Skip to main content

Flying buttresses ain’t cheap. And this $200,000 Cayman S by Studioforino proves it

In the early motoring days, before the modern the production line was invented, cars had to be built off of a rolling chassis. Thus coachbuilders came into play,  building one-off, completely customized “coaches” for customers.

After World War II mass production started, and ended the amazing era where cars were individual creations. Remarkably, some coachbuilders have been extremely resilient and survived the tumultuous automotive history.

As a small Italian coach building company located in Turin, Italy, Studiotorino is a perfect example.

Though founded in 1919, Studiotorino’s amazing tradition of car customization continues today, as we can see in its newest Cayman S based example, the Moncenisio.

The 2014 Cayman S has been totally reworked, and, man, does it look absolutely stunning in baby, Italian-boy-blue.

To create a the Moncenisio, Studiotorino replaced the front bumper, smoothed out everything behind the B pillars, and added flying buttresses to top it all off.

It’s a very unique look and it goes extremely well with the Cayman. A CNC aluminum gas-cap also stands out prominently in the sea of blue. Once your eyes glide from the front to the back of this Mona Lisa, you will notice some rear fender marks, a hint at the Panamericana Porsche 955 spyder of old.

20-inch, 2elle-engineering forged wheels are used in combination with Pirellis embroidered with Moncenisio graphics. Performance upgrades? Who needs ’em? With a car this good looking, anyone trying to pass this blue beauty will just stop and stare.

Studiotorino has deemed their wonderful masterpiece so beautiful in fact, that only 19 models will be made. At what price can beauty be bought? Try $200,000 on for size … and that’s before you buy a Cayman.

Makes sense, though. Beauty isn’t cheap.

Joe Mahan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Joe Mahan is an intern at Digital Trends working in the Cars section. He is currently a Junior at the University of Portland…
The Kia EV3 could be the cheap electric SUV we’ve been waiting for
White Kia EV3

The Kia EV9 was already one of the cheapest ways to get an electric SUV, but now the company is taking things to the next level. After teasing the Kia EV3 last year, the car is now official.

The EV3 is built to be a slightly smaller, cheaper version of the EV9 -- following the path of the Rivian R2, which arrived after the Rivian R1S. It's certainly not as technologically advanced as the EV9, but it still looks unmistakably like a modern Kia, and is clearly a sibling of the larger SUV. On the outside, the vehicle has the same split taillights and very similar Tiger Face front. But it is quite a bit smaller. The vehicle will be available in nine finishes -- however only "Aventurine Green" and "Terracotta" are being announced right now.

Read more
Kia EV3: release date, performance, range, and more
White Kia EV3

Kia is on a roll. Hot on the heels of the success of the Kia EV6 and EV9, the company is already announcing what could be its cheapest electric vehicle yet -- the Kia EV3.

The Kia EV line seems to follow the rule of lower numbers indicating a lower price — and if so, the EV3 will end up being the cheapest electric car Kia has released to date. That, however, thankfully doesn’t mean that the EV3 will be a low-end car — it just means that Kia may be pushing the boundaries on electric car pricing.

Read more
Kia EV3 vs Tesla Model Y: Can Kia’s new entry-level car take on Tesla?
White Kia EV3

The Kia EV3 is finally coming, and it could well end up being the best small-size electric SUV to buy when it finally rolls out. It's smaller than the Kia EV9, but it offers many of the same design elements and features. But there's another small-size electric car that's currently one of the most popular vehicles out there -- the Tesla Model Y.

How does the Kia EV3 compare with the Tesla Model Y? And is one vehicle actually better than the other? We put the Kia EV3 and the Tesla Model Y head-to-head to find out.
Design
The design of the Kia EV3 is very different than that of the Model Y, though they're both reasonably good-looking vehicles.

Read more