Mods and shockers - the good, bad and ugly of modded cars

No-one really knows why people mod cars. It's a little more understandable for the chap with enough money to scrape together the ten grand for a small hot-hatch. He wants to lavish some care and attention on the object of his affections, tart it up, spend a bit of money on it, take it to a nearby burn and destroy the tyres.

Similarly, although nearly every single effort by a specialist tuner, modder or coach-builder renders the original model several time more ugly, there will always be people who want a bit more power out of their BMW M3, a bit more aerodynamic tweaking on the Mercedes SL or a tad more pointless aggression to their Range Rover Sport.

But what on earth is going on with these Maserati estates, gold-plated Porsches and Bentley/Hummer crosses. MT can only conclude that car modding of this nature is the ultimate expression of vulgarity and money triumphing over taste and honest good sense.

Nevertheless, like the rubber-neckers at a road accidents, we like to look at these monstrosities, the automotive equivalent of internet pornography gone wrong.

Wince as Ferraris meet Turkish designers; gasp as a Jaguar XF meets its end in an American ride-pimping garage; shake your head as someone spends £10K pimping their Prius; and weep openly as a Maserati Quattroporte gains another, er, porte.

These are the good, the bad, and most definitely the ugly of the car modding world.

Audi

The kind of Audi models likely to be modded are already among some of the smartest cars in the world. OK, so Audi's styling may tend towards the conservative, but there's not a lot to be done here.

These two stabs at the Audi RS6 Avant by MTM and Audi S5 in the shape of the GT Supercharged by MTM add some silly skirts and grilles, but ultimately there's no automotive catastrophes here.

BMW

Similarly, Hamann can always be relied upon to make a car look merely slightly more silly, as this effort on the BMW M3 by Hamann shows.

However, things go wrong with AC Schnitzer's take on the BMW X6.

As if the BMW X6 didn't have enough problems - what with looking like a monstrous malignant growth protruding from an unfortunate back - along comes AC Schnitzer and makes it look like a tumour with alloys and decals.

Truly, truly hideous. What was Bangle thinking of? And what made Schnitzer think they could improve the X6, other than simply setting fire to the damn thing?

Ferrari

Things get a little complicated here, as this USD GTS Passionata is acclaimed Turkish designer Ugur Sahin's take on what a modern Ferrari Dino might look like.

Sahin was touting the Passionata around as a bespoke-build for any fans interested in owning a Dino for the noughties. Unfortunately Ferrari had the same idea around the same time, and the release of the California rather took the wind out of the Passionata's sales. Still, it's quite a looker.

Hummer

Hailing from that bastion of taste and restraint, Dubai, this godawful chimaera - bringing to mind the results of an unfortunate transporter accident from Start Trek - was created at the behest of a private buyer who wanted to marry the elegance of a classic Bentley and the in-your-face lunacy of a Hummer H2.

Websites around the world were virtually self-combusting with anger as picture of the gold Bentley/Hummer cross - the B-ummer? - hit the net. Looking again at the pictures, it's enough to make us kick the next car we see.

Jaguar

Arden's take on the big cat's new sports saloon actually gives the XF a tad more bite, without crossing the boundaries into tastelessness, but that restraint is counterpointed by the excess of Galpin's XF.

Quite simply this effort requires the attention of animal cruelty charities - the automotive equivalent of putting your pet in a tutu and making it dance.

Lamborghini

The Gallardo and Murcielago are such outrageous vehicles before anyone gets their hands on them, it's probably impossible to ruin one. Indeed, as the Novitec Rosso Ferrari F430 Scuderia, Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 Versace edition and Edo Competition Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera mods show, there's every chance of actually making them a tad more tasteful.

Two of the above mods also feature uprated power, so there's not much point in worrying about that exterior when it's likely future involves being extracted from a hedge.

