Summer means many things to many people- it always has and it always will. That’s because it tends to be our favorite season (well, at least for most sane people). School is out, there are major holidays to celebrate, the weather is fine, and nobody is suffering from seasonal depression disorder. (At least, I don’t think they are!) For some people, summer means a couple of months spent at the pool or beach working on their tan. For others, it’s the lure of the wild that draws them- family cabins in the woods, fishing in lakes and rivers, sea kayaking along the coast. For even others, there are Major League Baseball destination trips and the summer concert festival circuit to occupy their free time (look for me at Lollapalooza in August- I’ll say hi).

But we here at Hot Cars know there’s something else out there that makes summer special. I’m talking, of course, about the car meets, rallies, and shows, both big and small, that dot the local, county, and regional calendars of car aficionados (OK, gearheads) everywhere. Of course, there are plenty of auto shows in the dead of winter and fall is a good season for car meets as well but there’s something a little bit more fun and exciting about summer meet-ups, isn’t there? And one of the things that you’re guaranteed to see at every single meet, rally or show is incredible mods. The kind of extreme mods that make you “oooh” and “aaah” like you just saw the world’s greatest fireworks show. Here are 17 of the best.

17 1969 Chevy Corvette Roadster Dragon (Privately Owned)

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This, my friends, is what happens when Hollywood starts modding cars out for fantastical car racing movies. Yup, some of you, not many, but a couple at least, might have a vague memory of seeing this extremely modded ’69 Corvette Roadster up on the silver screen. That’s because it’s the car that Sly Stallone’s character drove in the insanely silly 1975 movie Death Race 2000.

The movie came out in 1975 but there are plenty of rumors of this car having been bought by a private aficionado (of that movie?!!?) and this car showing up at meets across the country and then disappearing on down the road again.

16 Toyota X- Tonka Comes To Life (Off-Road Meets)

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Let’s face it; if you’re a guy and you like big trucks the chances are pretty darn good that you played with Tonka trucks when you were a kid. Yeah, remember Tonkas? I know I personally had a whole collection of the suckers and played with them in the backyard all of the time.

This particular extremely modded Toyota X-Runner is pretty well known throughout the land at various off-road and rally meets and it’s easy to see why. I mean, after all, who wouldn’t want to see one of their tough childhood favorites come to life like this.

15 Nissan 370z (Mystery Meet)

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Well, I can’t tell you what meet this is even if it’s pretty obvious from the picture that there is one serious Nissan 370z meet going on somewhere. That is an awful lot of modded out 370zs taking up space at that meet.

A quick and dirty Google search brought up a few candidates; there’s a long-running 370z meet at Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ, one of the classic raceways in the Northeast.

There’s also a large meet at Cape Canaveral in Florida, a setting better known for rocket ships than little rocket cars. In any case, this wonder has got a lot (I mean a lot) going on but I particularly like the placement of the pipes- very cool!

14 Pagani Huayra (2013 SEMA Show)

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This whole car is a mod. Built by the Italian luxury manufacturer Pagani from 2012 on, this, my friends, is one heck of a ride. The Huayra, which is apparently named after a Quechua wind god, of all things, is truly a luxury vehicle. Its base cost weighs in at a cool $1,130,000. Yes, you read that right. I can’t even begin to imagine what this particular highly-modded beauty comes in at. Top Gear said in their review that it was the king of the niche hypercar market.

They broke it down thus: “…A mid-engined hypercar with a better power-to-weight ratio than a Bugatti Veyron SS, the 1,350kg Huayra uses a 6.0-litre AMG-sourced 60-degree V12 with two turbos to produce 700-ish bhp and 728lb ft of torque. Translation? Zero to 62mph in less than 3.5 seconds and ‘over’ 230mph.” OK, they’ve sold me, I’ll take two. This particular one was in the Go Pro booth at the 2013 SEMA show. You know, 'cause Go Pro are the ones who modded it out...

13 VW Bug Extreme Fan (College Tailgater)

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Does a car that spends most of its public life at college football tailgating parties outside of massive stadiums qualify as a “car meet” car? I think it does, which is why I’ve included “The Hog” on this list.

