I just saw this on the BBC website, and after laughing a bit, wondered why car makers don’t actually sell cars with features that some people add as mods.

As someone who is in the market for a new (used) car, I agree with the suggestion that a lot of good cars are just boring to look at. The exceptions tend to be the cars that have features that could have been later modifications. So, for example, a red Volvo V50 I saw with black contrasting trim. Even though it remained a V50, it looked more tough and off-roady’.

Rally cars are appealing, at least in part, because of the way they look. That being the case, wouldn’t that suggest a potential market for ‘normal’ cars with neat-looking add-ons? Especially if those add-ons also meant extra functionality?

I just saw this on the BBC website, and after laughing a bit, wondered why car makers don’t actually sell cars with features that some people add as mods.

Taste and eyesight?

Some manufacturers do this kind of thing as standard on some of their models; not quite to the level of cardboard air intakes & spoilers…

But Mini, Citroen’s DS range & the Vauxhall Adam off the top of my head all have a lot of customisation options so people can spend £1000’s on top of the base price for their car to make it look a bit more ‘individual’.

On the whole though, there probably isn’t the demand for it to be worthwhile in the mainstream car segment & it would perhaps go against the car manufacturer’s brand image…..

Appearance pack. Sports pack. M-Sport. S-Line. St-Line. R-Line. AMG sports exterior package etc etc.

Rally cars are appealing, at least in part, because of the way they look.

Appealing to who? I think most people see a rally car as a tool for the job, not something they would want to drive to tesco in. Apart from blue suburu impreza owners obvs.

Except manufacturers do make cars with those extras.

Boy-racers in the last 2 decades upgraded their cars with spoilers, alloys, performance parts and go faster stripes.

Businesses cashed in.

Manufactures started adding those extra bits as standard or options on their hot hatches and performance cars.

Fiesta ST to Porches.

Now artists are using cardboard box carp.

“The series is called Slapdash Supercars, because once I found a good car, I slapped the pieces on and dashed away as fast as possible.” He never captured the reactions of the car owners as they stumbled into the big reveal. “Sometimes it’s better to imagine what might’ve happened than to stick around and deal with the reactions,”

I like him!

If the manufacturer sells it then it is no longer custom.

I just saw this on the BBC website, and after laughing a bit, wondered why car makers don’t actually sell cars with features that some people add as mods.

If you look at modded cars of 10-15 years ago, then at cars of the last 5 years, you can see the influences.

Colour coded bumpers
Daylight running lights
Seamless body panels
Reflector headlamps
Integrated stereo’s
Even my C-max has a bloody spoiler (although they do have an effect on ride when properly designed, they stop the car oscillating up and down on the motorway and acts as a camtail to reduce drag).

Rally cars are appealing, at least in part, because of the way they look. That being the case, wouldn’t that suggest a potential market for ‘normal’ cars with neat-looking add-ons? Especially if those add-ons also meant extra functionality?

As mentioned above “ST line” “M-sport” etc are just manufacturers sticking the expensive bodykit on your bog standard 1.6 Zetec focus.

I miss mudflaps though, always tempted to stick some ford motorsport ones on my C-max as a pisstake.

If the manufacturer sells it then it is no longer custom.

True, but not true. Is a Harley from a chopper builder ‘custom’, what about one from Harley CVO, what about one bought secondhand? The argument you’re hinting at is “built not bought”.

Citroen explicitly stated somewhere (can’t remember where I saw it, it was yonks ago) that their more recent options and design choices had been influenced by the popularity of modifying Saxos (that’s how long ago I’m talking).

But manufacturer options misses the point a bit – it’s not just about making the car look meaner, sportier, more off road, prettier or whatever, it’s about making it different, unique, personalised.

different, unique, personalised

just like everyone elses.

As mentioned above “ST line” “M-sport” etc are just manufacturers sticking the expensive bodykit on your bog standard 1.6 Zetec focus.

I can’t speak for the ST line but the M-sport offers more than just bodykit mods to a standard BMW. It doesn’t make it an M3/5 but it is more than just styling.

gonefishin

I can’t speak for the ST line but the M-sport offers more than just bodykit mods to a standard BMW. It doesn’t make it an M3/5 but it is more than just styling.

This is very true, it also makes the dick driving it think it’s an M3 or M5.

