What the hell is an Atelia.

[Geoff Kingston]

I have recently seen a new phrase or description creeping into the the old car world, Atelia, a definition of which is "a workshop or studio, especially one used by an artist or designer" so what the hell has this got to do with our cars, is an Atelia a restorer, a welder fabricator, a mechanic, or someone who wants to cover a Bristol , Bentley, Rolls Royce or any other classic car in artwork to rival the late John Lennon's Rolls Royce Phantom 5, or on the other hand is it just a fancy name to justify charging a little bit more than the garage down the road , can somebody enlighten me please and how can I spot the symptoms if my local mechanic is going to join this new movement.

[gjm9000]

HI Geoff.

Its basically a design studio that can make your vehicle unique to you and mold it to your personal taste.
Have a look at this Ferrari Link.
https://www.ferrari.com/en-GB/auto/personalization

[AndrewA]

Here you go https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atelier
I imagine the symptoms will be easy to spot with your mechanic...flowery website, lots of artistic references, increase in prices etc. Watch out for phrases like designing the car to fit your personality/making an individual statement/unique to you. I guess when applied to cars it's what used to be called customising...