Lexus

Depending on your point of view, Lexus models are either restrained and stylish or, frankly, boring. Wald has clearly taken the latter view with the IS-F, ignoring the tweaks and tucks that typify other modders and instead going for broke with shark-gill rear-wheel vents, possibly thousands of air intakes, a huge larger splitter and hard-to-miss side skirts to accompany the 5.0-litre V8 under the hood.

Land Rover

Range Rovers seem to be the favoured model of choice for the world's automotive butchers. Some, like STRUT aim to take the Rangey more upmarket.

Meanwhile Arden, Kahn and Overfinch have apparently decided that the Rangey should look like the kind of vehicle favoured by an East European assassination squad.

Maserati

Who on Earth handed over their Maserati Quatrroporte to coach-builder Carrozeria to turn into an estate - the Cinqueporte? In fact, who buys a coupe and decides it would be better as a load-lugger? Just buy a Mondeo estate when you've got the kids and dog in tow.

What next? A Land Rover supermini? A Rolls-Royce MPV? A Perodua supercar?

Mercedes

Mercedes models remain blissfully untouched, though Kicherer have had a go at the Mercedes CLK63 AMG Black and Brabus and IWC both had a crack at the Mercedes SL. While the Brabus version is all blood and thunder, the IWC rather touchingly comes with its own watch.

MINI

The MINI Cooper and Cooper Clubman have come under the attentions of German modders Hamann and AC Schnitzer, but for some really crazy modding you have to check out the MINI Clubman S Chateau - a car that's also a portable wine cellar, courtesy of Italian Aznom.

Quite why anyone would want to specifically buy a car simply for the transportation of wine is not clear, but alongside some admittedly-gorgeous leather and wooden trim there's a a 'shockproof wine cellar' good for six bottles of plonk. Baffling.

Porsche

How do you improve your Porsche 911 Turbo? Why have it gold-plated, of course. We don't supose that the 40lb paintjob adds much to the Porsche's performance, but it does add an estimated £270,000 to its retail value.

Rolls-Royce

To be honest there's not a lot you can do to a Rolls-Royce that could make it much more ridiculous. The Phantom lives in such a rarified atmosphere nothing short of Elvis blasting passers-by with a laser beam while riding atop the bonnet would make it much more unlikely a sight on everyday roads.

Having said that, coach-builder Mutechas had a go, with a stretch version of the famous limo.

So, for anyone seeking a seven-metre armoured stretch limo with its own drinks cabinet, the Mutec Rolls is the way to go, though rather absurdly it still only seats four.

Toyota

We can just about see the point in modding the Toyota Prius hybrid - a phenomenally ugly car - but if the end result is to make it slightly more ugly it really does seem like a case of more money than sense.

What we have here is apparently the most valuable Prius ever, complete with Brechin Slate metallic respray, hand-stitched leather interior, and polished steel Fox RS3s trims. It cost over £10K to modify. Jesus.

Enter a world of motoring mayhem!

Check out weirdest car stories from around the Web: goose smash terror; rabbits running amok; stupid car thieves; unscheduled 50mph wheelchair rides and an unfortunate end for a Bugatti Veyron.

HR Geiger meets Citroen C2

UK car modification specialists SQ Plus picked up a Citroen C2 VTR, and transformed the meek £9,000 vehicle into a space-age monster costing £100,000 .

The Mercedes S-Class S50 S3: more muscle than Mr Universe!

Ever wanted to mix the elegance of a Mercedes S-Class with the pure brawn of a muscle car? Well Euro-Supertuner Kleemann has the answer, the S50 S3.

The Mutec Rolls-Royce Phantom stretch limo

The Mutec Rolls-Royce Phantom stretch limo - when a Roll-Royce Phantom isn´t big enough.

Honda shows future Civic Type-R?

At the SEMA’s annual show in Las Vegas, Honda shows their in-house tuners’ take on the 2006 Civic. Rumour has it it may become the next Civic Type-R.

Name

Comments

Validation	Please enter the text to the left (case sensitive)
Reload