It's not easy to modify a car. Some people seem to think it's something anyone can do, but that's far from the truth. There's more to it than just ordering some parts online and slapping them on. One needs to know which parts go together and compliment each other to get the best result, whether we're talking about styling, performance, suspension, or the overall package. It seems most people who try to modify their cars fall into this trap of thinking "It worked well on that car I saw in a magazine, I want to do the same thing!" ...Except most of the time, it doesn't work out well for them, and the whole build just seems overdone.

But that's not the only way it's possible to take modifications too far. Even when we get it right, when we've planned it all out every step of the way, we've done our research, we know what we have to do... yet we somehow manage to take things way too far. Like building a Top Fuel engine when all we wanted was a cold air intake and an exhaust, or ending up with a set of racing coil-overs when looking for a strut brace. These things happen, and they happen a lot more often than anyone likes to admit.

In this list we've mixed it up a little; there will be some cars whose owners should never be allowed a vehicle ever again, some intriguing weirdness, and of course, some proper builds that seem to have spiraled out of control. Enjoy.

20 Ratty Bronco

via Stance is Everything

'Stance' can be cool if done right, as can the 'rat' look. But for some reason, it looks a bit off when it comes to this Bronco. Perhaps because it sits so low to the ground and hides so much of the wheels that it almost becomes cartoonish. We're pretty sure the suspension is either air ride or hydraulic on this car - if not, the owner deserves some props for driving it around.

We'd love to see it a bit more user-friendly. Maybe fit some cool mirrors to break up the lines of the body, lift it a tiny bit, just small things like that and this Bronco would be awesome.

19 2,400 Hp Granada

via Dalane Tidende

Magnor Mydland from Norway drives a real beast of a car, but there are no tell-tale signs when looking at the car's exterior - well, except for the hood scoop. His old Ford Granada from 1984 has received an engine transplant, but the engine is not something you'd see every day.

He got his hands on an 11.5-liter V8 engine from Ford's motorsport division. But Magnor still wasn't happy, so he bolted on two turbos from a Scania truck. The end result is a four-door family car that produces 2,400 horses - a number we only expect to hear when talking about cars that use a parachute to stop. Now that is one Ford owner who's taken the engine mods too far.

18 Ford Cougar Veyron

via Mail Online

It looks like a million dollars - but this Bugatti Veyron only cost $89,000, mainly because it's not a Veyron, it was converted from a wrecked Ford Cougar. The glaringly obvious problem here is of course that a Cougar is a $1500 car, or in this case, a very expensive $1500 car.

Mike Duke, from Florida, spent nine months transforming his Ford into a red and black imitation of the hypercar. A specially-designed body kit makes it look as similar as possible to a Veyron, and the interior has been restyled and covered in leather. But the engine is still the Cougar's standard 2.5 liter V6 model, meaning its power falls well short of the 1,000 horses developed by the Veyron's powerplant.

17 Cardboard Focus

via Daily Mail

This is either one of the worst modifying ideas ever or a brilliant prank. One of the best things about this whole creation is how they've taped cardboard to the car to make the go-faster stripes, as opposed to just using tape.

While extremely ugly, both the front splitter and rear wing seem to have had some work go into them to stabilize them properly, so we just have to give a thumbs up for the effort. But that double-decker rear wing is just too much, which is why the car deserves to be on this list. The scariest part about this "build" is that we've seen people actually try to modify their cars and the end result looks worse than this.

16 OTT Mustang

via Car Throttle

We're at a loss of words. We get that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and we also understand that different people have different taste and style - which explains this body kit. But there is more than just the body kit going on here.

Clearly, there must have been a sale on faux air vents because those things are everywhere; Rear fenders, front fenders, front bumper, hood... And what's with the fake chrome trim? Hey, Mustang owner, chill with the stick-on styling pieces - when it comes to those things, even just one is one too many. Save your money and buy things that will actually improve your car.

15 Spoiled F-150

via Ford Trucks

Clearly, the owner of this F-150 learned a thing or two about styling cars by playing the Need For Speed Underground video games and watching the first couple of Fast and Furious movies over and over.

