Jonathan,
Thanks for the post and for explaining the rationale behind the project - it answered a number of unknowns. The car has generated quite a response, at least on TM.
At the end of the day the comments passed are' just individual opinions and everyone has one, sometimes in favour, sometimes against. Audaces fortuna iuvat' versus 'Caveat actor'.
You have commissioned two cars linked to a worthy cause and I sincerely hope you are able to raise funds for RBL in the process.
I am not sure who you discussed the project with in RBL and what their input into the car specification was, though I suspect that they would have welcomed any project that had the potential to generate contributions to their funds, and that may have blinded them to the detail or the look of the finished product as a whole, or maybe they just had different tastes and ideas, or perhaps just no concept of how the finished car might look.
Was there any thought given to specifying the cars in RBL colours? (Blue and Gold). I would have thought a blue body with a 'near to gold' stone/beige leather piped in blue and blue carpets might have been a good theme (though as I said earlier I might also have gone for 3 cars in Navy, Army and RAF colour schemes).
The selection of a narrow bodied Plus 4 is a great choice (I like them as do many others of course) but outside of the selected colour schemes, which will always be open to subjective debate, it would appear that it is the detail that has raised most eyebrows. You have addressed the headlights - could you could post photos of the 'before and after' so we can see the difference? Personally, I think putting the wording on the head restraints was a step too far, especially when you consider their origin rather than their adopted use; too high profile (though I guess easily rectified with a change of head restraints). Other items are removable or easily changed out as well.
So a bold effort from Oakmere that, for me anyway, seems to have failed to maximise it's potential; others of course will see it differently.
That said, I wish you luck with your endeavours and I hope that you reach your target in raising much needed funds for the RBL - they deserve all the help they can get.
Regards.
