A few years back in Brisbane – I believe it was after the frangipani window sticker craze ended, but before people started putting the stick-figure families on their cars – it was very popular to see subcompacts bedecked with tape stripes. Now, I’m not talking about actual hot hatches like the Volkswagen Polo GTi or Ford Fiesta XR4. Instead, dual racing stripes were affixed to base model Holden Barinas (Chevy Aveos) and Toyota Yaris hatches and sedans. These additions were popular with young, female buyers, one of the key demographics of such entry-level cars.
It always seemed a little silly but each to their own. I was reminded of this defunct trend when I saw Eric Clem’s photo while browsing the Cohort. Not only is it a tad daft to put racy tape stripes on a humdrum Aveo sedan, but affixing those of one of the Chrysler Corporation’s most famous muscle cars on a GM product screams sacrilege. Why not some SS stripes instead? It would make more sense and, besides, Chevy already stuck the SS name on products very nearly as undeserving…
What’s the most baffling, amusing, inappropriate or most foolish car modification you have seen?
underbody lighting
hoodstack
I’ve never seen that before, at least not on a street-driven vehicle. Is that supposed to be an intake or exhaust? I’m guessing intake. Does it never rain where they live?
I have seen numerous pickups with a giant sewer-pipe exhaust coming up through the bed. That seems really stupid to me. Takes up cargo space in the box and looks ugly. Presumably part of the “coal rolling” crowd.
There’s another stupid modification. Many here know I’m a diesel fan, but messing with your injection system to produce clouds of black smoke almost continuously is dumb. It’s bad for your engine, bad for fuel economy, promotes a poor image of diesels with the public, and is unquestionably bad for the environment. (No global warming or smog debate required… soot is carcinogenic!)
That is an exhaust pipe. similar to a tractor… just a pipe straight up from the turbo. I have seen it a few times, not a lot, here in the great plains area of the US.
ultra low profile tires
fake bullet holes
Stick-on portholes on anything other than a Buick.
The dumbest add on that I have seen are blue lights. I read a local newspaper article a few years ago, about a group of “the fartcan crowd” who felt that the cops were picking on them for having blue lights on their cars. Blue lights are only legal for law enforcement.
bumper mounted mud flaps
Huh? These are perfectly acceptable if your truck is used to tow and you want to minimize stones and dust thrown up at the trailer or contents. Why else would one install them? They are so ugly!
“yo” modified toyota tailgait
Same idea with a car around here. Yellow v6 mustang with only the letters stang colored.
Intolerant People who cannot spell ‘ tailgate ‘ =8-) .
-Nate
gold plated spoked wheels
dingle berry window fringe
” dingle berry window fringe ”
Hey , wait a minute ! .
Oh , yeah , never mind =8-) .
-Nate
fuzzy dice
graduation tassle on rear view mirror
(or anything else but a parking permit hanging there)
animal print seat covers
Did you saw folks something like this?
This trend is called “stancing” the car. Also called hellaflush, it involves extending the camber of the car with the intention of having the top of the rim inside the fender with the bottom at least an inch from the outside of the fender. People compete to see how low they can go, with the ultimate goal being to have so little ground clearance that you can’t fit the key to your car under the front bumper. People are given special attention if the tires are a few sizes too small to fit on the rim, stretching them out to the point that the lip cuts into the pavement. Normally this means fitting size 195mm width tires on size 235 or bigger rims. I hate them because they destroy the cars, the road, and my sanity.
I hate this as well, but not totally, because if it weren’t for the camber and narrow tires I actually would like the look of that car, and I’ve had the same thought with other hellaflush cars I’ve seen as well.
Yeah… and these idiots probably can’t figure out why they wear out tires so quickly, either.
Exterminator’s rolling advertisement — a Bug converted into a mouse!
Just to be an ass, the original Fiesta hot hatch was XR2 (and later XR2i), not XR4.
Within my own squad, I’d plead guilty – Kamei spoiler, driving lights, black pinstrip taped taillights and a CB antenna on my NEW Toyota Corolla (sans hubcaps).
1981 was a weird time….
I’ll just leave this here…
I just puked in my mouth.
JTDC that’s hideous!
Kia Rio with WRX aspirations? Spotted in Townsville, QLD back in 2010….
It doesn’t get much more ridiculous than morphing a SHELBY MUSTANG and a SMART for TWO: (found on the web… from what I understand, the car actually exists and goes to car shows):
here’s another angle…
Many years ago–before most of you were born–my parents knew a doctor who tooled around Southern California in a ’59 Caddy, which evidently wasn’t gaudy enough to suit him. He had added a third tailfin–smack in the middle of the trunk lid. My dad (who had no love for the medical profession to start with) said it was proof positive that the guy was a quack. Remembering it now, I agree with Dad.
No description necessary.
Paul, just having fun reading through older posts; the comment above is spam, might be an idea to remove it. Cheers!
Thanks Scott! Taken care of.