick between a hatchback and sedan variant of the iconic car to work on, and although the background of the work area is a bit annoying, there's still a decent variety of stuff to do with your car, including customising wheels, fenders, bonnets, and more. Our tricked out Civic is a dark grey number - we tried to keep the mods subtle. Ya, I know, with a carbon fibre hood, right...

Click here to visit H Modder.

4. Bus Selecta

Always wanted to own a Volkswagen Bus or Beetle? Or maybe a Porsche? Sure you do. But till one reaches your garage, you can get cracking on creating your own unique look for it. Being a Porsche fanatic, I took the available classic Porsche 911 and added slim-whitewall tyres, decals, extra lights and a Carrera bodykit. Simple looking result, but still extremely fun to work on!

Click here to visit Bus Selecta.

5. Morgan 3 Wheeler

Possibly the most unique three-wheeler in the world is the Morgan 3 Wheeler, so it's only apt that its website provides a cool configurator. Play around with body graphics that hark back to themes like fighter aircraft, body striping, company decals, and much more. There's also an unlimited paint colour choice, so go ahead, paint your love for the planet's coolest thing on three wheels. Haven't seen a dark blue 3 Wheeler yet, so it was always on, with some race stripes and a custom finished cowl thrown in for good measure.

Click here to visit the Morgan 3 Wheeler configurator.

6. Ferrari F12 Berlinetta

The Italians will always take things to next level, and this holds true for the F12 configurator too. There's a huge choice of interior appointments, carbon detailing, wheel designs and much more for you to check out. But those aren't why we love this one. The main reason is the reflector tool, which allows you to check out how the car's lines look under varying angles of light. Brilliant!

Click here to visit the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta configurator.

7. McLaren 650S Spider

Another supercar configurator, this time McLaren's own for its gorgeous 650S. All the official colours available are present in the tool, and you can add on various elements like carbon fibre mirrors, wings, scoop surrounds, and so on. No one said we can't dream aloud.

Click here to visit the McLaren 650S Spider configurator.

8. Rolls Royce Wraith

The most respected and exclusive luxury car manufacturer in the world needed a configurator worthy of its prestigious image, and it does not come away lacking. You can customise any Rolls Royce from the company's iconic lineup, we chose the extravagant Wraith to bear the brunt of our creative attempts. Play around with two-tone paint contrasts, rim designs and sizes, and elaborate online interior customisation tools.

Click here to visit the Rolls Royce configurator.

9. Aston Martin Vanquish

A gorgeous car and a great looking configurator. Aston Martin's online tool for potential customers to personalise their upcoming beauties is super-slick, and allows you to play around with several exterior and interior design elements. You can even see the car's tailpipes and side strake mesh change according to your personal preference, so here's to some free experimentation with no consequences!

Click here to visit the Aston Martin Vanquish configurator.

An Idle Mind Is The Car Configurator’s Workshop

Afterword

There are several more configurators out there for you to Google and experience, and we hope we've given you something useful to do the next time you're twiddling your thumbs on the weekend (or even at work).

It would be great to see Indian carmakers take a leaf out of these webpages, because the potential for car customisation in the Indian scenario is huge. Hope our manufacturers are listening...