Mashing Guide
How the AI mashing system works, why results vary so much, and the strategies experienced mashers use to produce elite mashups.
How mashing works
When you mash two vehicles, Whipmash sends both to our AI backbone, which analyses the visual and mechanical characteristics of each parent and generates a new vehicle that plausibly combines them.
The AI produces a name, description, and a unique image for the mashup. No two mash runs produce the same result — even mashing the same pair twice will give you a different vehicle.
Step-by-step
- Go to Mash and select your first vehicle (Parent A). You can pre-select it from the vehicle detail page with the ↺ Mash button.
- Select a second vehicle (Parent B) from your garage using the picker.
- Click Generate. The system fires 4 parallel AI requests — one for each variant — so all four results arrive at roughly the same time.
- Review the 4 variants. Click any variant to expand it. When you've found one you like, click Keep.
- Kept mashups cost 1 token and appear in your garage immediately. Discarded variants are free.
The 4 variants
Each mash run produces 4 independent variant images of the same conceptual mashup. They share the same parents and the same AI-generated name/description, but the visual representation differs between variants.
- Variants can range from incredibly detailed and photorealistic to stylised or abstract.
- One variant may focus heavily on Parent A while another leans toward Parent B.
- Occasionally all 4 are disappointing — that is the nature of generative AI. Discard and try again.
Tokens & cost
- Generating the 4 variants is free.
- Keeping a variant costs 1 token.
- Discarding all variants costs nothing.
- You receive a free daily token allowance. Check the Profile page for your remaining balance.
Multi-generation mashing
You can mash a mashup with another mashup (or a garage vehicle). There is no limit to the number of generations.
Why multi-gen?
- Combining mashups produces the most unusual and visually striking results — features from 3 or 4 source vehicles blend together.
- Mashing mashups together produces increasingly complex vehicles with traits from multiple sources.
- The Lineage panel on each vehicle's detail page shows its full family tree up to 2 generations back.
Combination tips
Not all pairings are created equal. Here are combinations that tend to produce the most interesting results:
What tends to produce poor results
- Two very similar vehicles (e.g. two sedans of the same era) — the result is often indistinguishable from either parent.
- Very small vehicles paired with very large ones — the smaller vehicle's features often get absorbed.
Quality issues & what to expect
AI image generation is imperfect. Here's an honest overview of what you'll encounter:
- ~70% of runs produce results that are uninspiring, physically odd, or don't clearly represent both parents.
- ~20% of runs produce decent mashups worth keeping for your garage or sharing.
- ~10% of runs produce genuinely striking vehicles — these are the ones worth sharing to the feed.
Common artefacts to watch for
- Impossible geometry — the AI sometimes generates physically implausible forms with mismatched proportions.
- Blurry or smeared surfaces — especially in multi-gen mashups with complex lineages.
- Wrong background — the image may include an environment when you'd prefer a clean studio shot (or vice versa).
- Disconnected features — one parent's elements may appear floating or pasted rather than integrated.
None of these are errors in the system — they are inherent to the current state of AI image generation. When you see them, simply discard and regenerate.