Team-BHP - Upkitting Supercars & Regular Cars | Conversion to higher variants or editions

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Originally Posted by ChiragM (Post 5058259)

A new trend seems to be catching on in the automotive industry, both in the supercar world as well as with mainstream cars.

Not a new trend, I will say, it's been happening for ages. Remember those Toyota Land Cruisers that were converted to Lexus in the Nineties and later.

And recently, the trend has been to upgrade to the newer generation. One can see a lot of LC200 from pre-2015 being converted to look like a face lifted.

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Originally Posted by GTO (Post 5058518)

Awesome thread! Something different on a Friday morning.

- Back in the 2000s, the two hottest cars were the City Vtec & the Lancer. Some Honda City 1.5s were convincingly converted to Vtec versions - a few were so damn good that I actually recommended people buying used Vtecs to open the hood and check the engine!

Not a fan of upkitting per se(why pretend to be what you are not!), but l have lately grown a fascination for aesthetically done up kitted cars.

Speaking of modded 1st-gen City, I own a Rio Design kitted City VTEC. This one has a very 2000s Bombay mod-scene vibe to it , replete with NFS/Fast and Furious undertones. The car runs a strut bar/Headers/FFE/K&N typhoon/17 inch MOMO GTRs/Momo shifter/steering wheel and pedals with Dynamat damping all round.

The other one I own is an Artisan Spirits kitted Lexus LS L460 replete with flared fenders and rear spoiler, again a very Japanese undertone.Taste is a personal matter of course and may not be to everybody's liking.

How can we not mention the former Upkit King of India - Maruti Suzuki 800 Standard Non-AC ?!! lol:

Upkitting Supercars & Regular Cars | Conversion to higher variants or editions-maruti800.jpg

In the mid-90s when a classmate of my mine brought home their first car, a dark blue Maruti 800, he proudly advised me, "Bro, one should not buy the 800 Deluxe AC. It is better to buy the standard and then get the AC fitted. My dad said it is cheaper". That was the first sound mod advice I ever got from a peer.

Five years later, when my family bought an 800, we took the same route. Bought a standard 800, added a Subros AC at the dealership workshop, and added seat covers, window tints, LHS wing mirror, and wheel covers, all before delivery day. Trust me, at the delivery bay, there were more people crowding around these upkitted 800s than the Deluxe ones. Anyway, I don't think other than the AC, and the door panel rubber strips, there was anything else to differentiate between the Standard and AC versions - other than the badge i.e.

Personally, I don't mind an upkitted car. But, I am against rebadging it to a higher or newer variant. That's what makes it a poser, IMHO.

To add to what has already been discussed in this thread, I would never consider 'upkitting' any of my cars.

It's either the real deal or it isn't.I may be in the minority, but I cringe at fake 'Mugen'/'Type R' Hondas. Same goes with copied VAG GTIs or the myriad TSi posing as RSs.So many Landcruisers running as kitted/badged Lexus.Believe it or not there's even a Youtuber out there running a Cygnus V8 as a Lexus - what on Earth is wrong with a Cygnus?!

The original Mugen/Type Rs/GTIs are not only special/distinct from the outside but are mechanically different cars.Its a very hollow feeling driving around in a showboat that's about 60% on power to the original , while trying to ape a special/higher variant externally.

On the same note, not everybody can procure that special/higher variant and it is understandable. For those, I would say make your car stand out, customise it, get a special kit - think of custom colour options /wheels. Just don't blindly copy the original and put on a badge.

That is why I have massive respect for garages/tuning houses in KL or down south who conceptualise and execute individual designs which are not always a cut-copy-paste of a certain variant higher up in the model line-up.

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Originally Posted by octane1002 (Post 5058761)

This one has a very 2000s Bombay mod-scene vibe to it

Oh man, that was literally a walk down memory lane. Nice cars :thumbs up.

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Originally Posted by Miel (Post 5059105)

Trust me, at the delivery bay, there were more people crowding around these upkitted 800s than the Deluxe ones.

Killer story.

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Originally Posted by Turbanator (Post 5058747)

Remember those Toyota Land Cruisers that were converted to Lexus in the Nineties and later.

Great addition to the list! Not only were those Land Cruisers upkitted to their Lexus siblings, but many of them were also "up-registered", if there ever was such a term. What I mean to say is, so many of them were running bogus registrations, had fake tax receipts, fake owners etc. Sushmita Sen's Landcruiser was in trouble, and the thief Haren Choksi (related thread) was continuously in and out of jail. Rumour has it that the thug used to have blank RC books & tax receipts in his office drawer. Trivia: Skoda (why am I not surprised) gave the same family a flagship dealership in Mumbai.