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What Are The Biggest Car Modification Mistakes You Can Make?

Writer's picture: Ollie BrownOllie Brown

A car is not just a way of getting from one place to another but in many respects an expression of the self and their priorities in life.


This is part of the reason why car modification services are both so popular and so unique; much like how there are different types of tattoos that range from the subtle to the extraordinarily elaborate, painting, detailing and styling can often reflect what truly matters to the car’s owner.


Because of this, there are far more right answers than wrong ones when it comes to choosing a colour scheme, decals, lighting and detailing.


There is a lot you can get away with but given how much scope there is for modification and design innovation, that still leaves more than a few cardinal sins.


Whilst there is no accounting for taste, and beauty is always in the eye of the beholder, here are some modification missteps you should avoid at all costs.


Upbadging


One of the golden rules for making friends and influencing people is that whilst there is nothing wrong with showcasing yourself in the best possible light, you should not lie about yourself.


The same is true with cars, and one cardinal sin that could potentially get you in a lot of trouble is “upbadging”, which is the art of lying about the specifics of your model.


Most of the time, “upbadging” is extremely literal and means putting the designating badges of a more expensive or more powerful model onto your car to pass it off as something it is not.


A good example of this is claiming that, for example, a Subaru Impreza WRX is the more powerful and desirable STi model. Or, alternatively, pretending that an ordinary Peugeot 205 or Volkswagen Golf is the more powerful GTi model.


Upbadging could also include adding a “turbo” badge onto a car that has not been turbocharged or adding aesthetic components that imply performance tuning that had not been done.


A car typically only had an air intake if it was needed to improve the performance of the engine, and adding one to a car that does not need it looks more than a little silly.


If A Paint Job Is Worth Doing…


Respraying a car is a great way of giving it a new look, but can be quite expensive. A much better alternative is to fit it with an attractive car wrap that will provide a consistent coat and much-needed protection to the bodywork.


The worst choice you can make is to attempt to respray your car manually if you do not have any experience or suitable equipment.


For a rather infamous example of the potential result, here is the rather infamous Dragon Vette.


Originally a sixth-generation Chevrolet Corvette, the Dragon Vette was originally red and fairly subtle in its modifications, then at some point was painted black with a rather strange set of red strips made from what presumably is coloured electrical tape stuck to the front and sides.


Whilst somewhat suboptimal improvements, the two most striking parts of the Dragon Vette are the dragon affixed to the bonnet and the green stripes that appear to have been added with the type of brush used to paint a door.


Eschewing the dragon, there was the potential for a black, green and red colour scheme on an already loud Corvette to actually work, but by eschewing a professional, the result was somewhat catastrophic and led to years of astonished investigation by other Corvette owners.


A year later, the infamous Dragon Vette was altered again. It had two ram-air scoops added (although given that a supercharger had been installed those were not necessarily cosmetic alterations), and the paint scheme was changed to an orange-and-black style.


Again, the issue with the modifications was not necessarily conceptual, and had the painting been done by a professional it would have looked fantastic. Unfortunately, it was done by hand, with very obvious lumps, stroke marks and mottles from where the previous colour had been painted over.


There Is Actually Some Accounting For Taste


Taste is often very subjective, and it is possible to have a set of modifications or a colour scheme that is extremely good-looking to some and an abomination to others. This does not make it a mistake unless you happen to fall into the latter camp.


However, one aspect of taste which is more of a concern is when a paint scheme could potentially cause offence to other road users.


Having stickers with swear words on them or relying on rather vulgar imagery might be a step too far, particularly if you plan to drive the car places.


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