Auto Trader Blog

Checked out Alex’s Weird World of Wheels over the weekend – and more specifically his weird pic of the week.

It’s below, but to be brief, it’s allegedly a Daewoo Cielo – a rebadged Mk2 Astra – with bits of tat bolted on to make it resemble an Alfa Brera.

And even then, only if you squint. In a darkened room.

It got me thinking why you’d bother with such an abomination. It has few saving graces – it’s ill conceived and has been randomly attacked with an angle grinder and arc welder. And it gives car modifiers a bad name.

I’ve nothing against modified cars – I’ve owned plenty – or making cars look like something else. There are plenty of kits available for the Mk2 MR2 to turn it into a Ferrari 355, which take a second or third glance to tell them from the real thing.

And the UK’s unsung automotive genius, Andy Saunders, has made a name for turning silk purses from the rustiest of sows’ ears. He even managed to make an Austin Allegro cool.

But the difference is Andy’s work is well planned, and perfectly executed. When I saw a roof-chopped Bentley Mulsanne he built, I was astonished to find out he had almost 100 feet of welding in the roof – and the car looked like it had just come out of the factory.

And that’s the difference between a good and a bad modified car. You might not like it, but you can’t knock them when they’re built by a master craftsman.