Tuning and modifying is a big part of car culture. It always has been, and it always will be. However, the trickiest part for many is to pick the right car to modify.
While the allure of modifying any car may be strong, it’s crucial to remember that not all vehicles are built to handle such alterations. Attempting to alter a car ill-suited for it can lead to many unforeseen issues, compromising its reliability and potentially accelerating its deterioration.
It was a challenging task, but the 13 cars in this list are the worst you could modify. Some are well-known as poor choices for tuners, while others are just terrible cars you should refrain from tweaking and changing. Some are also tuned versions of vehicles that differ from what they promised.
Maff Porsche Cayenne
One of the worst modified cars we have ever seen is the Maff Porsche Cayenee. This horror is the property of Romain tuning house Maff, which released the car in 2009.
There needs to be more information on the internet about the Maff Cayenne, but we know that it is based on the 957 Porsche Cayenne and that Maff increased the power output to over 700 hp, enhancing the SUV’s sound. The Maff Cayenne also has outrageous alloy wheels and some of the wildest bodywork changes you could ever see on an SUV.
Porsche Cayenne ‘Chopster’
This might be another Porsche Cayenne, but we couldn’t leave this one off the list. The Chopster comes thanks to Mansory, a tuning house in Germany famed for its performance enhancements and the outlandish bodywork and interior changes it does to its cars.
The Chopster is based on the Porsche SUV, and Mansory gave the Cayenne a horrific-looking front end, with the entire bodywork covered in carbon fiber. The new alloy wheels are ridiculous in size, while there is an array of silver decals across the side of the Porsche. The changes to the SUV are so drastic that, at first glance, you would have trouble working out what the SUV is.
1978 Ford Mustang II King Cobra
Tuning the 1978 Mustang II King Cobra might be the only way to salvage this Ford muscle car. The Mustang II already had a shakey reputation, thanks to its polarizing design and the lack of a V8 engine when it launched.
Somehow, the King Cobra made the Mustang II even worse. It did have a V8 in the form of the 4.9-liter Windsor powertrain, but this produced just 142 hp with the 0-60 mph time and an apocalyptically slow 10.5 seconds. Even if you can tune it, the Mustang II King Cobra might be a muscle car you should avoid.
Arden Jaguar XKR
In the late 2000s, tuning house Arden wanted to extract as much extra performance out of the Jaguar XKR as possible. They also thought the British coupe deserved a makeover. So, they added the Arden AJ 20 Wildcat bodykit to the XKR and increased the horsepower to 480 hp.
The new body kit, however, arguably made things worse for the XKR. The front looked bloated, and the ‘widebody’ look that Arden went for didn’t suit the Jaguar. Plus, with a convertible that you could do 200 mph in, you might not have much of a face left when you finish your journey.
Fiat X1/9
There is a solid argument that the Fiat X1/9 is an excellent entry-level sports car. The little Fiat looks fantastic, and thanks to its mid-engined layout, it has terrific weight distribution and phenomenal handling.
However, the 1.3-liter four-cylinder engine under the hood had just 75 hp. Fiat would upgrade it to a 1.5-liter engine, but that didn’t change the power stakes too much, and the top speed was just over 100 mph. However, while you could tune the car up for more power and speed, rust is a significant issue with the X1/9, and it can appear anywhere. This is enough to turn most people away from modifying the coupe.
Hamann 500 Abarth
Fiat relaunched the Fiat 500 in the late 2000s, yet while it was a small city car, some people thought they could make it a bit spicier. So, tuning company Hamann decided to get their hands on one and turn it into a 275-hp monster. For those who didn’t want that much power, various packages offered a base of 140 hp to 240 hp and a few other figures.
However, the Hamann 500 Abarth is not a beauty like some other vehicles on this list. Plus, the Fiat 500, as standard, has questionable reliability, so upping the power to nearly 300 hp might not help it.
Trabant
Ironically, modifying a Trabant might be the only surefire way of making the East German classic any good. The Trabant came at the height of the Cold War. East Germany desperately needed motor vehicles as it was now part of the Soviet Union and not as financially well off as the democratic West Germany.
So in came the Trabant, and such was the need for a car in East Germany that the waiting list grew to 10 years. But the Trabant was cheap and outdated, with a pathetic two-stroke under the hood and prone to rust at the sight of damp weather. Thanks to their crude construction, finding a Trabant in good condition is not easy.
Bricklin SV-1
When the Bricklin SV-1 launched in the mid-1970s, the American sports car had a lot of promise. Malcolm Bricklin’s brainchild, the SV-1, would have an AMC and Ford Windsor V8 under the hood. It also had some dramatic styling and gullwing doors to give it a real sports car look.
However, the most power that the V8 engines offered was 220 hp. However, the more significant issue was that the SV-1 needed better quality control, and the fiberglass body and the color-impregnated acrylic resin were not the most durable of materials. Maintaining one would be challenging, and even if you could tune it, the SV-1 was heavy at 3,520 lbs, so you would need a lot of extra power and weight savings.
Premier4509 Murcielago
Japanese tuning company Premier4509 took one look at the Lamborghini Murcielago and thought, “Yes, that isn’t crazy enough for us,” so they promptly decided to do something about it.
Enter the Premier4509 Murcielago, a radical redesign of the Italian supercar that retailed for $28,000, excluding the cost of your own Murcielago. The modified supercar now had a complete front bumper, side bods, a new rear bumper, and an optional adjustable rear spoiler. But the changes did nothing to the power, arguably making an elegant Lamborghini look bloated and ungainly.
Lumma Design Panamera
The Porsche Panamera is, while a very comfortable GT car, not the most exciting to look at. So, tuners Lumma decided to shake things up and created the Panamera CLR 700GT.
We can’t argue with how they shook the design of the Panamera up, but they made the Grand Tourer look worse, not better. Outrageous bodywork adorns the Panamera, such as the fat front bumper and the new rear spoiler. Thanks to the changes, the car now has extra girth, and it has quite a radical wheel design. Thankfully, the tuners produced only a handful of these unusual Panameras.
Ford Pinto
While we can’t argue that the Ford Pinto would benefit from modifications, you would have to go further than just changing up the powertrain. The biggest problem with the Pinto was its tendency to catch fire in rear-end collisions.
This was due to a fault with the fuel tank design, and the infamous “Pinto memo” presented to the NHTSA revealed that Ford knew about this design flaw, one that would claim lives. As a result, Pinto’s reputation was totally ruined, and it is a potential nightmare for any tuners pondering buying one.
Lancia Beta
Lancia used to be a powerhouse in the automotive industry, but any hope you might have had in the 1980s to buy and modify the Lancia Beta would have been dashed thanks to their horrible rust issues.
Lancia Betas suffered horribly from rust from 1974 to 1984, leading to the company recalling many of them, especially in the UK. The UK was also Lancia’s largest export market, and the company had to scrap the Betas and replace them out of pocket. Lancia sales dropped dramatically in the early 1980s, and the company pulled out of the right-hand drive market in 1984.
Gemballa Porsche Cayenne
Remarkably, we have another Porsche Cayenne to check out. This time, it is the Gemballa Porsche Cayenne, something Gemballa called an “ultra-exclusive carbon-fiber bodied high-performance SUV.” While all that may be true, one thing that their Cayenne isn’t is a good-looking car.
However, they gave it a cool name, Tornado, and the company claimed that the SUV could produce 750 hp. That is impressive, and joking aside, the white on the bodywork lets the Cayenne pop out. Out of all the Cayennes on this list, this one is by far the best.
