Rich Madlangbayan recently built a RB-engine-swapped 280YZ™ that's gotten a lot of internet coverage. One of the more unusual features of his car is the brilliant blue paint...which isn't paint: It's a vinyl wrap!

"Wrapping" cars has become a relatively common advertising method, wherein graphics are printed on wide, self-adhesive vinyl film off a roll, and the vinyl is adhered to the surfaces of the vehicle.

If you know what you are doing, you can save some money versus painting, and potentially save some labor. The surfaces don't have to be perfect, but they should still be decent. Otherwise the vinyl can't cover large imperfections.

Particularly if your desired paint scheme is complex, I can see vinyl would provide a tremendous advantage over repeated masking and painting steps. Of course, it costs a bit more to have the vinyl printed before you apply it than if you were just using it off the roll.

One other advantage is that with a tiny bit of heat, you can remove the vinyl and change the color and/or graphics on your car!