A custom car is a specially designed vehicle that incorporates certain features (such as a stronger engine and transmission) and/or has been modified to improve its performance or distinguish its looks to differentiate it from other mass produced cars.

Custom cars gained popularity in the 1950s. The practice of customizing cars dates back to the pre World War II era when the objective of customizing most cars was to put the most powerful engine in the lightest possible frame and body combination. Although custom cars have been gaining popularity over the years, their widespread marketability is still an issue. Paint has become one of the most popular features of custom cars. This is evident from the fact that prize for the best painted custom car is one of the most sought after.

Top Extreme Custom Cars

Specialty Equipment Market Association categorized the following as the top ten extreme custom cars in its show held in 2007:

Corvette (1963) – This Chevy is claimed to be the fastest legal car in the world by the owner. It has factory roll-up headlights and cup-holders. It has a 400 cubic inch twin turbo V8 engine that produces up to 2200 horsepower at its fullest.

Blastolene B-702 – This amazing custom car was designed by Michael Leeds and Randy (commonly called the Grubb Blastolene Brothers) and is 19.5 feet long and 94 inches wide. With its 702ci V12 engine, leather interior and custom trimmings it is one of the hottest custom cars on the road.

Mercules (1950) – This 1950 model of Mercules has undergone more than 175 body modifications (one of which included chopping 4 inches of headroom) that has made it one of the most sought after custom cars in the world.

Pontiac Solstice SD-290 – This super sexy custom car as no passenger seat and looks like 1930’s style race cars. It has 4 point racing harness, no windshield, built in roll bar and 19" wheels. Its Turbo 2.0 liter Ecotec engine produces over 300 horsepower.

Mercedes SL 600 – Although extremely expensive and time consuming to built, this Mercedes has over 300,00 Swarovski crystals ingrained both in its exterior and interior. This custom car shouts Hollywood and was one of the most popular custom cars displayed at the Specialty Equipment Market Association show.

Caprice (1988) – This popular custom car is painted a royal purple with all its suspension components painted to match the exterior. Having white leather interior, this custom car spells luxury and is another popular custom hot rod.

Mercedes R500 – Alpine’s Advanced Application R&D team, the best in innovation and audio equipment, chose Mercedes R500 as the car of their choice. They have customized Mercdes R500 using their latest Signal Processing Technology. the front seats swivel installed by the Alpine team has made entering and exiting the vehicle much easier than before.

Toyota Camry – Toyota Camry is not the car one would think of to be the best option for customization. However, a few modifications here and there have changed the completed look of this car. Rear doors were molded into the body, mirrors and handles were changed to give a sleeker look, custom made fiberglass interior gave it a unique look and hand-stitched seats all topped off with a sound system from Pioneer Audio makes it the car of your dreams.

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