In same vein as unusual sightings, what is the most ridiculous modification you've seen- or made you laugh out loud?
The car that's made me think of this is a 3 door Civic hatchback , actually is now a 2 door as the rear hatch has been welded shut and all blended in. Looks like it was well done, but just can't see the point. Every time I see it have visions of the owner trying to sell it, and potential purchaser asking to look in the boot.
Also keep seeing a Volvo 440 with twin 'spud launcher' exhausts, and an old Nissan Almera resprayed the same colour as David Dickinson with ott bodykit and huge spoilers.
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I was watching Fifth Gear where some modified Honda Civic's owner claimed that he had spent 90,000 pounds on it.
Two questions
1. Why - when you could get a proper and more insurable car for about half ?
2. Where the hell does a "youth" get that sort of disposable cash to throw down that particular drain ?
I respect people's choice to modify cars and spend what they want on their cars by the way - doesn;t stop me wanting to know why though.
Edited by Pugugly on 05/09/2008 at 18:42
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Inherited wealth. And a chunk of mine will be going on a KWE Jaguar XJS (always assuming I outlive them)
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Inherited wealth. And a chunk of mine will be going on a KWE Jaguar XJS (always assuming I outlive them)
If you can live with a slightly dumbed-down version, then see this thread... sadly (happily?) this one is now sold.
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=66...7
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A Peugeot 406 coupe with a body kit. I say no more.
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I saw similar on A1(M) near Durham.
Moustache on the Mona Lisa.
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A builder pal of of mine ( well he would be wouldn't he ? ) had from new a TWR XJS in red with white leather and white wheels. Drove it in the dark a few times when he was too drunk to do it himself. Looked horrible but went like............
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"If you can live with a slightly dumbed-down version, then see this thread... sadly (happily?) this one is now sold."
Lovely. I did run one as a weekend car back in the glory days when clients threw money at me.
Come tomorrow morning when I fully expect to be 92 million richer, I'm going to buy every single model that ever comes on the market and have KWE work their magic on all of them.
Living in Poland, if I was going to "mod" an XJS it would have to be a glorious Union Jack paint job (Austin Powers style). Now that would be a hoot.
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Can understand that BBD- do like looking at their website and drooling.... That sort of mod makes a lot of sense to me- car looks pretty standard, but with much better handling and performance.
The sort I just don't get are the body mods, but oily bits left as standard. And with the above posts, spending huge amounts of money on a high volume runabout when could get something a bit more unusual for the same money.
Guess some of it is doing it piecemeal, as and when the money comes in, and not having patience to save up.
As for insurance, a lot of these are undeclared mods. Again totally pointless, as although will have the certificate for the producers, the moment they try to claim will find have invalidated the insurance anyway!
Have nothing against modifying, even had a car with non standard alloys a few years back with a fairly big (standard fit) rear spoiler, but personally am not an extrovert, and prefer something boring and anonymous! Just can't understand the point of some of the mods have seen recently.
PS question for the boys in blue who read this- are the policies checked for mods if these type of cars are pulled over?
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are the policies checked for mods if these type of cars are pulled over?
I'm sure that the Mods in this forum wouldn't be seen dead in a modified car like this ! :-)
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Bet you've got bling 20's and a fat boy exhaust on the Roomie.........
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Bog standard apart from the dog guard ! (which must be made of titanium considering its price)
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The sort I just don't get are the body mods but oily bits left as standard. And with the above posts spending huge amounts of money on a high volume runabout when could get something a bit more unusual for the same money.
A while back I was involved in a very childish but highly amusing traffic light grands prix with a couple of likely lads in a heavily tricked out mk2 Mondeo in bright purple. The one in the passenger seat, who started the whole thing, practically wet himself laughing when I kept level with them all the way to 60 in my diesel Peugeot Partner. Clearly the car itself was fundamentally as standard because my old bus is to drag racing as a Rowan Williams is to a week in Ibiza.
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Type Carbage into your favourite search engine and follow the TopGear.com link.
Some real howlers in there.
This FIAT126 always makes me smile
uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jNvCFh9Vsas
Edited by gmac on 05/09/2008 at 20:00
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For truly bad modified cars you need to visit www.barryboys.co.uk (deliberately non clickable - it can be a bit adult).
A car modifier is defined as a barry, though there is now a sub species called the 'wallet barry' who just throws money at the vehicle, but with no taste whatsoever.
Keep an eye out for 'Shed of the Week' - always gives me a chuckle.
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Suzuki Vitaras with all the macho bull bars, spotlights, snorkels and other off-road accessories, but riding on ultra wide low-profile near-slicks!
Locally, there used to be an early Range Rover that had been fitted with a 6-cylinder Ford diesel engine from an A-series truck. No room under the bonnet for a radiator?
No problem, just fit it outside in front of the normal grille on Dexion brackets, and make a big square bulge on the front of the bonnet to fair it in. Otherwise this Range Rover appeared unmodified.
Edited by Sofa Spud on 05/09/2008 at 21:57
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Anything with an aftermarket 'ironing board' slapped in its rear!
