Ever since the first cars rolled off the assembly lines and became available to the general public car owners have been changing things to make the car their own. It started with shade tree mechanics tinkering with engines to make the cars more powerful and faster. Moonshiners needed fast cars with heavy suspensions to carry their loads of illegal liquor and outrun the cops. People found that by changing engines and suspension components the y could get more speed and maneuverability out of their cars. It wasn’t long before someone figured out that cars would run faster with less weight so people started removing fenders, cutting out firewalls, and making other changes to lighten the chassis.

Once engines became more powerful and cars developed the weight to horsepower ratios and suspensions to make it possible people found that at high speeds the body needed to be modified to provide the down-force needed to keep the car on the road. As a result of this airdams and spoilers were born. Nowadays it is possible to purchase car body kits for practically any make and model. These kits can be bought online and installed either by a customizing shop or by the car owner himself. The cars may have changed, but for those who choose to customize their own cars they are simply following a tradition as old as the automobile.