Galaxy Force Autovolt

While Autovolt is obviously not a homage in terms of his name, character or paintjob, he most certainly is in terms of his construction and visual style. Back in the days of Generation 1, one mold got almost as much reuse as the F-15 body - the Nissan/Datsun Fairlady Z. It was pretty much the iconic body form for the boxed Autobots - the front of the car became the chest, the back of the car became the legs, and the doors spread out like wings behind them.

Fast forward to 2005, and we have Autovolt transforming into a modified Bugatti Veyron, a far prettier car than even the contemporary version of the Fairlady Z. Bugatti seem to have taken some design cues from Anton Furst's Batmobile, creating a curvy car whose front sweeps inward to what could easily be a jet engine intake. There are key differences between the way Autovolt transforms and the way the G1 icon transforms, partly due to overall improvements in toymaking allowing greater articulation, and partly because they only really needed to hint at, rather than duplicate the aesthetic. Classics/Universe later duplicated and updated the look with the new Prowl, (Silver)Streak and, later, Smokescreen.