Styling a vehicle is an art form, and to be honest, most people can't pull it off. Even those who manage to score a magazine or website feature rarely manage to do so more than once. One thing we're fairly certain will never make a showstopper is ordering a bunch of universal styling parts and slapping them on wherever there's room. The sad part is that the truck actually looked better in stock form, which would've saved the owner some money.

14 Tribal F-150

via Top World Auto

This kind of graphics was actually fairly common on showcars back in the early to mid-2000s. That doesn't make it any better though, it just shows that trends come and go, and luckily this trend has gone.

Clearly, the owner was a huge fan of "organic tribal tattoo-style" paint jobs, but decided that just having the car painted like this wouldn't be enough. Oh no, the rims would have to match, as would the grille emblem, and it's a fairly sure bet that there are other bits and pieces throughout the build in the same style. Let's just cross our fingers and hope we'll never have to experience another styling trend like this.

13 Electric Probe

via Probatron

This Ford Probe has been converted into an electric car by its owner, who just happens to be an automotive engineer with a background of electrical and electronic engineering.

The owner also states that his interest in converting cars to electric is to preserve modern classics by adding electric drive, thus reducing maintenance and improving driving.

That does sound impressive, but we still think spending all that time and cash on converting a Probe into an EV is taking the modifying thing a bit too far. But as the owner states; "Most electric cars are either cheap and ugly or good looking but too expensive. I hope to fill some of the middle ground before the major manufacturers get their fingers in."

12 Fantasia Capri

via Pinterest

David Moon has turned his Ford Capri into a lifetime hobby since he bought it in 1976 for £825. The car has been built and rebuilt and won prizes at lots of shows.

The Capri, which was originally black, has had a number of transformations which have seen it become a replica of the famous Starsky and Hutch car, before being painted brown and nicknamed Night Owl after the 1979 song by Gerry Rafferty. Then David and his colleagues at the garage settled on the Fantasia theme after picking the suggestion out of a hat.

With all the work that has gone into the car in all its different guises, it's clearly gone too far.

11 Too Much Lift

via Car Throttle

There's nothing wrong with modifying your car's suspension to suit your needs. If you're mostly using your car to carve up canyon roads, lower it a bit and fit some grippy tires. Likewise, if you have to do some off-roading to get to your cabin, raise the suspension and fit some knobbly tires.

Looking at this truck, the owner must have the gnarliest commute in the world. Raising the suspension on a truck to the equivalent of a grown man's height is probably taking things too far. In addition, what are the chances the guy standing next to it actually fell down upon exiting it and injured himself?

10 Braptor – Ford Bronco Prerunner Raptor

via Autocarspec

What real Ford guy has never dreamt of creating a combination of the most awesome trucks from Ford’s History, a 90’s Bronco and modern Raptor. The recipe is simple; take design elements of a modern F-150 truck and combine them with the silhouette of the good old Bronco. Sounds easy enough, doesn't it?

It appeared that the chassis of the Bronco was not long enough to handle the high-speed chases on the rough desert terrain, so it needed some stretching. The one foot longer wheelbase would then require all other components such as drive shaft, chassis, and body panels to be extended in order to fit. Turns out this build was far from simple, and most of us would've just given up halfway.

9 Donk Mustang

via Flickr

Why would anyone ever do this to a performance car? Trying not to sound too negative here, but the whole 'donk' scene is kind of, well, ridonkulous. That's right, we said it! There might be a time and place for this kind of thing, but this ain't it.

Mustangs are sleek, fast machines that were built for sporty driving. Sure, the handling might not compare to fast Euro cars, but that doesn't mean the car deserves to be treated like this. The owner definitely did go a bit overboard with the rim size here, and if the suspension was lowered instead of lifted the car would handle better as well. Better luck next time.

8 Off-Road Mustang

via Autoevolution

There's something about this Mustang that just makes it look cool. If there's ever a zombie apocalypse, this would be an excellent vehicle to get away from that initial wave of zombies.

If you can only own one car, it can be difficult to make up your mind. The owner of this Mustang chose the right path though, it's always cooler to make a sporty car able to do some off-roading than making an off-roader sporty. The only issue we have with this Mustang is that if you hit a bump, those oversized tires will most likely rub on the fenders. Slightly smaller diameter tires and it's good to go; then again, that might affect the cool factor.

