Car trends that have faded away, what don't you see anymore?

"How much time you got buddy?"

To be fair, I'm an OEM+ kinda guy. 

RaabTheSaab said:

Modified cars in general. Other than lifted trucks, I don't see too many cars that appear or sound obviously modified. I'm guessing that the price of new/used cars have put a damper on that and that many young people who would have been the culprits of those badly modified Toyota/Hondas/Mazdas no longer have an interest in the scene. If they have to choose between having a car, going to college, or getting an apartment, the car is frequently going to go in the back burner. 

Pretty much this.  Saw a decently clean, nicely modified Integra in traffic the other day with a younger guy driving and I smiled.  It was nice to see.  Typically unless you go to a car show there just isn't much out there any more.  Even all the big diesel trucks are kind of gone.  There are still a few, but the 1998 24 Valve Cummins with stacks are all gone, just like the older Super Dutys and cat-eye Duramaxes with 21 year olds driving them.  

There was a brief trend of running ridiculous offset wheels in the late 90s. Almost always saw it on Grand Prix and Grand Ams for some reason. Wheels would stick 4-5" out past the fenders because "wider track = handles better."  It was a problem that solved itself when the wheel studs inevitably snapped

Smoked headlight covers.

z31maniac said:

"How much time you got buddy?"

Oh, totally. Let me crack open my old Automod catalog. They supplied a ton of gear, and I worked there 1992-’94. You ever wanna talk louvers, chrome luggage racks or carpet dashboard covers? I can probably still recall a part number or two. We were a W/D for all the heavies: Momo, Nardi, Kamei, Zender, Pacific, Xenon, Amco, GTS, VDO, Pacesetter, Hella, K&N, Koni, Addco, etc., etc. 

Add-on fog lights under the bumper, mono-wiper conversions, and I'll throw in the cool sticker of the time range which ranged from - 'Oakley - Thermonuclear Protection', 'OBX' oval (mid-Atlantic thing?), to Calvin pissing on something.... Has 'Salt Life' entered the chat on this yet?   

Mr_Asa said:

What haven't you seen in a while?

Chrome biplane windshield wipers and LED sprayer nozzles.

One-wiper "touring car" mods.

Strip-n-rust hoods.

Why do you think it disappeared?

Because they were stupid.

The skinny front tires on wanna be drag cars........................although I will admit a 190hp IROC Z needs all the help it can get.

paddygarcia said:

hamster said:

Rear window louvers.

Just yesterday I marveled at something modern with rear window louvers. Maybe they're coming back?

They are. I see lots of Mustangs, Chargers/Challengers, and Camaros with them these days. Mostly around military installations, so you know those things have 29% APR. 

Old_Town said:

Add-on fog lights under the bumper, mono-wiper conversions, and I'll throw in the cool sticker of the time range which ranged from - 'Oakley - Thermonuclear Protection', 'OBX' oval (mid-Atlantic thing?), to Calvin pissing on something.... Has 'Salt Life' entered the chat on this yet?   

Let's not forget 'No Fear' stickers.

myf16n said:

Old_Town said:

Add-on fog lights under the bumper, mono-wiper conversions, and I'll throw in the cool sticker of the time range which ranged from - 'Oakley - Thermonuclear Protection', 'OBX' oval (mid-Atlantic thing?), to Calvin pissing on something.... Has 'Salt Life' entered the chat on this yet?   

Let's not forget 'No Fear' stickers.

I've left the faded remnants of a "No Fear" windshield banner on my 92 S10

The radar detector made me remember I think I still have a G-tech in a drawer somewhere.

In reply to eastsideTim :

Don't forget these stickers:

Woody (Forum Supportum) said:

Bam: And, yeah, I need to clean it as the flash makes it look gross. 

Will said:

The radar detector made me remember I think I still have a G-tech in a drawer somewhere.

I sill have one of those in the garage............why I'm keeping it is beyond me.

Turbo_Rev said:

APC (American Products Company)

These guys were THE definition of 00's boy racer bolt-on garbage. A bunch of chintzy cosmetic stuff and pot metal CAIs. They stuck around for a while during the NOPI Nationals/Fast & the Furious 1 era. Pretty quickly become synonymous with "crap" in the parlance of those times. 

 

Ironically, for how pervasive they were back then, I could barely find any images of their stuff on google. 

Oh man.  I still have an unopened set of foglights from them that I've been carrying around for... two decades?  I'll unpack the garage boxes, laugh, set it aside and forget to do anything with it.

David S. Wallens said:

Smoked headlight covers.

 

I think this one's the winner. I can't think of the last time I saw some.

David S. Wallens said:

Woody (Forum Supportum) said:

Bam: And, yeah, I need to clean it as the flash makes it look gross. 

I miss these, but mainly because they were so nicely made. 

Woody (Forum Supportum) said:

David S. Wallens said:

Woody (Forum Supportum) said:

Bam: And, yeah, I need to clean it as the flash makes it look gross. 

I miss these, but mainly because they were so nicely made. 

Truck nutz

Have aftermarket car alarms gone away? 

Did we hit "billet wheels"yet? 
 

i dreamed of some 17" boyd coddingtons on my frontier.

TJL (Forum Supporter) said:

Did we hit "billet wheels yet? 
 

i dreamed of some 17" boyd coddingtons on my frontier.

Came here to say this. 

I'm cleaning out some old car magazines.

Motor Trend, December, 1987