Awesome Custom Cars

French automaker Renault collaborated with designer Ora Ïto to create a retro-modern take on a 1970s classic car. This fantastic electric restomod of an R17 sports coupe features a new grille design with low-profile quad beam headlamps, a skinny horizontal tail lamp, and a mod interior. Those wheels that look like they’re always in motion are amazing.

Remember when Colin Furze built a 100-horsepower bumper car? Here’s another bumper car that can drive untethered from the amusement park. While home during the pandemic, retired mechanic Dan Hryhorcoff built this 2x scale, 2-seat bumper car. Powered by the drivetrain from a junkyard Chevy Aveo, it’s not exactly quick, but it sure looks awesome.

Cadillac shows its vision for high-end customization with a gorgeous long-bodied convertible that pays tribute to classic Caddies while looking to the future. The 2+2 drop-top offers an interior filled with hand-cut wood veneers, a 55″ pillar-to-pillar display, and an electric drivetrain. Slathered in a buttery Manilla Cream color based on a color from the 1950s.

F1 driver Fernando Alonso commissioned Aston Martin to create the ultimate front-engine road car. The street-legal Valiant looks incredible, is bonkers quick, and sounds fantastic, thanks to its 734 hp 5.2-liter twin-turbo V12 engine and manual gearbox. It rolls on magnesium wheels, has titanium quad exhaust, and has a track-quality suspension.

One of the vehicles headed to the 2024 Easter Jeep Safari is this overland-modded Grand Wagoneer. The Spearmint green SUV is lifted 1.5″, rolls on 35″ BFGoodrich mud-terrain tires, has skid plates, a WARN winch, and TYRI LED lighting. Topping off the Vacationeer is a RedTail Overland Skyloft rooftop camper that can be accessed from inside the SUV.

Desert Power Wagons’ hand-built truck has a new body inspired by a vintage Dodge Power Wagon, riding atop the chassis and drivetrain of a modern RAM 2500. It packs a 6.7L Cummins Turbo Diesel engine making 385 hp and 930 lb-ft. of torque, and rides high with a 2.5″ suspension lift and 40″ mud terrain tires. It’s also got a Warn winch and power side steps.

Porsche is showing off photos of an incredibly cool custom 911. This lifted, AWD version of their sports coupe is outfitted for rallying across some of the world’s most treacherous terrain. After more than 300,000 miles of testing in extreme conditions and 6,000 miles off-road, the car will debut at the 2022 L.A. Auto Show.

For SEMA 2022, Lexus teamed up with DSPORT to build the most kick-ass IS 350. It rocks a twin-turbo V6 from an LS 500, cranked up to 600+ hp, a widebody kit from Artisan Spirits, a Seibon carbon fiber hood and trunk, GTHAUS stainless steel exhaust, a 6-speed sequential transmission, a 4-point roll bar, and Sparco racing seats.

All Bentleys are custom, but not to the degree of this one-of-a-kind tribute to late sportscaster Craig Sager. This special Bentley Continental GT Speed Convertible was built for a 2023 auction to benefit SagerStrong Foundation’s fight against blood cancer, with a design inspired by Sager’s bright, eye-catching blazers.

Lots of people put down deposits on Tesla’s CyberTruck, and are still waiting for the electric truck to make it into production. Cyber Hooligan couldn’t wait for Elon to come through on his promises, so he built his own CyberTruck, only this one is based on a wrecked Toyota Prius C – complete with the original hybrid drivetrain.

This special F-PACE SVR crossover was inspired by Jaguar’s racing success. Its stunning Midnight Amethyst paint is paired with 22″ Champagne Gold alloy wheels and Sunset Gold accents. It packs a 550hp supercharged V8 engine, and just 394 will be built, one for each lap driven by Jaguar when it won the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Custom built by David Brown Automotive, this retro MINI is loaded with rock and roll touches. Celebrating 60 years of Marshall audio, it has black metallic paint and gold accents, a custom mesh grille, Marshall and “60 Years of Loud” graphics, an 8-speaker Marshall audio system, and a DSL1 combo amp that slides out of the trunk.

Because the gas-guzzling Hummer H1 wasn’t big enough, Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan aka the “Rainbow Sheikh” commissioned the build of this monster edition that’s roughly three times the size of the original. It’s powered by four diesel engines – one for each wheel, and its interior serves as a conference room.

This insane vehicle is basically a ride-on V8 engine. Created by the guys behind Boss Hoss Motorcycles, the Hoss Fly Barstool is powered by a 9.37-liter Chevy big-block V8 that makes 621 horsepower. You can build your own from a kit, or you can buy this one at Mecum’s 2022 Houston auction, which runs from 3.31 to 4.2.2022.

If a factory Ford Bronco isn’t enough for you, Apocalypse Manufacturing can set you up with an custom truck based on Ford’s hard-to-acquire off-roader. This insane mod adds a third axle, a truck bed, a 4-inch lift, custom wheels, 37″ all-terrain tires, and more. The first one hits the auction block 4.9.22 at Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach.

Reporting for Pickup Truck Plus SUV Talk, automotive journalist and friend of The Awesomer, Micah Wright headed to the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon for an up-close look at some of the weird and wonderful custom SUVs, trucks, and vans on display on the show floor. That Daihatsu Midget truck is bonkers. Watch part two here.