7 Monster Mustang

via Pinterest

With the prices of decent 60s Mustangs being on the increase for about 20 years already, let's just hope this one was damaged beyond repair when the owner decided to transform it into a Mud-stang. It's almost sad to see a vintage car in this shape, but at the same time, it has been given a second chance at life and gets to spend its last days being driven hard.

Judging by the two industrial-sized smokestacks and the metal lump sticking out of the hood, the car has received a heart transplant and is probably running a diesel engine for maximum torque when off-roading. Overkill? Probably not for its current duties, but it's not something you'd want to drive on normal roads.

6 Chopped Bronco

via Truck Trend

Jeff Kari's '71 Ford Bronco took 12 years to build, which shows you how dedicated he was to this build. Here's the thing about that dedication though; it kinda came about by accident.

Jeff and his brother bought one-way plane tickets to Texas to buy a rust-free 1967 or 1968 Chevy shortbox truck but none were in their price range. Then they spotted the Bronco and decided it was the vehicle they would drive back to Minnesota. The hardtop was broken, so they made the trek with only the soft top that had seen better days. They both decided they couldn’t stand listening to the top flapping in the wind, and somewhere around the Iowa border, the idea was hatched that this Bronco would make a great lowrider.

5 Ranger/Mustang

via Uglytruckday

This has to be one of the ugliest things we've seen today?! Once upon a time, Ford made Ranchero pickup trucks on the Falcon/Mustang chassis, and we guess some people still wish they did? At least if we judge by this creation here, which appears to be an ordinary extended cab Ford Ranger, with 1994 SN95 Ford Mustang bodywork awkwardly slapped on it.

With the hardcover on the bed, this probably isn't ever used as a truck anymore, and even with the extended cab, this has a smaller back seat than a real Mustang. We honestly don't understand why anyone would do this. Just pick either a Mustang or a Ranger!

4 Ford F-100 Coyote Ugly

via Pinterest

Julio Garcia's F-100 truck is an amazing piece of FoMoCo pickup truck art. That being said, it's also quite obvious that he went a bit bananas when the truck was built - the combination of parts, craftsmanship, and attention to detail is second to none.

According to a feature in Street Trucks, Julio said “I began calling around everywhere ordering parts for it, but not just the little things. I immediately ordered the wheels, bought the big brake kit and the Coyote crate engine, of course. That was the major driving force behind the idea for this project, so that had to be done first.” We all know that sometimes a project can just get a tiny bit out of hand.

3 Monster Excursion

via Uglytruckday

One thing is for sure, the owner of this high-rising, bright yellow Ford Excursion will never have any problems finding his car in the parking lot. So if that was the reason for these mods, then we just have to congratulate on a job well done - whoever you are, your car really stands out from the crowd.

Clearly, there has been thousands spent on the trick suspension and wheel setup on this monster Excursion, and seeing how clean this SUV is, we can be fairly certain that it has never seen any mud or even a slightly dusty road. For a car that's driven on normal roads, these mods were taken a bit too far.

2 Excessive Falcon XR8

via Street Machine

This car is the perfect example of what happens when you start modding your car and things start getting out of hand. After doing too many burnouts on a private burnout pad - it's an Australian thing - the engine decided enough was enough.

The owner, Brent Tanian, came up with a plan to toughen up the Boss 260 engine with forged internals, lots of polished bits and slam it on the ground over a set of 20-inch Budnik Fontana rims. But that only lasted for two shows before Brent wanted more. Originally he wanted an engine running on pump fuel that would make around 750hp, but all of a sudden it was an 8000rpm, 1200hp methanol engine. Yeah, these things happen when modding a car.

1 Unicorn Mustang

via Cars And Life

You've probably seen Ken Block driving his Hoonicorn Mustang sideways in one of his Gymkhana videos. Well, this 1968 Mustang isn't the Hoonicorn, but it does look like a Unicorn.

The mythical beast was debuted at the 2017 London Pride event, and was sold on eBay with all proceeds going to the Albert Kennedy Trust, an LGBT charity. We're all in favor of good causes, but was it really necessary to put the giant horn and wings on a classic Mustang? Luckily, that wasn't the only work they performed on the car - the shocks and springs were upgraded, a new radiator was installed, as well as hoses and water pump. But we still can't get over that bodywork!

Sources: Which Car, Gatebil & Truck Trend