Instead of picking one of the four concepts straight up, I chose elements from a few and came up with this. We'll call it Concept 5, if you will...
FULL DISCLOSURE: what you're about to read sounds like dictation, but is nothing more than my humble opinion. I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes, especially Ben Hermance, who does incredible work. We all have our own set of preferences and thoughts about how things should look. This is my individual take on it.
Anyway, my iteration is pretty close to Hermance's Concept 1, but I think chromed bumpers are vital if you're going to have a gray two-tone car, so I switched them back. Having the bumpers brushed, or painted body color (either matte or gloss) will make the car look dull to the point of distraction, especially with the rocker and wheel arch trim removed as it is. I always thought the finish currently on the bumpers (albeit darker than these new renderings) looked off, and in serious need of some chrome.
I also changed the header panel to be solid gray. While I do think painting the header panel gray is a good idea (it's necessary to maintain the "waistline" of the color scheme), I didn't like the color break toward the top of the header panel in Concept 1. It looked too busy with the seam of the hood so nearby. This cleans it up a bit and keeps the gray two-tone consistent on all sides of the car.
The wheels on Concept 1 are the best of the bunch, so I went with them. Concept 2's wheels remind me too much of those found on a late-model Mustang Mach 1 (not good for a GM car). Concept 3's wheels are very nice, but perhaps a bit too busy (what can I say, I always choose simplicity). Concept 4's wheels are
way too busy, and look like they should be on a German tuner car, not an American muscle car.
Regarding the hood: I've seen a number of GTO owners attempt to paint a stripe down the middle of their hood, and I don't think I've ever liked it. If the owner insists on a hood stripe, I think Hermance's version is probably the best I've seen, but still, I think it looks much better with a solid color hood. "Keep it simple" is my mantra. I prefer to attract attention by being a bit understated.
And I'm assuming the "Driven1" decal behind the front wheels is a request of the owner, so I didn't mess with it. Otherwise, I'd go without it.
I'm also typically opposed to putting '70s-era side mirrors on a '60s-era car, but in this case, I think they look great.
The paint colors are nice, too. I always encourage people to paint their GTOs colors other than red, (only because it's all too common to see a red GTO, and I should know, mine is Montero Red, for now...;-), but the red in these renderings appears to have a little bit of a copper hue to it, which looks nothing less than fantastic. If it were me, I'd also use a generous amount of extra fine metallic flake for both colors so it really grabs the sun.
There's my $.02
