What was the greatest period of automotive customization and expression...

What was the greatest period of automotive customization and expression, and why was it the peak of the golden era of rice, between 1999-2004?

stickydiljoe.com/2012/05/11/exclusive-content-the-import-car-show-scene-from-99-2001/

RIP.

you mean the 1950s-1960s? no, a bunch of beaners sticking stupid looking vinyls and rims they bought at autozone on civics is not "the greatest period of automotive customization and expression" you faglord

I know the taste is questionable nowadays, but I still love how it was such a huge explosion of car modding and expression. It's almost like it was a renaissance of sorts.

Maybe I just have heard too many accounts through rose-colored glasses of shitty boomers, but back in the original "hod rod" era it seemed like there was a similar love for cars and customization out there, but more in the sense of cobbling wacky solutions together and having the local police more interested in actual cops and robbers shit as opposed to appeasing soccer moms complaining about some rat rod.

But yeah the whole golden era of rice was cool, simply because people were always trying to break the mold. There was no stigma against really going out on a limb and doing something batshit, even if it was something purely cosmetic. I remember seeing an Integra converted to center-drive with a full custom fiberglass interior. Yeah it was fuckin' gaudy dragon-scales or some shit with screens all over it, but who puts the time into that sort of thing anymore?

50s-60s was a bunch of shit too

much worse

70s-80s was the absolute worst tho

1950-1970 was the golden age of cars

This guy gets it.

50s.

Posts like this are why I can't give up on Veeky Forums

>but who puts the time into that sort of thing anymore?
People don't put time into anything anymore, with the exception of a few die hard fans and fabricators. The general car-guy won't go further than cutting springs or installing a turbo kit anymore.
Instant gratification culture is shitting up all hobbies and fields, not just cars.

I wonder if there are any tuning houses left that are still active. Ones that actually know what they're doing.

man you obviously dont keep up with anything in the car world

mid 90's. Veeky Forums doesn't want me to post Mid Night Club pics, am I the only one getting upload failed?

welp, just found out image server down

what

This is all reminding me of the street races after people watched the first Fast and Furious movie.

nothing like watching Hondas and Nissans getting destroyed by my grandmas bone stock Grand Am GT

ricer era was truly hilariously bad

JUN and Top Secret still tune
Kidsheart still exists but it's a shadow of its former self.
A lot of the famous houses are more like parts warehouses now though

>A lot of the famous houses are more like parts warehouses now though

Damn, that's a depressing thought. I think by the time I'd have the money to spend on working with them, they'd be defunct. Can't win the race against time.

>

Mine's
Spoon
Re Amemiya

>Mine's
>RE Amemiya

Sheit. Nice to know they're still operating. I wonder if Ridox is still up.

b

>is not "the greatest period of automotive customization and expression" you faglord
why not? those old shitboxes still existed and the aftermarket for them was infinitely larger AND cheaper than it was 'back in the day'

The scene had jumped the shark before F&F. That movie coming out was the high water mark where anyone into this from at least a few years prior, could watch it receed back into the Pacific Ocean as an overheated fad culture with a meme movie to cap it all off and give us all plenty of one liners for half a decade after.

As for the cars....we got some good stuff out of the era for sure. But for the most part, it was years of goofy bullshit literally glued onto shitboxes, or take decent cars, and ruin all of their best qualities.


It's funny. I wasn't into imports back then. I was tuning f-bods, GN's, lightenings, etc. Now I want a stock ITR, s2000, or even get really stupid with an FD. And I have a driveway full of jap cars for the past decade.

So what year(s) was the peak?

2004 I'd say

Fast and Furious was 2001. If the scene jumped the shark before then, it would have to be 2000 or earlier.

Meant to quote:

98-02

Nah, mate. F&F only fueled the scene and brought in more people. 2004 (or 2003?) was the time the NFS Underground games came out and also was the time Pimp My Ride was airing. Literally everyone wanted to rice the hell out of their cars. It was also the time when engines were still pretty modable and the older cars held up well.

Booms.