My business partner and I are both heavily involved in the modified and performance car scene, even more so than most people. This is due to the levels of involvement we have with the different people and areas within the scene itself.
We deal with the trade end of the scene, and know that a lot of traders are having a hard time this year. Areas like window tinting, and bodykit sales are down – have those “fads” passed?
In addition to the trade end, we also deal with the show organisers and promoters on a regular basis too. We know that some shows have been cancelled this year as they felt there were too many, and we know that the attendance at the shows has been down too – so far this year anyway.
And finally, we deal with the user end of the scene, the consumers and the customers. The actual car owners themselves who keep the scene alive year after year. In the first few months of this year, we noticed the drop in the scene straight away and we initially thought that it was dying. We thought that new laws being passed, and new fashions springing up meant the end of the modified and performance car scene in the UK.
Then the show season started, and we noticed that there were still the regular hard core show-goers attending, a few new clubs and members too – and although attendance figures were nothing compared to the last few years, there was still a good selection of cars and people which meant the shows were still buzzing with enthusiasm.
So we sat down and started talking about what we had said about the scene, and that we were wrong. The scene isn’t dying, its just changing!
The times of sticking huge bodykits and wide arches onto your corsa seem to be coming to an end, and more and more people are leaving their cars standardish, and are getting more into the motorsport aspect of the scene.
Many of the people i know are now drifters, blagging local tyre places for any unwanted tyres so they can stock up for those days out at DWYB at pod. Most of them have highly tuned Japanese cars, some with exterior mods too, but most with subtle mods, and lots of power!
A fair few of my friends are now into the strip at Santa pod, and also the tracks at cadwell park and silverstone. Instead of taking part in a bit of traffic light grand prix, they save it for the pod and race their mates somewhere where it can be timed to perfection helping you get your 1/4 mile time lower.
Don’t get me wrong, the bodykit and styling aspect of the scene is still around, and probably always will be – but it is the one part of the scene that has changed big time!
So in conclusion, the modified car scene has lessened, and the performance car scene is rising.
I think that overall its a good thing for our world, as it means that the people left in it, are the people who are serious about it. The fact its probably not top of the fashion charts means that there is no longer spoilt rich kid’s driving standard fiestas into a bodyshop, and driving a front page cover car out.
Only the hardcore remain.