While waiting for my grill to get a carbon fiber treatment, I have been riding around without one. Being black the no grill look proved to be interesting. Several friends and associates commented that it made the car look lower and wider.

Seeing what progress has been made on an alternative grill (or is that lack of progress?) I started tinkering.

I laid out some requirements.

Needs to be reasonably priced ($200 - $300)
Has to look good
Needs to be reasonably priced ($200 - $300)
Has to look good to great
Needs to be reasonably priced ($200 - $300)
Should be easy to install
Needs to be reasonably priced ($200 - $300)
etc...

I myself had tried to get some interest from a grill specialist company. Lots of promises but little to no action.

I set out to see what I could do just for fun. I went and bought various pieces to see if one could be made. After a few hours cutting and trimming, painting and clipping. I came up with a prototype. It has a vertical bar running across to give it strength and the pattern lends itself to using chrome strips to make it more MBZ looking. The pics show a chrome trim around the edge but think black will actually look better. I might look at making the center brace a solid chrome bar but ??? I did put one of my SRT Supercharged badges on the bar and it looks pretty good...

The more I am playing with it, the more convinced I am that one can be offered. Maybe even offered with options on its appearance, hmmm!



Sorry they are a little dark. The blacked out grill rather than all chrome looks pretty good on a black Xfire, what do you think?

A good friend of mine told me over lunch on Friday that his brother imports car parts including custom grills. No, he isn't interested in making one for us (costs associated are too high) however, he may be able to supply a grill that could be modified to fit! Anyway, I am toying with several options with the grill I slapped together and will be trying them out over the next month or so (guaranteed if I can make one, it isn't going to take me a year or more to have it ready for sale). One of the key elements will be low cost but good quality.

I will keep you all posted as to the progress. One thing is sure, The CF coating on the stock grill is a reality and you will see pictures of it this coming week. That price looks to be less than $200 (using your grill of course).

It's 4:30 AM and I haven't been to sleep yet...just might try to catchdk; aajk; ;alkll zzz