Top 5 Hot Aftermarket Body Kits

As a rule, I’m not much of a fan of body kits on cars (or women for that matter, but this isn’t that kind of site). Say ‘body kit’ and I’m thinking of fibreglass-endowed Citroen Saxos with those equally enhanced girls draped over the carbon-effect bonnet. “Watch it Chardonnay, you'll scratch me custom paint, init...”

But, there are a few rare gems of modded, pimped cars that wear their bodykits so well, they might just improve on the original. These are my top 5 aftermarket kitted-up cars.

5) Mansory McLaren MP4-12C

Kicking off with a controversial one, this, because in-between ruining countless Ferraris and Rolls-Royces for their sheikh clientele, and lobbing some carbon fibre at the new Lotus range, Mansory aren’t a name most petrolheads like the sound of. McLaren on the other hand are an automotive legend of road and track, with their MP4-12C the start of a potentially game-changing car range.

So why does the Mansory 12C make my list? Simply, I’ve always been on ‘Team 458’ in the supercar looks department – I’ve seen a few of the new Maccas in the metal, but they’re just not as exciting, and way too colour sensitive. Mansory’s kit pumps out the wheel arches, sprouts a no-nonsense carbon wing on the rear deck and wears super-lightweight alloys. Now granted, in fake tan orange under motorshow lights it looks very Essex, but imagine it with black wheels, in white, or silver. That’s an MP4-12C GT3 lookalike right there – it respects the original look but just turns up the testosterone. Mansory have finally pulled off a decent day’s work. Is that another sign of the Mayan apocalypse?

4) Vorsteiner GTRS3 M3

A lot of petrolheads coo over the Mercedes-Benz CLK Black Series, and with good reason. Purely on the styling, those flared arches and that rear diffuser were easily worth £90k of the £100,000 asking price back in the day. But we do expect this sort of behaviour from AMG, the resident in-house hot-rodders of Germany. BMW’s M cars seem a bit more serious, at least until Vorsteiner show up. Their full carbon GTRS3 kit for the E92 M3 pumps out the arches to widths AMG can only dream of, but keeps the rest of the sharp-looking M3 standard. It’s your normal master-of-all-trades coupé, but with the track of a supercar and 325 section rubber on the rear. Some long-legged GT cars are often referred to as having ‘great ground-covering ability.’ Well nothing else ‘covers the ground’ like this phat M3, and that’s why it makes my list.

3) Heide Performance Products Daytona

Among the new generation of retro American muscle cars, the Ford Mustang is the fast, decent handling one, the Chevrolet Camaro is the modern-underpinned film star one, and the Dodge Challenger is the other one. It’s heavier and softer than the other two, but it does look very cool, which is half the battle won. HPP try to win the whole war by aping the legendary Dodge Charger Daytona NASCAR, and its Plymouth Superbird cousin. The aero nosecone with black pop-up light covers, side vents and enormous rear wing all borrow from the legendary racers, banned after the 1970 NASCAR season as their aerodynamically-enhanced speed was judged unfair on other competitors. This is a real-life Hot Wheels car, and plays totally to the new Challenger’s strengths of form largely before function. Yee-ha!

2) 2008 TechArt GTstreet RS

I’m an unashamed fan of the Porsche 911 GT2 – in fact, the 997 GT2 would be my pick of the entire (MASSIVE) 997 range, and probably my favourite rear-engined Porsche of all time. The only issue it suffers from is the Stuttgart makeover it received to distance it from lesser 911s. While the GT3 and Turbo were blessed with tidy, aggressive alterations, the GT2’s squared-off, overbite jaw and slatted rear never looked as handsome as its sisters to my eyes, which is why TechArt go straight in at number 2 with their GTstreet RS version. The kit looks proper – the ultimate blown Porker blowing out its cheeks at the front and sporting gaping vents in the rear quarter, which just looks plain rude. Be warned: the 2008 model is the one to go for, as TechArt spoiled later versions with silly embellishments like bending the front LEDs upwards in  a banana shape. If it ain’t broke, don’t chuck DRLs at it, boys...

I’ll have mine in white, or possibly even lime green.

1) VeilSide Fortune RX-7

Yes, alright, it’s a film car, and it’s a Fast and Furious one at that. But don’t get hung up on the B-movie connection – just concentrate on the sheer amount of work the all-carbon Fortune kit features to transform the Mazda RX-7 into a completely different car. The split rear window and integrated front lights are neat, cool bespoke touches, but this car is all about the massive widebody extensions: there are seven inches of dish in those rear rims. This is a monstrously wide car, and would ironically be a nightmare to powerslide, but on looks alone the VeilSide RX-7 is a winner. It was launched in 2005, painted red, and spotted by car-casters looking for four-wheeled stars of the third Fast and Furious movie. They fell in love with the Fortune, changing only the colour to make it more camera-friendly. This carbon-fibre masterpiece has gone on to spawn countless replicas and imitations, enduring in appeal whether or not you like its film past, and the explosive end it met smeared across the front of an S-Class. (Oops, huge rear spoiler alert.)

As you’ll have noticed, I’ve made no mention of the ramped-up power outputs and performance of these body-kitted wonders – this is purely a list of the best lookers, not best tyre smokers. So, ignore the numbers, enjoy the pictures, and if your favourite missed the cut, make your case in the comments below...