Auto Trends

Photo Courtesy of MSN Autos

The Rich Evans Mustang has received a lot of attention since appearing in SEMA this winter. Unfortunately it was not the good kind of attention. More like the “ugliest Mustang ever” and “I think I’m going to lose my cookies” kind of attention. Within every mistake made is a lesson to be learned. Modification is a very delicate practice that involves both bold and subtle changes to a cars exterior, that in theory should highlight its strengths and downplay its weaknesses… here are a few points to remember when modifying your own car to escape these unfortunate mistakes.

• While some may be completely against fake scoops, others tend to ride on the fence. A fake scoop can be a nice addition, if is not played up too much. Many cars are guilty of adopting a fake hood scoop for looks, such as the Z28 Camaro, Rousch Mustang, etc. The featured Mustang here has two scoops that are practically bigger than the entire hood. The eyes are drawn here first, which makes it easy to discern that they are simply tacked on with a little glue, tape, and maybe even a screw or two (hopefully). Too many of these parts have flown off of a car during high speed maneuvering, giving even more shame to its pretend ploy.

• “Tacked on” parts are best in small numbers. It costs much less to add tacked on parts to a car than have it custom fabricated, as much as tens of thousands of dollars less. Just remember that tacked on parts look best when they are purposeful. Much of the tacked on stuff here is questionable as to what it would be actually used for. The duct looking addition on the fender appears to be something that might be used to guide this vehicle in the water… but are we sure about that? No…

• There does have to be somewhat of a theme to your creation, such as road race aerodynamics, custom scalloped, angular, etc. If we look at the design closely we see scallops in the front fascia and spoiler, circles within the grill, side mirrors, and exhaust exits, ovals in the scoops and louvers, and mesh within the wheels. There is no obvious theme that has been followed here. It does not look well planned out at all.

And of course, when in doubt, don’t do it, your first impression is usually the most honest. If you are worried as to whether something is going to look good, it probably won’t if you have to ask yourself that question again and again!