Modified

Big engine, little car: it's a classic formula. Sometimes it is taken to extremes. Sometimes it's taken to ludicrous extremes. And sometimes, someone shoehorns a 7.0-liter LS7 from a Corvette Z06 into a Chevy Spark. The car, which appears to also wear extensive track-focused modifications like a...

Akira Iida has competed in the Japanese Super GT Series, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring and VLN endurance races, where he has twice delivered class wins in a Lexus LFA racer. As if that wasn’t enough, Iida was also the driver who piloted a Lexus LFA...

One of the keys to MINI’s success in the United States is the vast amount of customization available on its cars. While it’s theoretically possible to spec a MINI Cooper that’s identical to a car ordered by another buyer, we’d have to rate the chances on the same level as...

In the last season of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson relived the Battle of Britain by once again pitting the Germans against the British. This time, it would be contested on a runway, between a German car powered by a Heinkel He 111 bomber engine (the Brutus) and a British car powered by a Rolls-Royce...

Going for a “seriously sinister” look, Dodge is expanding its “Blacktop” models to include the Avenger and Challenger R/T in addition to the already-available Blacktop Charger R/T. Meant to give buyers a custom look right off the dealer showroom floor, the Blacktop package...

With all the attention given to the launch of the Scion FR-S and the Subaru BRZ, it was inevitable that the cars would turn up in pro racing for the 2013 season. Sure enough, the first Scion FR-S GTS racer has bowed its head at this week’s SEMA show. Built by Ken Stout Racing, the FR-S will...

In the same week that the first prototype for Subaru’s highly-anticipated BRZ STI were spotted, Toyota’s in-house performance division TRD has revealed that it’s considering its own upgrades for the BRZ's twin, the Scion FR-S (GT 86 in other markets). Headlining the range of...

The James Bond franchise is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and it seems like everyone wants in on the action. To help mark the occasion, even Top Gear, everyone’s favorite motoring show, has produced a special episode with a Bond theme. It’s a safe bet that classic Bond...

In 1964, a British racing team entered three new and unproven Ford Mustangs in a 4,000 mile European endurance race, called the Tour de France Automobile. Built by American tuning specialist and race car builder Holman & Moody, no one gave the Mustangs a chance against the well-proven Jaguar Mk...

While we like the basic shape of Honda’s CR-Z “sports hybrid,” its performance never managed to captivate us. Even with the six-speed manual, it’s too sluggish to be amusing, as the car struggles to break the 10-second barrier for the 0-60 mph run. In Eco mode, with the A/C...

If you’re a Chevy Camaro fan on a limited budget, chances are good there isn’t a Camaro ZL1 parked in your garage. In fact, you may not even be able to pay the monthly tab on a Camaro SS 1LE, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make your existing Camaro go faster, stop shorter...

Comedian and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham probably wouldn’t have been the first guy to pop into our minds when the task of designing a SEMA concept reared its ugly head. Nonetheless, Dunham is a car guy with a penchant for Mopar muscle cars, and we’ve already seen evidence that he can...

The Ford Mustang has charged to the top of the popularity stakes at the 2012 SEMA show, taking out for the first time the event’s award for the “Hottest Car” to customize. The Mustang held back some strong competition, particularly from the Chevrolet Camaro, which has won the...

After first previewing it as a concept three years ago, tuning firm Lingenfelter has now finally unveiled the production version of its LTA Camaro, which muscle car fans will recognize as being a modern interpretation of the Camaro-based Pontiac Trans Ams of the 1970s. The car made its debut in...

Acura bills its gateway-to-the-brand ILX sedan as the ideal blend of sport and luxury, but our experience with the car tells us it’s lacking in the sport department. Even with the 201-horsepower, 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine (the largest available), the car lacks the kind of thrust we...

At last year’s SEMA show, Chevy announced that it would build 69 COPO Camaros for the 2012 model year. The number was in honor of the original COPO (short for Central Office Production Order) Camaro, which hit the drag strip in 1969 as a factory-built race car. Like the originals, the new...

The 2015 Audi R8 may not share its platform with Porsche, despite years of previous rumors and reports that it would. What this means for the Lamborghini Gallardo isn't yet clear, but it looks like it could share its underpinnings with the Audi. Jaguar has kindly gifted us a video comparing the...

Automakers seem to be pulling out all the stops for this year’s SEMA show, indicating that the automotive aftermarket is chugging along just fine. Both Ford and Chrysler have announced double-digit SEMA show cars, and even Chevrolet seems to be closing in on that number with the late addition...

Like all cars with a passionate fan base, Fiat’s 500 revival makes a great blank canvas for customization. Even from the show room floor, there are 500 models to satisfy the needs of most buyers, from those concerned primarily with fuel economy (the base 500) to those who spend weekends on an...

The 2012 SEMA show kicks off today and a number of tuned cars are making their presence known. The latest is a bunch of Beetles that Volkswagen has organized with a number of its suppliers and chosen customizers, with the modifications ranging from subtle upgrades to some over-the-top items. The...