Am I just getting old, or is my taste for custom cars that lean more toward classy and comfy than extreme and unsightly making me look like a codger? Regardless of what this geriatric-sounding reason may be, there are a handful of trends in the aftermarket automotive world that need to stop right away in order to keep the rest of us from gagging.
Now don’t get me wrong. I am not against modifying a car — I have modified every car I have ever owned and enjoy seeing people improving upon a manufacturer’s designs — but some of the crap that is popular today borderlines on being ridiculous, with the rest of it utilizing the word “dangerous.”
Certain mods remain merely a cosmetic “upgrade,” and are only cause for concern to anyone who wants to hold down their lunch. Then there are things like extreme negative suspension camber, which often goes well beyond aesthetics, with a lot of it teetering on the verge of being flat-out dangerous.
Unfortunately, the only downside to a fading fad is that there will always be another pointless and potentially dangerous trend to follow in its footsteps, so there is little hope that any of us will ever truly find respite from automotive abominations in our lifetime
Wrapping a car in vinyl instead of painting it saves both money and time, and the replacement of a damaged piece of vinyl is far cheaper and easier to tend to than paint correction. But leave it to the aftermarket community to take a perfectly good idea and turn into something ludicrous.
While “flat” and “matte” colors still appear to be overplayed, it is the hideous leopard print wraps and florescent-colored ones like what you see on the front lip of this poor Civic that make car guys want to claw their eyes out.
Now don’t get me wrong. I am not against modifying a car — I have modified every car I have ever owned and enjoy seeing people improving upon a manufacturer’s designs — but some of the crap that is popular today borderlines on being ridiculous, with the rest of it utilizing the word “dangerous.”
Certain mods remain merely a cosmetic “upgrade,” and are only cause for concern to anyone who wants to hold down their lunch. Then there are things like extreme negative suspension camber, which often goes well beyond aesthetics, with a lot of it teetering on the verge of being flat-out dangerous.
Unfortunately, the only downside to a fading fad is that there will always be another pointless and potentially dangerous trend to follow in its footsteps, so there is little hope that any of us will ever truly find respite from automotive abominations in our lifetime
7. Ridiculous car wraps
Wrapping a car in vinyl instead of painting it saves both money and time, and the replacement of a damaged piece of vinyl is far cheaper and easier to tend to than paint correction. But leave it to the aftermarket community to take a perfectly good idea and turn into something ludicrous.
While “flat” and “matte” colors still appear to be overplayed, it is the hideous leopard print wraps and florescent-colored ones like what you see on the front lip of this poor Civic that make car guys want to claw their eyes out.
