Ireland's modified car enthusiasts packed the RDS for the latest 100% Modified show last weekend. Barry McCall reports.
The RDS on Saturday and Sunday last was not the place to be if you have no interest in cars. Between the indoor and outdoor arenas there were more than 160 modified cars on show and the place was packed with more than 25,000 enthusiasts over the two days. And by enthusiasts we mean enthusiasts.
The car parks were almost as much worth a visit as the show itself such was the range of modified cars on view there.
Every car on show was studied in the most minute detail by hordes of visitors who were clearly looking for new ideas for their own vehicles. And the modifications aren't just a simple paint job or a set of spot lights. One of the key attractions of the show was the Supra used in the film Fast and Furious, the cult movie for all modified car enthusiasts.
This car, apart from the stg£60,000 worth of general modifications which have been made to its bodywork and interior also features a nitrous oxide tank. This is the ultimate for engine enthusiasts. Otherwise known as laughing gas nitrous oxide is a highly inflammable gas which is explosive under the right conditions.
The Supra in question is fitted with a tank of pressurised nitrous oxide which is connected directly to the fuel combustion system and has the effect of turning it into a form of rocket fuel. The oxygen rich gas makes combustion process far more powerful thus adding power to the engine.
These systems are used to give short term boosts to the acceleration of the vehicle and transform them into veritable grand prix cars. Indeed, the Supra can do 0 -60 inside four seconds with a relative novice driving it.
The top prize at the show was awarded to Paul Cunningham for his modified Toyota Corolla. This car featured a specially cut down Honda Civic front bumper, moulded side skirts, a fully releathered interior with matching dash, a PS2 and TV screen, 18 inch alloy wheels, twin motorcycle exhausts and rounding it all off was a special paint job which changes colour from day to night.
The show, which has now become an annual event, is organised by Richie Lavin of Xtreme Promotions - himself a modified car enthusiast. "We started the show four years ago in Tramore and it quickly outgrew the town", he says. "We needed a bigger venue to cater for the crowds we were attracting so we chose the RDS for last year's show. We started the company to run the RDS show last year and it has gone tremendously ever since.
"People don't realise how big the car modification sector is in this country. And it's not just boy racers driving dangerously down country roads in illegal races. The vast majority of people who are interested in modified cars do it as a hobby because they are genuinely interested in owning something that is unique and personalised. It's also more than just a hobby", he says.
"People work on their own cars, then they attend events such as ours in the RDS and then they move on to showing the cars. I have no great interest in sports and this is what I am into. It just grows." He also points out that many people are interested in car modification without really knowing it.
"When people go into a showroom to buy a new car they tend to specify extras such as alloy wheels, sunroof, air conditioning, a higher quality sound system and so on", he says. "These extras are all adding to the individuality of the car and when other people see those extras they want them too.
"It's not a very big step from there to carrying out the modifications yourself or getting someone else to do them for you." He believes that the car modifiers have had a positive impact on car design and the value for money customers receive.
"If you look back at the 1990 BMW 316, electric windows, stereo, tinted windows and so on would all have been optional extras", he says. "Today's buyer of a similar car is expecting these as standard. This is because people have specified their own modifications over the years and the become the norm rather than the exception.
"Similarly, we are now seeing Deawoo putting TVs, DVD players and PlayStations into some models - again this is following a trend established by car modifiers. Indeed, Sony developed the PSOne Mark II as a smaller version of the original games console specifically for use in cars."
Proof of the growth in popularity of car modification in Ireland is the fact that the country now has two magazines - Flush Bus and Modified Motors - dedicated to it and both of these are organising their own shows shortly.
The Flush Bus event will take place in the National Show Centre near Dublin Airport on May 25th next. Also on May 25th is the Modified Motors show in Fintona, Co Tyrone. Shortly after that Xtreme Promotions' next event will take place in an open area venue yet to be decided.