After all, the owner is showing off with pride the mods that they’ve done to their vehicle to an adoring public (well, at least at home games) and that pretty much defines car meets. So yeah, this entry is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but honestly you can’t get much more extreme in your modding than what this Arkansas Razorback fan has done.

12 1971 Pantera De Tomaso (2013 SEMA Show)

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Another extreme monster from the SEMA show in 2013 was this beauty of a 1971 Pantera De Tomaso. I love the colors on this bad boy. If you’re going to go Canary Yellow do it right, like this car has been done!

Motor Trend reviewed it at the show and said: “There’s a compelling backstory to this 1971 Pantera, which was owned by Randy Brickle, who passed away before he had a chance to complete his beloved car. Thanks to Ringbrothers and his wife Cheryl, the Pantera became the amazing yellow-sprayed De Tomaso you see here. Powering the car is a Wegner Motorsports built LS3 V-8 rated at a reported 600 hp, with power routed through a ZF five-speed gearbox from Bowler Performance Transmissions.” This my friends is one heck of a legacy for original owner Randy Brickle and a testament to the excellent mod work Ringbrothers brings to the table.

11 VTEC Mini (Random Meet)

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Here we have a Mini Cooper all dressed up with some “minor” mods. Yeah sure, because we all see Mini Coopers like this every day in our neighborhoods. I love the tires on this little bad boy and I also love the fantastic custom paint job. I’m not sure what the “61” symbolizes. Maybe the owner is a huge Roger Maris fan (if you don’t know baseball you can just ignore that aside). Maybe they just like the number. But what I like most about this stunner is the Honda VTEC system upfront. VTEC is a great way to improve efficiency, performance, and fuel economy in a car like the Mini Cooper and I give kudos to the owner of this one!

10 1971 Gran Torino Talladega GPT Special (2013-14 SEMA Show)

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Here’s an absolutely awesome blast from the past that was seen at both the 2013 and 2014 SEMA shows. I’m not gonna tell you what SEMA is, by the way, because I figure if you’re reading an article about car mods you already know. I do know I would trade visiting my local car meet for the giant SEMA show in Vegas anytime. H

ere’s what Motor Trend, who was there, had to say about it: “…A 1969 Ford Gran Torino Talladega GPT Special in BASF’s booth. The two-tone restomod features BASF Glasurit 90-Line Daytona Sand Satin paint over Tennessee Whiskey Gold Gloss below… The Gran Torino is powered by a 700-hp fuel injected BOSS 530 cubic-inch V-8 with Flowmaster exhaust. The Gran Torino reminds us that the Mustang wasn’t the only fast Ford from the 1960s.” I love, love, love that extreme paint job, I really do.

9 Rockford Fosgate Impresses (Karlsruhe, Germany)

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If you thought extreme car mods and car meets were a uniquely domestic experience then you would be wrong. Here we have an entrant in the “Sound System” category at a Tuning Day in Karlsruhe, Germany.

This particular vehicle had its audio awesomeness done by Rockford Fosgate who have been building custom sound for cars, boats, and private planes for a while now.

But even more fun is the Karlsruhe organizers’ description of this particular system: “A highlight for the eyes and ears under the motto "Car Audio for Fanatics", the US Car HiFi legend performed with powerful demo-cars from Belgium, Switzerland and Austria as well as a competent team of specialists and presented the successful combination of XXL sound and XXL sound pressure.” Take that Germany!

8 1930 Ford Tudor (2017 LA Car Show)

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Let’s head out to the West Coast, shall we, where the sun is hot, the drinks are cold, and the cars are wild. This particular extreme mod entry appeared at last year’s Los Angeles Car Show and was a total fan hit. And why wouldn’t it be?

After all, it’s not every day that one gets to see a radically chopped and customized 1930 Ford Tudor. On second thought, it’s not every day one gets to see any 1930 Ford Tudor at all. But this one is certainly a beauty and well worthy of inclusion on this list.

7 1966 Chevrolet Lime Crush Suburban (2013 SEMA Show)

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Hey look, a SEMA entry again. But in all honesty, you could find multiple Google hits for this classic retro masterpiece showing up all over the place. What an extreme stunner it is. Guess who else thinks so?

