Everyone’s dream is valid, and when the dream is related to cars, no one understands it better than Ares Design. The Modena-based manufacturer has made a specialism out of specialist cars, taking existing models and transforming them into bespoke specimens that cater to a very exacting kind of customer.

**The Ares Design Coupe is an overhaul of the Rolls-Royce Phantom. Image courtesy of Wallpaper**

Ares Design is led by CEO Dany Bahar, who set up the company in 2013. He pitches his products at the very highest level of the market, usually to serial collectors with in-depth knowledge of their favourite marques but who just want to go a little bit further. “The very, very high end is, as you might imagine, very, very demanding,” says Bahar, “because these people have access to everything that’s on the market already and they understand quality. But even if you’re the best customer of Ferrari or Rolls-Royce, you can’t just pick up the phone and call their CEO and say, “I want you to design a car for me, just the way I dreamt it last night.”

Bentley Mulsanne by Ares Design — **Ares works with clients to bring their auto dreams to life, like this Bentley Mulsanne. Image courtesy of Ares Design**

This is where Ares Design comes in. Bahar acknowledges that although high levels of customisation already exist elsewhere, manufacturers are mostly making superficial changes in terms of colour, trim and materials. “When we started this adventure, we knew we had to offer something that complies with safety regulations, of course, but also which has no limits to the imagination. Our clients understand personalisation, from aircraft to their yachts, to their homes.” Ares is therefore committed to the ruthless pursuit of individuality. “You can rarely stop somebody else from doing the same as you. But our ambition was for someone to design their own car exactly the way they wanted it, even if they drew it on a napkin during dinner.” Bahar points out that although the coachbuilding industry has been around for over a century, the desire for ultra-bespoke designs was no longer being catered for by an independent.

**Interior of the Ares Design Coupe. Image courtesy of Wallpaper**

There’s also the question of economics. However much you charge for a car, Bahar explains that no factory can survive by simply creating one-offs. As a result, Ares acts as a launchpad for inspiration, taking customers’ ideas and then turning them into an extremely limited edition of ten or 20 units. “You can then go back to the customer and tell them they have created a project that others might enjoy. That’s an emotional benefit but it is also an important part of the business. It helps us to produce these limited series.”

**Ares Panther Progettouno. Image courtesy of Ares Design**

All of Ares’ unique takes on classic designs started this way – “without exception,” says Bahar. “Customers will say they were a big fan of a particular car, or that the original is undrivable or unsafe and they’d like to have a modern version instead.” The Legends Reborn service involves tailoring bodywork over existing platforms, taking design icons as an inspiration but giving them a modern twist. Ares’ Panther Progettouno is inspired by the 1970s-era De Tomaso Pantera, with a modern Lamborghini Huracán as a basis, while two classic Ferrari designs, the 250 GTO and the 412, have both been given the Ares treatment. Other projects are more straightforward restorations, including a one-off 1964 Chevrolet Corvette that has been given new running gear from a contemporary model, and a meticulous Porsche 964 Targa that conceals Porsche 997 mechanicals beneath its retro skin.

**The Porsche 964 Targa remodelled by Ares. Image courtesy of Wallpaper**

There’s also an original project in the works. The S1 Project and S1 Project Spyder fulfil a simple brief: “to create a car that combines the design of a hypercar, the performance of a supercar and the accessibility of a sportscar” – a sentence that rather neatly sums up the problems of ultra-limited editions. When it comes to performance, the big-name manufacturers are effectively trapped in a numbers game of their own making; they can never afford to concede the relationship between power, performance and design. In contrast, Ares has far more flexibility. The Project S1 looks impossibly dramatic, and yet at its heart is a Chevrolet Corvette C8. This makes it easy to maintain and drive, yet with more than adequate performance. At around €500,000, it is a fraction of the cost of a limited series Ferrari or McLaren.

S1 Project Spyder bespoke car from Ares Design — **Ares Design’s original project, the S1 Project Spyder, Image courtesy of Wallpaper**

Such is the attention to detail and undeniable good taste of the company’s output, that Ares could become an increasingly important player. “We’re our own brand, we’re not looking at reviving other names,” Bahar says simply. “All our products have a reason to exist because they’re unique. Uniqueness is more and more important – we would never just create a car you could already buy from a manufacturer. That’s how we’ll continue to be successful in the future.”

Source: Wallpaper