You ever notice that car makers rarely put wide enough wheels on their cars? And of course by the time they’ve realized the error of their ways it’s too late, the car already having hit the dealer lots riding on its bicycle tires. That’s not the end of the story however, because too-narrow tracks can, and often are, fixed by way of one of the coolest styling tropes ever imagined, the muy macho fender flare. Those width-enhancing add-ons allow not only for a wider track – and hence the prospect of better handling – but also the chance to make the cars look ten times better.
Don’t believe me? Compare Porsche’s flareless 924 (meh) to the flarelicious 944 (yeah, baby!), the transformation is miraculous. In fact, fender flares are one of the most common go-to tropes for engendering a car with its go-faster creds. Just think of the Mercedes 500E, BMW’s E30 M3, or any one of Subaru’s WRX STi editions. Flare! Flare! Flare!
Factory flares are so common a styling means to an implied performance end that it goes without saying that some are handled a little better than are others. Points are made for pounding out the flares in the metal, less so when they are plastic add-ons. The question for today however is which of these fabulous factory flares do you think is the most hep, cats? What do you say, what are the coolest factory flares?
Image source: Influx
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