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A Peugeot 306 diesel with a boy racer 'big' exhaust, sounded terrible and the rear of the car was covered in sooty deposits - yeuch!
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RANGEROVER with the characters changed to HANG OVER!
Edited by bathtub tom on 06/09/2008 at 01:04
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Thanks for the barryboys link - best laugh I've had for ages. Interesting that so many of the disasters had French plates. Over here they call it 'tuning' or, more often, 'tunning'. ;-)
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Had been debating adding the link to that due to some of the content. My wife and I have had a few laughs looking at the site.
Discussions on it seem to have rubbed off on my 5 year old who now shouts Barry at anything with a spoiler on it (although since started reading she's not seen the site). 2 year old is joining in now and they're getting quite good at spotting them.
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Saw it yesterday.
Nissan Navarra in black. Looked pretty normal at first sight.
Then I noticed something . . .
Alloys with 35 profile tyres. Horrible.
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A couple of years ago I saw an old stlye Fiesta of maroon colour, with a humungous black bumper on the front. Kind of looked like a snow plough. Worse, the idiot had acquired a string of LED lights and drooped them over the front of it. I recoiled in disgust as soon as I noticed it and immediately thought "What a ....".
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You want dumb? How about this:
cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=2602...4
Yep. Take one of the most attractive saloons on the road - and choose the model which already has the perfect bodykit on it, designed and fitted by the manufacturers. Then melt the bonnet, attach a snowplough to the front, ironing board to the back, and assume you've just more than doubled the value of the car.
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Who wakes up in a morning and thinks, 'I know I will wreck my good looking Alfa by glueing some horrible plastic all over it'.
Why do the chavs (young or old) think that if they spend 5K on it then its worth 5K more? Who is going to buy such a wreck?
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I know in the UK we have the hordes of badly adorned and painted Corsas, etc. But the stupidest looking modified cars I've seen are in Japan:
www.crookedbrains.net/2008/04/cars-vans.html
The cars here must have been created for some sort of joke event, surely?
Edited by Rich 9-3 on 09/09/2008 at 13:08
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Pug 306 estate, 1.9 N/A diesel with a body kit. Guaranteed to put any purchaser off.
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One I used to see about 10 years ago and think "what a shame", was a Triumph Stag which was visually unmodified but had had its sweet V8 replaced with a diesel engine.
From the sound of it, not a modern tdi but an old clattery 4-cyl diesel as fitted to black cabs 25 years ago.
The car was black with "Diesel" written down the side in 8" high silver letters, in an 'elegant' handwriting script.
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Please just scroll down the page that this link takes you to. YUCK isn't even close!
tinyurl.com/6nrn6c
For other examples of really bad taste google for "Barry Boys"
Edited by Armitage Shanks {p} on 09/09/2008 at 13:28
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Of course one has seen endless automotive tat. Some cars come out of the factory looking as if barryboys have been at them already.
But the most gauche modification I can remember, perhaps because one saw quite a few examples of it, was the addition of huge fibreglass widened wheel arches to the MkII Escort, without widening the track or even using wider wheels. I didn't despise people who did it though. I felt sorry for them.
I never boo in theatres either.
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in my neck of the woods, someone has put black and grey decals over a Mk1 Focus. The tape has been applied to around the wheel arches, headlights, tailgate, C pillar, doors etc.
I can only describe it as looking like an Elizabethan mansion on wheels but with none of the class.
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Okay this is my own car but in fairness it was done by a previous owner.
I have a touch screen dvd player in my MR2, it's a two seater car!. The way the dash curves round, it's not even that watchable from the passenger seat. How pointless is that!!!
If I ever have some spare cash I'd like to change it for sat nav.
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Shame to see someone has ruined a Mk2 Supra (3rd one down) - not many of them left now so it's sad to see another one gone :(
A few of the cars seem to have pipes running out the front and back into engine bay (see 6th one down). Looks like some sort of additional external cooler for something - anyone know what thats all about?
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Looks like some sort of additional external cooler for something - anyone know what thats all about?
Look like they must be external oil coolers?
Whats with the horrible tiny wheels? Just because its the cheapest way of lowering the car?! Headlights blanked out on one side?
Are they cars built to resemble something out of a Manga cartoon? The mind boggles!
Theres a link here with more cars featured:
tanetane92.web.infoseek.co.jp/20050116tas2.html
Edited by Rich 9-3 on 09/09/2008 at 21:39
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i saw probably the funniest mod ive ever seen tonight its a manufaturers modification its a smart car pick up truck i laughed so hard i almost crashed my car
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Daihatsu_Midget_I...G
Edited by welshlad on 09/09/2008 at 23:19
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I guess this doesn't really count - but I think the fake air vents on the S-Max are really naff! If you look at them close up they are blocked off with a cheap bit of plastic.
PS - I bought one last week...
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Saw a beauty in Livingstione last week,
then I realised it was not modified - it was a Chrysler Sebring!
Edited by ijws15 on 10/09/2008 at 08:55
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About 25 years ago in South Birmingham on a housing estate a guy hacksawing the roof off a "Del Boy" yellow Reliant 375 car, not supervan.
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