MAX POWER!

[akku]

Are you ready to be nostalgic about this stuff yet?

Its more than a decade since the infamous Max Power magazine died an unlamented death. By the end it was actually turning into a decent read as I recall. But the massive 2NER scene it had helped to foster, promote and reflect was very much on the wane. But there are still plenty of folk out there living the dream. there were plenty of other body kitted hatches and other such examples at Modified Nationals as you may expect. Are we ready to feel nostalgia for this sort of thing yet? Morett lights, lexus rear clusters, bad boy bonnets, vents everywhere, murals, chrome alloys... Will it be, or even is it retro?

[Garry]

Everything in this world is cyclical.

Is it cool? Damned straight.
Would I drive one? Probably.
Would I own one? Nope.

Same statements apply for me to 40s/50s/60s classics though. I'm glad its resurging again as its the time now when 80s/90s kids have a few disposable quid to indulge in their childhood memories reading FC.UK /Max/Redline etc and the base cars are rare enough to be an unusual sight on their owe ( last time you saw a mk1 Punto in the wild anyone?.

In summary, period cars with period mods? Sign me up.

[akku]

FWIW the guy with that white pearl Renault 5 was probably older than me. Or has had a proper hard life. So yeah, maybe he built it back then when he was younger, or recreated it now. Dunno. I could have asked but it would have seemed a bit rude....

[pseudonymous]

To each their own, it's what makes this place so good.

However, I couldn't stand the look back in the 90s and certainly don't like it now. Ugly, fussy styling is ugly, fussy styling and doesn't age well. The RST and Nova are the least visually offensive options but the white R5 is the epitome of everything that made that era of car culture so utterly hideous.

They are a broad church style wise, spanning quite a long time period. Some fall into the 90s stick on tat category and others are way more Fast 'n Furious in their appearance.

[Roach]

Nah it was rubbish back then, it’s rubbish now.

Each to their own and all that tho…But I’d rather drive a modern electric over one of them, and that’s really hard to type out.

[stealthstylz]

I love em. There's definitely been a trend coming back to going a bit more out there with styling and paint at the moment, but for a while modified car shows seemed very much like classic car shows but a bit lower and with nicer wheels, which is lovely but a bit repetitive. I was on the motorway as one of the VW shows emptied out a couple of years back and once they'd all aired up to drive height unless you are a saddo like me you'd be hard pushed to tell which ones were modified cars.

[dikkehemaworst]

Man, the red escort. Thats beautiful

[ironmighty07]

It's like anything, the good stuff done well I can appreciate the work and the vision/commitment it took to create even if its not to my taste...

The problem comes when the lesser quality conversions are rolling about(and is there anything harsher on the eye than a badly fitted body kit and rattle can paint job, matched to 4" exhaust working to draw your attention) and that taints the memory of genuinely good stuff.

So the red Escort is stunning, a properly done Dimma 205 is a thing of beauty. early 90s stuff is 30 years old nowadays, worthy of that warm sentimental feeling😁

[2p2g1m]

There was a reunion show last year to celebrate the Max Power years. There is another one planned for this year.

From pictures I have seen it looked pretty good.

[jake899]

Hard pass from me on the scene in general.

Mostly because it was never true modifying, it was modifying for stylings sake in most cases.
Anyone who sticks a plastic fake air vent on a car can do one. However, as the above shows, there were some genuinely talented guys who did some proper work in the effort to make their cars lighter, faster, better. It's just the majority of people did none of those things, and when you follow a fad for the sake of how it looks, you are destined to look stupid as time passes. If you do something that quantifiably improves your project then time passing will never make you look bad.
It's my era, and all my mates had first cars like Novas, Pugs, Escorts etc. I went and got a Triumph Dolomite and I never regret that. Another side effect is that there are so few unmolested hatchback from the 90's/early 00's left now. Which makes the 106 Rallye I have tucked away a good buy once I've taken all the Max Power junk off it and returned it to standard.
One thing I really did like about it was that all the guys I knew had cars, loved cars, raced cars, car shows and meets every weekend. I may not have liked it all but The Car was so central to our lives, in a big part because of the effect of car mags like Max Power.
We'll probably never see that again. This generation doesn't seem so interested.

[Mercdan68]

Back in the 90s I still preferred the xr Renault 5 , golf etc left alone they didn’t need body mods
One scene I never followed the max power thing

[akku]

Jun 2, 2022 9:53:37 GMT jake899 said:

Hard pass from me on the scene in general.

Mostly because it was never true modifying, it was modifying for stylings sake in most cases.
Anyone who sticks a plastic fake air vent on a car can do one. However, as the above shows, there were some genuinely talented guys who did some proper work in the effort to make their cars lighter, faster, better. It's just the majority of people did none of those things, and when you follow a fad for the sake of how it looks, you are destined to look stupid as time passes. If you do something that quantifiably improves your project then time passing will never make you look bad.

Indeed.

But what about the guys who jacked up Cortinas in the 70s, or Cal Look VW craze of the 80s, or Low Riders on hydraulics or rat rods or the 50s Kustom Kemp lead sleds? None of that was about performance.

