5 Car Mods That Are Sure To Upset Purists

There’s nothing wrong with customising your car. But for some people, there are things that just go too far...
5 Car Mods That Are Sure To Upset Purists

When it comes to cars, I think I’m pretty open minded. I like JDM, Euro, American muscle, Italian. I even dig the Kia Soul though if I ever get one, you better believe I’ll be rocking a hamster suit behind the wheel. Same for engines - crazy VTEC, silky V12 or thumping pushrod V8 motor; if it makes power, it makes me happy.

As far as customisation goes, I try to be just as open minded. I don’t particularly care about big wings and body kits on teeny hatchbacks, but that doesn’t keep me from admiring the work and respecting the owners who love them. And the more time I spend in this crazy car community, the more I believe others feel much the same.

But there are some things you just don’t do. Ever.

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I don’t even know where to begin here. Actually I do. If you want a specific car, buy that car. If you can’t afford it, work harder until you can. I’ve witnessed some intense moments at car meets over people with M badges on pedestrian 3-series Bimmers, S badges on regular Audis, and I’ve seen blood shed over V6 Mustangs wearing Cobra or SVT emblems. It’s the easiest appearance “mod” to do, but the folks who own the real deal will take you town for being a poseur.

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Any time you drop an engine from another manufacturer into a car there’s going to be some butthurt. The only reason I single out the LS swap is because it’s freaking everywhere. That’s a testament to just how good these engines are - they make great power, they’re relatively compact in size, and there’s all kinds of support for them. I’m not opposed to people choosing a good engine as the basis for a project car, and if you’re performing a custom engine swap, you absolutely have a project car. But pick and choose your events wisely because I promise you this: show up to an import meet in an LS-powered RX-7 and you just might go home with knuckle impressions in your cheeks.

There’s no denying the popularity of this particular automotive genre. It also has more than a few critics and no shortage of haters ready to ridicule the whole scene. Big deal; such things apply to pretty much every automotive genre, but there’s another more aggressive line of opposition that face those living the stanced life. I think it has to do with the crazy camber and insanely stretched tyres that absolutely destroy performance.

It wouldn’t be so bad if the mods were done to everyday humdrum vehicles, but cars with legitimate performance cred are going under the knife and that really upsets some purists. Take a stanced E36 M3 to a BMW meet and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about.

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You would think all the big-time muscle enthusiasts of classic 1960s muscle cars would welcome power adders to the mix. The truth is, some of these guys are big time proponents of all motor power and get pretty upset when someone decides to “cheat” by bolting up a supercharger. That animosity gets even worse with nitrous systems, unless you’re talking about a full-on custom resto-mod using modern mechanicals. I’m certainly not saying all muscle car enthusiasts are like this, but those who get bent out of shape over such things tend to be pretty vocal about it.

Not everyone can afford an exotic car. Friends don’t let friends by Fieros with ill-fitting Countach-esque body panels, but in defence of this genre, there are some custom kits that are properly well done. That makes no difference to most exotic car owners who mercilessly trash such endeavours, and surprisingly, many non-exotic owners feel the same way.

There’s such a stigma about this that I think many people who’d really like to own an exotic replica don’t get one for fear of the blowback. It’s similar to the fake badging, but here’s the thing. Work hard and be smart about money and you can probably get an M3. It’s going to take more than overtime pay to buy a vintage Ferrari Daytona Spyder, so yeah, maybe some replicas aren’t so bad.

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Comments

Jan Schwabauer

The replica Video is pure rubbish. The goal when you build a replica is, that it looks exactly the Same like the real car. In this vid. Was an enzo, California, and a 355 which looked very identical.

04/03/2016 - 10:13 |
2 | 2
Anonymous

If you ruin perfectly fine RX-7 with LS swap you well deserve to get your ass kicked. :) You may as well buy a Corvette instead ruining an RX-7.

04/03/2016 - 10:15 |
4 | 4
Fin Jimbo

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Samething if you put rotary engine in chevy DON’T DO IT!
That’s like plaing Xbox with PlayStation controller xD

04/03/2016 - 10:43 |
2 | 2
Anonymous

I have seen two really cool properly built replicas where I live. A Shelby Cobra and a Ferrari 330 P4

04/03/2016 - 10:23 |
2 | 0
Nerramus

I don’t understand all the hate with LS swaps. Some people just want to own RX-8 because it’s beautiful, but also want to drive it everyday without problems and warm-ups. I don’t care what’s undet the bonnet while it’s fun and reliable.

04/03/2016 - 10:25 |
36 | 0

I want to see someone put a turbo diesel out of a vauxhall corsa into a battered RX-8 with the argument that it’s still a 1.3

04/03/2016 - 11:18 |
30 | 0

Yes. I don’t get it either. When I see an ls swapped e36 I think it’s very cool and I am a hardcore e36 fanboy. They sound awesome, they look cool and they make really nice sleepers. Imagine a 316i badge on the back of a normal looking e36 coupe, but then it has this awesome sound and power. How cool would that be? How many rich daddy boys could you absolutely destroy with that? many.

04/03/2016 - 12:33 |
6 | 0
Dominic Angelico

I feel like some things people do because they dgaf…

Please tell me there’s no one on CT that puts a Chevy badge on a Commodore

04/03/2016 - 10:27 |
0 | 0

I hope they don’t. Anyway, are there any Chevy badges in Australia?

04/03/2016 - 12:08 |
0 | 0
Luke 21

Love this post. I agree with everything except the nitrous and forced induction for classic muscle cars. I think a supercharger is fitting for the classic muscle cars saying that they have so much low end torque. Now yes there are people who feel n/a is the best, but I would think most, if they had the money, who supercharge there classic muscle car, if money allowed, and it wasn’t meant to be in original condition. Keep on posting. I’ll always be reading. Good job 👌🏼👍🏼😃

04/03/2016 - 10:42 |
2 | 0
Anonymous

I think the ridiculous replicas that have gone past the point of even slightly looking like the car’s they are supposed to (like the weird mini ‘F40’ at about 0:21) are so funny they are OK again. The ones that are bad imo are the Fieros and MR2s that are purely trying to trick people with ever-so-slightly out of proportion monstrosities that probably cost £20k to build. I’d buy a Tata Nano over any of them tho 😂.

04/03/2016 - 10:53 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

I love the miniature F40
I just imagine the owner thinking: I hate the looks my tiny eco-box, also I would like a ferrari. hmm why not give a ferrari bodykit? the car can’t possible look worse than it does stock
I gotta respect that

04/03/2016 - 12:10 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

There is a company that replicate 250GTOs using NA MX5s and they don’t look half bad ahem Alex

04/03/2016 - 11:26 |
0 | 0
JDMNoob

I never knew K&N produces a supercharger.

04/03/2016 - 11:35 |
2 | 0

Must be a new model that goes inside in the intercooler lol

04/03/2016 - 13:15 |
0 | 0
ramses rizal

Looks like stance thingy still trends in my country. Omg.

04/03/2016 - 11:37 |
2 | 0