What are your favourite car modifications in 2022? Maybe carbon wheels, Tesla powertrain conversions, huge bolt-on arches, tires that are clearly 50 mm too narrow for the wheels they’re mounted on and air intakes in the hole where a headlight used to be?
Whatever they are, there’s a good chance they’re not the same ones you loved 5, 10 or 20 years ago. While a select few subtle mods remain fashionable year after year, most – especially the most eye-catching – burn bright and briefly. And sometimes we look back and wonder how we ever thought they were cool at all.
Lamborghini doors look great on Lamborghinis, but it wasn’t that long ago that they seemed to be an essential upgrade on Honda Civics. And no cheap compact was complete without a set of BMW Angel-Eye headlights at the front end and clear-lens lamps at the back inspired by the first-gen Lexus IS.
Some of us used to love underfloor neons but now wouldn’t be seen dead in a car that looks like it has driven over the top of a toy nightclub. And sticking with that theme, who of you used to lust after a killer Hi-Fi install and now thinks they look plain stupid?
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Go even further back in time and things got even crazier, people willingly spending good money to put shag-pile carpet on dashboards, cover seats in purple velvet, fit chain-link steering wheels and add inches to the rear ride height, rather than chop it out.
Sometimes it’s not that the trend we once love has become old hat, but simply that our personal tastes have changed. One Carscoops writer says he used to love super-tidy show-car-style engine bays, but now finds them boring. Another no longer likes pre-facelift cars updated with post-facelifted parts.
So whether it’s, say, massive body kits or new cars trying to look old, tell us which automotive modding trend you once thought was seriously hot and now can’t stand.