Most cars can be modified in one way or another, and everything that makes a car easy to repair and replace parts also makes it easier to add different parts that either look fantastic, boost its performance credentials, or both.
However, whilst almost any car can be modified, it is clear that some machines are better platforms for upgrading, altering and adjusting to create some truly spectacular machines than others, and the results have become legendary, if not almost mythical.
They often have more parts available, more body kits and more room for serious adjustment, which is typically a result of a virtuous cycle of popularity and ease of modification.
Popular cars get aftermarket parts. Easy-to-modify cars get aftermarket parts. Popular cars that are easy to mod get a lot of mods.
With that in mind, here are some of the most popular, influential, epochal and otherwise highly popular car platforms for modification.
Ford Mustang
So popular it spawned an entire litany of “pony cars” inspired by it, the Ford Mustang formula epitomises the North American model of car modding.
It was cheap, remarkably powerful for its price and sporty both in presentation and in performance. But beyond all of those virtues, it was also a perfect platform for an almost limitless number of modifications, evolutions and tweaks.
From drag strip specials to hot rods to more technical street racers, the Mustang could be anything with the right body kit, the right tyres and the right engine swap.
Whilst the first generation is the one that has had the greatest impact, the Mustang still remains a hugely popular modding platform with tuners.
Porsche 930
Pretty much any Porsche 911 could fit in a car modding hall of fame, but if you were to pick just the one model with the biggest impact, then the answer has to be the Porsche 930 Turbo.
Better known as “The Widowmaker” owing to its extremely demanding handling characteristics, the 930 was extremely fast, extremely prone to oversteer and featured huge levels of turbo-lag characteristic of 1970s and 1980s sports cars.
Despite, or perhaps because of this, it became a hugely popular car amongst white-knuckle thrill seekers, with perhaps the most famous example being the legendary Yoshida Special 930.
This bewilderingly fast car, which allegedly had over £2m of money invested into it, had a power output of up to 700HP had a top speed of over 200 mph, although it only reached 191 mph in official speed tests, and became famous (or infamous) for being the leading car of the infamous street racing club Mid Night.
Even amongst dangerous speed demons, it has become near-mythical, aided by its depiction in the Anime and Manga series Wangan Midnight, where it was given the moniker Blackbird after the SR-71 spy plane that remains the fastest plane ever made.
Nissan 280ZX
In the Japanese modding scene, there was an uneasy conflict between European exotics and Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) racers, and nowhere was that more evident than with the conflict between the Widowmaker Yoshida Special 930 and the ABR S130Z
Originally a 1978 Nissan Fairlady Z (Nissan 280ZX) the Air Breathing Research modifications turned it into a devastating and dangerous street racer capable of reaching well over 200 mph.
It’s a small wonder, therefore, that it became known as the Devil Z, once again thanks to
Wangan Midnight. However, the Fairlady Z line and the 280ZX specifically were hugely popular mod platforms largely for the same reason the Mustang was; it was not extremely expensive, but it was fast and endlessly customisable.
Subaru Impreza
The 1990s was the peak of the JDM boom, where Japanese saloon cars and coupes had become undeniable forces of nature and highly popular in the process.
Alongside the Fairlady Z’s follow-up, the Nissan Skyline GT-R, there was also the Toyota Supra, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and the Subaru Impreza.
Whilst all of these names had strong tuner and modding communities, the Impreza, particularly the WRX and STi models with their blue paint schemes and gold wheel alloys had a particularly iconic look.
This look and interest largely came from a significant case of “win on Sunday, sell on Monday”, as the blue and yellow of the Subaru World Rally Team, and particularly their success with drivers such as the late Colin McRae and Richard Burns, had a huge impact on car culture.
Because the roadgoing car looked very similar to the rally-spec version, complete with huge air intake, it influenced an entire generation of racing-inspired liveries and decals amongst car enthusiasts.
Comments