Before we begin, let me assure everyone reading that I, nor any of us here at The Autopian, have any desire to yuck your yum, ick your pick, flame your fave … none of that. If you’re a stancebro, by all means, stance, bro! You like high-riding trucks? Awesome. Teutonic tourers? Fantastic. Classic muscle? Love it. We are PRO-CAR here, and while there may certainly be all sorts of opinions and personal choices in the automotive world that may not individually be some of our things, we respect that they’re someone’s things, and we want everyone to enjoy there own brand of automotive fun. And we enjoy you enjoying it!
That said, if there is one person upon whom’s opinions and tastes we can all be pretty hard, it’s our younger selves. Depending on how old you are, your feelings about what was peak-cool-car have likely changed since your earliest days of automania – perhaps a little, perhaps a lot. Or flipped entirely; I find myself admiring way too many Crown Vics and Regals these days, and wondering whether certain W-bodies I spot have a 3800 under the hood.
Spacer
Back when my Dad was enjoying Seekonk, Massachusettes’ back roads in the 1976 Datsun 280Z you see above (he was the second owner, this was around 1980), 12-year-old me was always hoping the old man would give it the full body-kit treatment like I was seeing in ads in the backs of Road & Track and Car and Driver (and the occasional Motor Trend). At the very least, get the clear covers for the sugar scoops. Come on, Dad! Today, that Z looks perfect to me. Those turbines – chef’s kiss.
My tastes had matured little by the time I was commuting to high school in a 1974 Super Beetle. The only mods I could afford to actually make were chrome covers for the stock peashooter pipes and a fresh Fram air filter, but I dreamed of giving it a faux-Porsche makeover like The Coolest Guy In School, who’s name eludes me now. I’m not sure if his Beetle was wearing an Innovations 930-Vee kit as seen above, but it looked very much like that, whale-tail and all. And it was actually a complete, fully-painted car, not a mid-project kludge still in gelcoat. It was white with broad tandem stripes in two shades of blue, as I recall. What a machine!
Of course, I think it’s ridiculous now. But I’d love to drive it around ironically.
Your turn! What Mods Were You Into As A Kid That Make Adult-You Cringe?
Top graphic image: DepositPhotos.com
“If you’re a stancebro, by all means, stance, bro! You like high-riding trucks? Awesome.”
Sorry, hard disagree. Not all mods are acceptable and cool. Stance and lifts make the car significantly more unsafe- especially to those it shares the road with. If it only harmed the driver, then go ahead and be a moron. But when mods put innocents at risk then fuck you for being a selfish prick.