Ever since I won this 2009 Dodge Challenger through the MSN/Dodge Design Competition, it has been such a crazy experience driving it around town. I’ve met a bunch of new friends from SoCal Challengers car crew where we participate in cruises and car show events.

More pics HERE.

The car bone stock already attracts a lot of attention, even more so with the true fire paint job. As fun as it is to have the custom paint, part of me also enjoys a stealthy ride- maybe in flat/matte black finish. A style and finish which has its roots in the muscle car scene. Here’s a good picture below of the inspiration.

Photo from InsideLine’s feature on the 2008 Dodge Super Stock Challenger

But a makeover like this usually means a new paint job, saying good bye to the true fire custom paint. I’m not sure I’m ready to commit to it yet nor have the funds for a full paint job. Enter Meguiar’s “WRAPTIVO” Designer Car Wraps which made its debut in the 2009 SEMA show.

Meguiars is all about surface care and this new product line is set to do that and more. It lets you give your car a whole new look while protecting and preserving the original paint (custom paint in my case) underneath. They partnered up with 3M and are currently testing different films for their new Wraptivo product line. I was fortunate enough to have my car used for this product development.

I dropped off the car at the Meguiars HQ last friday here in Irvine, California.

The car was cleaned up and certain parts removed like side view mirrors, hood vents, badges, etc.

They started with the hood. Here are some pics of the process.






Wrapping the hood took about 20 minutes, maybe less. I wasn’t keeping track of time but certainly faster than I expected. The guys worked flawlessly with each other making sure it was applied properly.

I’ve seen it done many times but never knew that there were so many different types of films used for this application. Different thickness and different ways to give the film that matte finish. The film used for this test is flat black but more Matte than Satin finish. For reference, my SRT8 wheels have been painted in Satin Black and you can see the matte finish on the hood in contrast with the finish on the wheels.

For the roof, we wanted to test out the Wraptivo’s dry carbon fiber film. This particular film is thicker than the matte black films used in the hood so not appropriate for areas with a lot of complex curves.

Here are few pics of the carbon fiber film application.



At this point, I had to drive back home to finish my work and left the car at Meguiar’s overnight.

The following day, I went back there and the car was done!

Drove the car home and snapped a few more.

Phase 1 of the Wraptivo program starts with matte black, matte white, carbon fiber film, and brushed aluminum film but more colors and finishes will be available soon as well as hood kits etc.

Pricing hasn’t been finalized but check WRAPTIVO website for updates and more info.

Cleaning just takes a damp cloth but from what I’ve been told, Meguiar’s has some products in development for this particular finish. They might rewrap the car again in the future with a different film but same matte finish. I’ll post it here as it develops.