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Drive like everyone else or design your own? Find out why custom restorations are the next step for car culture.

Discover the future of the high-end custom car culture here.

What's the point of doing something with your own hands and ideas when, nowadays, we have everything ready? 🎯

Perhaps this question is one of the reasons why we have arrived in such a boring market for creativity, in all areas, and the car industry has not escaped it.

As we always hear from designers in deep & inspiring chats, design is a way to solve problems, mainly through aesthetics and belonging. That's why sameness actually has a way out called customization, which is enough reason for you to consider building a unique car.

1. Expression.

It would be impossible to talk about making something unique without mentioning the NYC artist Daniel Arsham. Known for being a true machine and leather interior sculptor, Arsham has done one-of-a-kind works, especially on Porsches.

We've already shown you here his work on the Porsche 930A, a 1980 model that has survived time and was reborn in the artist's hands. In addition to the Japanese-style paintwork, he upholstered the interior with high-end Italian leather, customizing it down to the steering wheel.

In his Porsche 993, restoration was essential to maintain the characteristics of this rare copy, starting with the color. Inside, brown leather with embossed details was used on the seats, trunk, and also the dashboard. Here begins your inspiration boost.

METCHA - Daniel Arsham - custom car culture - Daniel Arsham beside his customized Porsche 99 with leather interiors

METCHA - Daniel Arsham - custom car culture - a Porsche 99 customized by Daniel Arsham with leather interiors in detail

METCHA - Daniel Arsham - custom car culture - Daniel Arsham customizing a Porsche 993 with leather interiors

METCHA - Daniel Arsham - custom car culture - Daniel Arsham wearing leather Nike sneakers with neutral colors

2. Customize or restore?

When we talked to Dutch designer Niels Van Roij, we understood that the meaning of a car is no longer the same. “The future of auto design will be more personal & artisanal,” and we have no further doubts about it.

Van Roij drives today's auto industry toward traditional artisanship thru detailed bespoke projects, proving that customization and restoration go hand in hand. After all, in both processes, the choice of materials is fundamental. You don't want to spend months working on a car for it not to last, right?

You can check here one of the designer's projects, the construction of a classic Breadvan Hommage. In this challenge, Van Roij used his coachbuilding techniques to achieve a result that would maintain the originality of the 1962 model with a modern artisan's viewpoint, using soft, welcoming, and high-quality black leather.

According to the expert, the best choice only happens based on good research. Fortunately, you have us to point out possibilities, but, when starting your creation, keep in mind that a detailed search for reliable suppliers, mechanics, and coachbuilders is essential.

3. Big brands.

When it comes to offering exclusivity, the big automotive industries are always attentive to the wishes of consumers. Obviously, they offer the convenience of receiving a relatively unique car, without the customer having to be connected to the process. So it depends on how much personal value and identity each person wants in their own car, and of course, the price they'd pay for it.

BMW, for example, will use Nvidia technology to simulate every aspect of building a car, in an effort to push the boundaries. This operation, called Omniverse, comes together with the Metaverse era to offer massive real-time customization and without losing quality. Please, let's not get into discussions about robots having personal tastes here.

4. Does customization have a future?

The short answer is: yes, duh.

As you know, we watch lifestyle choices and the nostalgic appeal is totally linked to classic cars. Or new classics.

In this movement of bringing old models back with a fresher proposal and more connected with the new drivers, big brands and small customizers are also adapting to the new values.

Electric motors and other clean sources, which offer authentic exclusivity, are the rule, and most importantly, show that they care about the materials used.

So much so that by 2026 the upholstery market in the leather segment will have reached more than US$1 billion, precisely because of this requirement for stylish, high-end, conscious, and durable seats and interiors.