I have a vinyl cutter and software for personal use only, as I got tired of being at the mercy of the sign shops when I needed a race car lettered. I purchesed a couple (E.P.S.) cutter files of some hand painted pinstripping to put on the tail of the sprint car and from 5 feet away you can not tell it's a decal and if ya clear coated over it I'm not sure if anybody except a very trained eye could tell.
The vinyl industry, just like everything else electronic is coming at leaps and bounds.
The vinyls are getting thinner and thinner and the colors are becoming available in any thing you can dream up. They evan have a bright treadplate that looks real. Metallics and candies are available. And the newest deal is a digital printing system that will print anything you want on vinyl, I've seen lettering on circle trackers lately where the numbers and/or flames fade from yellow to orange to red and such where untill the last couple of years could only be achieved with an airbrush... Before recently if you wanted a white number with a gray outline and a black shadow you would have to layer the different color vinyls,but not anymore,they just print the say grey & black on a piece of white viny,and then just cut it out on the plotter. With all the new technology and materials that are now available I think your gonna be seeing more and more of it in the custom car field........