Yeah, good ‘ol Motor Trend:”Sitting pretty is just the beginning. This fully rebuilt 1966 Chevrolet Suburban by The Roadster Shop has a GM Performance ZZ502 crate engine and a very long list of other choice go-fast parts. Then you look inside to see the impeccable leather, teak wood, and vintage trim pieces. It’s cool on every front." I say that while the exterior “Lime Crush” look is simply awesome, the interior’s completely redone leather and teak is simply stunning. I wish I had space for two pictures just to show you what love and attention to detail can do even to a Suburban, of all cars.

6 Camaro Rallies Fans (Random Rally)

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Yup, folks, that’s about all I know about this car from this image. It’s a Chevy Camaro. It’s sitting on a track somewhere. It’s sponsored (there’s a surprise). A bunch of dudes really like it. And it looks like it can go like a bat out of you-know-what. Other than that you’ve got me; I have no further information on what looks like a wildly modded out Camaro. It’s a mystery car.

I will say what I like the most about this pic is the fact that the car has a camera mounted on its roof- a camera facing forward. I guarantee these gearheads can’t wait to let that thing run its laps and see what it looks like doing so.

5 Camaro Redux (Same Random Rally)

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Look, if you find a winner you stick with it, even if you have no idea where it came from. Am I right or am I right? Yeah, I’m right. Because here we have another professionally modded-out Chevy Camaro at what looks like the same rally. I chose to include this one because they went in a completely different direction than the last one.

There’s a whole lot going on here but what I really love are the side-exhaust pipes. I sure wish I knew where and what this rally was but as great as Pinterest is, it doesn’t always offer up very much information now, does it?

4 1941 Willys (Random Car Meet)

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There’s an old rock & roll song where the singer talks about his girlfriend “jumping like a Willys in four-wheel-drive” because “she can make happy any man alive.” Perhaps he was talking about this particular 1941 Willys, which is not only perfectly restored but also has some great new touches to it. Like that awesome ZZ Top paint job (and no, ZZ Top did not write the aforementioned song).

No original Willys way back in WWII would have ever had a paint job like this one.

Or the chrome job that this one boasts, for that matter. This might not be the most extreme mod car ever but it is extremely competently done and looks awesome, which deserves our respect.

3 1949 Mercury (Random Car Meet)

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Once upon a time, way back in the mid-20th century, Mercury made themselves a line of absolute beast cars. Based upon the original Mercury Eight, that had come out ten years earlier in 1939, the 1949 Mercury “Lead Sled” (what a nickname, by the way) was a flathead V8 monster that became immediately and immensely popular then and is still a big-time collectors' and car meet ride, as you can clearly see here.

The shark’s teeth on the front, the custom paint job, and everything else that has been done to this old beauty make it a fitting final addition to this list of car meet legends.

2 Extreme Yellow Toyota Celica (Random Car Meet)

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We start our journey into the world of awesome and extreme car meet and car show mods with this Toyota Celica at a local car meet. No, I don’t know which car meet or where so don’t ask. If I know I’ll tell you, fair enough? Good.

Anyway, there aren’t many cars that pull off this sort of in-your-face yellow and the Celica isn’t a model that’s usually on that list. But lo and behold this one has done it.

What’s even better are the Lambo doors on this guy. This car is a full-on local modder’s heaven, especially when you throw in that great black carbon fiber bonnet.

1 1989 Toyota Camry Gets Weird (Wisconsin Meets & Parades)

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OK, so you guys are gonna have to help me out on this one. Does this count as an “extreme” car modification? I mean how much time, money, energy, and effort does it take to cover your car in rubber duckies? More importantly, why would you do such a thing? But the longer I thought about it, the more I realized how much freaking time it actually must have taken to do this.

Plus that “Blue Light Rain” paint job is obviously custom (if you could see the hubs and rims you would also see a lot of work went there as well).

This car hails from Madison, WI, has 260,000 miles on it and makes the local car meet and parade rounds. It deserves to be here. I think…

Sources: americanmuscle, challengertalk, wickedbigmeet, extremetech, motortrend