Gnat's design inspiration was pretty simple, it's a first gen Geo Metro, with the front mostly inspired by the 87 - 91 Mitsubishi Colt. The other design changes weren't based on any other car, I just kind of winged it. It fits my standard for lore-friendly design, you don't have to compare it a photo of an actual Metro to see the differences. It's my favorite of the mods I've done, even with its imperfections.
Bodyshell before making internals.
Early in game work in progress photo.
Group photo of original 2022 release version. The biggest flaw I'm really annoyed I missed was the rear left door on the 5dr & Sedan not being placed properly, it was glaringly obvious and I just missed it.
April Fools "GnattanG" version from 2023.
Group photo of 2025 updated release.
Regular 3 door. I always think of Metros being teal, so it was the default color before I did the carcols.dat line.
Base model 3 door. A low spec on a Metro was a must, with all black plastic bumpers, a single mirror and sealed beam headlights. Unlike the actual Metro this has double sealed beams, which it needed because of how wide the headlights are. Can spawn with 3 unique extras, the pizza delivery sign & pizza boxes, random trash in the front foot well, or some cardboard boxes in the back.
Convertible. This has a colorable interior, the actual Metro Convertible I think only had grey but varied interior colors are neat. The color it's shown in is custom, the original release also used the "unused" colors before I realized those are easily broken. Extras include the obligatory roof, a trunk rack and a smiley ball antenna topper.
5 door. The Metro 5-door is kind of odd looking, I hadn't seen one irl until very recently. The remake of this is a lot better then the original, the wheel base is extended correctly and the rear pillar is steeper then the regular 3 door as it should be. I tried to get the back part of the rear door windows to not roll down but it caused too many rendering issues. Can spawn with a cargo cover.
Sedan. The actual Metro sedans were only sold in Canada, but we did get the Swfit sedan but those are practically extinct. I didn't even want to make the sedan at first and kept forgetting it existed after I did. I put in more effort when remaking it, and I like it a lot more now. It got a unique hubcap which is from the actual swift with the Gnat trademark black center. Can spawn with luggage in the back.
Super. I never did a Swift GTi verson of Gnat in 2022, I wanted to make it tunable which wasn't something I was up to. But when doing the 2025 remake, I knew I had to make a GTi, I just gave up on making it tunable, for now. The name is again a reference to the Hot Wheels Super Gnat. The bodykit design was mostly freehand, the spoiler was inspired directly by the Mirage Cyborg. The wheels were modeled after the ones on the Nissan Trail Runner. They're colorable, the outer ring is the 3rd color because some GTis and the Firefly Turbo had body color matched wheels with silver rims, but I also wanted the solid color look as an option.
Wheel comparison, left is the old, right is the new. The hubcap is based on the 2nd gen Geo Metro's with the center made black. The original version had it in 3d but I wasn't happy with it. The new base model steelie is from a Mitsubshi, another connection to the Colt. Big shoutouts to Kruglov86 for making the new textures, couldn't have made them myself.
Unique extras on Super & regular 3 door. I made the speakers first for the Super, and wanted something more. I decided on a skateboard and initally tried using the beta model, but it was ass so I went and download new tools to get the model from Bully, I ended up remodeling the main board anyway. I couldn't get the texture so I just remapped it to generic. In retrospect, I would have just done it from scratch to start. I made the board colorable since the Super was already used a color4 carcols line for the colorable wheels. I don't think anyone would have noticed but pattern on the board texture is a reference to First Editions version of Super Gnat. After making that I wanted every version to have a unique extra, and the regular 3 door was the only version missing one. So I decided on making a couple of grocery bags, using various textures from the actual 24/7 interior. I think it turned out good.
The original version just used the Blista Compact's engine, the update has a slightly edited one. I figured the Super should have a distinct engine model, both are based on the actual Metro & Swift GTi's engines respectively.