1) Mercedes SLR McLaren 999 Red Gold Dream
The ‘McMerc’ SLR was one of the supercars of the early 2000s. Over 600hp, a carbon-fiber chassis masterminded by Gordon Murray, steampunk Batmobile looks, and, well, a pretty confused character, really. Part track-ready supercar, part deluxe heavyweight Benz. It was an odd car. But it didn’t deserve this.
Emerging in 2009, the 999 Red Gold Dream was the work of a Swiss entrepreneur called Ueli Anliker. Mr. Anliker decided what the SLR needed was a Hot Wheels body kit, 600 inset rubies, 5kg of gold leaf, and a hole cut in the roof panel. Some say he spent $3 million on the project. Other reports suggest $8 million, or that it’s now valued at $11 million. Gold is an investment, right?
And this was more than just cosmetic. Gordon Murray, noted road car and F1 design supremo, has spoken at length at how tricky it was to package the SLR’s side-exit exhausts just behind the front wheel. This complex arrangement saved weight and kept hot gases away from the back of the car where they would interfere with the diffuser.
Anliker decided he knew better than Professor Murray and had his—gold, naturally—exhausts rerouted to exit just ahead of the rear wheels, about where your legs would be if you had just climbed out of the 999 Red Gold Dream. Can anyone smell burnt hair?
2) Mansory Cormeum
Ah, yes, Mansory. Rich pickings for anyone fascinated by taste crimes against supercars. This will not be our only visit to their German workshop.
The Cormeum, revealed in 2011, is Mansory’s take on the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. Because what the modern gullwing needed was, of course, a carbon-fiber widebody kit, an enormous centrally supported rear wing, a sort of SLR/Enzo-ish front beak, and an upgrade from 563hp to 731hp.
Oh, and headlights from a Ferrari 599. Obviously. Why have a collection of supercars, when you can just cram features from all of them onto one poor unsuspecting super-GT?
3) Nimrod Katyusha
The annual Geneva International Motor Show was, on the face of it, nothing more than a giant showing-off contest between the likes of Volkswagen, Peugeot-Citroen, and Mercedes-Benz to see who could wire the most lights onto a stand and then fill it with all the cars you’d forgotten they made.
But the real reason we’re upset Geneva has been canceled during the pandemic has been stuff like this. Where else could you gaze upon the angular work of Nimrod?
Yes, Nimrod. A Slovakian tuner with a penchant for paying tribute to the Ferrari FXX. With a 458 Italia, some cardboard, the budget of a school nativity, and the artistic skills of the juvenile actors playing the donkey.
We haven’t heard much from Nimrod since the Katyusha appeared way back in 2014. Perhaps it’s really busy with all the demand.
4) Novitec N-LARGO 720S
To Bavaria next, where Novitec, a tuner famed for big power hikes usually applied to Ferraris, has had a go at mating a McLaren Senna with a prosthetic leg.
In fact, the N-LARGO is a widebody 720S that’s two inches wider up front and five inches wider at the back than standard. All the new panels are carbon fiber, while a fresh exhaust apparently liberates another 86hp. Power, of course, is the last thing the 720S needed more of. But, much as we love it at Top Gear, it’s fair to say not everyone was a fan of that ‘eye socket’ design at the front.
So, now you know what it looks like when it’s all painted body color. Better?
5) Liberty Walk…anything. Ferrari 458 Italia?
West of Tokyo in Nagoya, Japan, lies the lair of one of the most infamous tuning houses on the scene. Liberty Walk was founded by Wataru Kato when he was merely 26 years old, and spent its early years concentrating on domestic Japanese kei cars.
It wasn’t until he provided a few Lamborghini some bodykit that the Liberty Walk as we known it today really exploded into life, and it was the bandsaw/massive riveted arches treatment given to delicate European exotica like the McLaren 650S and the Ferrari 458 Italia that really got the Internet live-and-frothing.
Those trademark huge arches, exposed rivets, and outrageous negative camber are now Liberty Walk’s signature style. Never change, Japan.
6) IAMAUTO
Fiberglass bodykit? Where we’re going, we’re going to need all the fiberglass bodykit.
The IAMAUTO is the brainchild of Black Eyed Peas frontman and hit-making architect of ‘That Song You Used To Like When You Were Tipsy,’ William ‘will.i.am’ Iam.
Mr. Iam is actually a big fan of custom cars, having asked West Coast Customs to sort him out with a widebody Tesla Model S apparently modeled on a Stormtrooper’s head, a bizarre VW Beetle-based hotrod, and this gullwing creation. Apparently, there’s a V8 in the back.
Once upon a time, this was a DeLorean. Now, we’re not really sure. But I gotta feeling Will is pleased with it, even if it’s not very good over speed humps speed humps speed humps. Check it out.
Okay, we’ll shut up now.
7) LeMansory
Back to Mansory for this recent effort in succeeding where Ford’s class-win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans so obviously failed. Of course, a tuning house knows more about aerodynamics and downforce than a team that created a supercar specifically to succeed in an endurance race.
The LeMansory is obviously a Ford GT-based concoction. It’s got new headlights, a vast rear wing, an extra exhaust pipe (because three is more and therefore better than two), and checkerboard-pattern carbon fiber. Only three will be produced. Gutted.
In fairness to LeMansory (get it, get it?), the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 has been elevated from a stock 647hp to 710hp, so it’s got a fighting chance of dragging all those extra appendages through the air fast enough to make them do...something.
8) Gemballa MIG-U1
Back in 2010, German tuner Gemballa—usually content with applying power, wing, and deep-dish rims to Porsches—announced it had created an upgrade package for the 499 Ferrari Enzo hypercars sold by invitation only to Ferrari’s most trusted, discerning clients.
Bold move.
Like half of all the cars on the planet, it seems the MIG-U1 was inspired by fighter jets. Hence the name—MiGs are a family of Soviet fighter aircraft tracing their roots back to World War II.
Instead of guns, the U1 was fitted with a bizarre suit measuring 80mm wider up front and 100mm wider than stock at the rear. The kit was said to add 35kg of extra front-end downforce, with 85kg more negative lift at the rear. At just 120kph, the MIG presumed you were done with cornering and folded the wing flat. Right. Good-o.
A roof-mounted air intake and a new exhaust apparently lifted the 6.0-liter V12’s output from 650hp to 691hp, while lighter wheels saved 16kg in overall weight. Gemballa said he would only ever sell 25 examples, but so far as we can tell, only one white example was ever produced.
Thankfully, Gemballa Jr. appears to have applied his custom-car talents to a more fitting cause…
9) Pagani Zonda Anija
Odd thing, to mod a Pagani. After all, there are few original Zondas left. Pagani does a nice line of business in shipping cars back to the factory when they change owners, and rebuilding them from scratch with upgraded AMG V12s, wilder wings, and more glossy carbon bodywork than you can shake a bank check at.
To go unofficial, you’ve got to fall squarely in the IDGAF camp. And that’s where we find Yamada-san’s Zonda, as reimagined by his car-modding haus of excellence, Anija.
The car is constantly evolving through different guises, having sported several exhaust setups, ribbed and ridged blue bodywork as well as a white/black two-tone livery, and various configurations of angular headlight.
Even in the rarefied pool of Paganis, this one is unique. Wonder if Horacio approves?
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