“ST line” “M-sport” etc are just manufacturers sticking the expensive bodykit on your bog standard 1.6 Zetec focus.

Errm.. 1.6 focus – 85bhp, focus ST – 271bhp, that’s a helluva body kit.

mattyfez

Errm.. 1.6 focus – 85bhp, focus ST – 271bhp, that’s a helluva body kit.

Try again but this time, try googling betterer and reading morerer.

This is very true, it also makes the dick driving it think it’s an M3 or M5.

That’s a little judgmental. There’s a brake upgrade as well as suspension too on the M-sport but most of those are available as an option on other models too.

Matty, ST-line and ST are different. VW do it too with the R and the R-line.

M Sport 3 series is pretty much the same as the luxury, but with the comfy bits chucked out and replaced with sports seats and suspension, bigger wheels and a bit of a body kit.

The engine is the same on both. Classic 90’s modding.

gonefishin

That’s a little judgmental.

There are three on my street alone who fit this stereotype perfectly. Chief among them the plonker over the way who had his E60 525d stolen. Door kicked in at 5am.

He recovered it, so what would be the logical thing to do? Stick M-Sport grille stripes on it, M-Sport badges, 20inch wheels, lower it, quad exhaust tips etc and (like the others) drive around residential streets at full throttle.

why car makers don’t actually sell cars with features that some people add as mods.

I’m just sensitive to the fact that I’ve just bought one and now have to deal with not being let out at junctions anymore. Still it could be worse, I could have bought an Audi.

The old fiesta ST had a silly engine it and had an aftermarket partnership with mountune to allow aftermarket upgrades without voiding warranty etc.

Pretty subtle visual tweaks except the wheels.

And the turning circle of a oil tanker

If the manufacturer sells it then it is no longer custom.

Thats it really. We live in an era of mass manufacture, it makes some people yearn for something different. Its one of the reasons materials like denim and leather are still popular even though they’ve largely been surpassed – because they take on character. Cars don’t really do that, apart from by becoming a bit dull or rusty – and they don’t even do that very much now.

Theres also a human tradition of adornment – we decorate and personalise our homes, gardens, clothes and bodies. It seems to be pretty reasonable to extend that to cars or anything else we own.

With cars though theres another aspect – people who like cars tend to think enthusiasm is the same thing as knowledge. Generally they just know enough to think they know everything. The aftermarket industry of mods and performance upgrades and re-maps caters for punters who think reading a few copies of Maxi Power and a few laps of Grand Turismo means they’ve got a better idea of how their car can be configured than the manufacturer and their million dollar a day research and development budget. 🙂

Last two decades eh?

The coolest modified cars, IMHO, are those that look completely standard. Sure I saw on Jay Leno’s Garage that he has some fifties American sedan that looks absolutely original, and it’s got a stonking modern V8 under the bonnet. This concept I like. 🙂

Manufacturers don’t do it very much as it costs a fortune in tooling and design/test and then (in some cases) it’ll need homologation and emissions testing again. For every market it’s sold in.

If the customer does it, it’s the customers problem. As is the lack of warranty on their incredibly poorly executed aftermarket “tune”.

mattyfez
Errm.. 1.6 focus – 85bhp, focus ST – 271bhp, that’s a helluva body kit.

As pointed out, not the ST

And I was going to comment on the 85hp but, but took my own advice and googled it. How the heck have Ford managed to lose 30hp in the last few years from that engine, it even does less MPG than it used to!

How the heck have Ford managed to lose 30hp in the last few years from that engine, it even does less MPG than it used to!

I’d imagine emissions and weight have a awful lot to do with it.

They do (did) two different version of the 1.6 which is being phased out. Worth pointing out that they do a 1.5 with 180bhp.

If you’ve got 1,000,000 different combinations of a car (like I think the Adam has) then every one is going to be a factory option. You can’t just churn out a few hundred Golf SEs in silver and ship ’em.

Must put a few people off when the salesman says “certainly, that’ll be a 12 week wait”.

Daylight running lights

EU legal requirement, not a custom mod, although there are now aftermarket add-ons, so not the same thing.
Some manufacturers did see the advantage in designing them as a visual feature that made the cars easily identifiable, like VAG, Jaguar, Alfa, etc, but it’s still not really a customising feature that existed before the EU legislation.