I hated the Max Power thing when it was mainstream and I probably gave the same reasons as you just did. But the real reasons I didn't like it was that the cars were modern, FWD and I thought the mods were ugly. And all of that is just personal preference so... The real real reason was that that scene was so heavily "fashion and lifestyle" that most cars were not owner-built, they were me-to jobs from a catalogue put together at the local accident repair bodyshop on a budget. The owners were full of obnoxious attitude and the magazines tended to push that aspect. but stripped of that BS, as it seems now, its just guys and girls doing thier thing with cars and that seems OK to me.

The "fashion and lifestyle" stuff came to Retro for a while, and moved on, its elsewhere now.

Just my 2p

[pistonpopper]

I didn't care for it then, and I'm not too fussed with it now, I remember thinking that it was all just too much, and too overdone. I think I have very beige/vanilla tastes, I'm a very bland kinda fella I reckon. That being said, I reckon the blue Nova looks fantastic.

Then to add to the confusion, as well as thinking the max power stuff was all too much, and too over done I see this monstrosity and think it's awesome...



Clearly built without even a hint of thought given to good taste or restraint, far more overdone than any max power car, but it's flippin awesome... I still wouldn't want it though.

I guess for me it's more about what car was the starting point, rather than how outrageous it looks, and all this being said, if I saw some max power cars at a show, I'd probably photograph them, not to my taste, but bring 'em on.

[Alpina99]

Sorry, I used to buy Max Power every month,
I was driving a 24v Mondeo at the time and wanted a body kit on it, (I was only interested in the "correct" RS body kit,)
I saw an advert for a kit in MP and ordered one, a few weeks later and I'd still heard nothing or received anything and couldn't get in touch with the seller so I 'phoned MP,
The t*sser who I spoke to informed me it was a scam and thought it was highly amusing and wasn't interested in helping in any way !!
(Strangely, another mag had been running the same ad and they supplied Police contact details relating to the issue,)
Needless to say, I never bought another issue of MP and wasn't upset at it's demise,
Nigel

[akku]

Good gracious that's awful.

[brachunky]

Jun 1, 2022 14:55:53 GMT Garry said:

Same statements apply for me to 40s/50s/60s classics though. I'm glad its resurging again as its the time now when 80s/90s kids have a few disposable quid to indulge in their childhood memories reading FC.UK /Max/Redline etc and the base cars are rare enough to be an unusual sight on their owe ( last time you saw a mk1 Punto in the wild anyone?.

This to me has been the trigger comment so far, whatever scene, fad, call it what you wish, for many it boils down to nostalgia. When we look back at cars, we are often (with failing memories of all the tat bodges) taken back to the good times in our lives. When I were but a lad type of scenario  We may cringe & wince but all metal classics and plastic fantastic Max Power are part of our memories which each one of us has in some shape or form.
It's all good is some way or other!

[neilsdavies]

I bought issue 1 of Max Power, and I was bought the last one. I probably picked up three or four in between, but usually in a "I can't believe how bad that thing is" kind of way, to show my housemates at uni something terminally tasteless.

The first one (Dimma 205, Escort Cosworth if I remember right) showed promise, but that was quickly stamped out.

Having said all that, I can fully understand the nostalgia aspect of an event like this, and I dare say the quality of the builds have improved!

[johnthesparky]

Style wise, for me it always seemed a really broad church with some of the subtler cars reminding me of the smooth euro style and the really outrageous ones reminding me a little of bosozoku.

I think the biggest issue for me, was it grew as lad culture was growing and so it seemed to be more about standing out and making a statement than about cars, and as a car guy that didn’t sit well.
Also because it was a style thing, it was easy to buy into the scene (with stick on mods for limited money, but with questionable quality)

At the time it didn’t appeal, but I suspect more because of the people and where I was in my life.
But now, the cars that have survived seem to be the higher quality builds and though they may not be my thing, can generally appreciate something about the build.

[akku]

Jun 3, 2022 9:28:26 GMT johnthesparky said:

I think the biggest issue for me, was it grew as lad culture was growing and so it seemed to be more about standing out and making a statement than about cars, and as a car guy that didn’t sit well.

Also because it was a style thing, it was easy to buy into the scene (with stick on mods for limited money, but with questionable quality)

Thats absolutely the thing there I think

[neilsdavies]

johnthesparky I think that's why I've stuck with Cal Look VWs over other styles of VW. I don't get the "early split camper/get so stoned you miss the entire show" mentality, or the "slam it so low it needs flat floorpans" look, or the fake patina (or most of the real patina I suppose!). I don't get the air/hydraulics on an aircooled VW. I kind of get German Look but it'd be easier to just buy the Porsche...

What I'm trying to say, I suppose, is that the forefathers of Cal Look are now in their mid 70s, but there are still people in their 20s who get it, so there is a respect thing going on to those that have gone before, rather than ripping up the rule book for no good reason like Max Power seemed to promote.