The files on the cars worth obsessing over
Automodified is a reference for people who take cars seriously — the definitive files on the legends worth loving, and the concept cars that shaped how every car since has looked. Every generation covered, every figure sourced, every honest reality left in.
The cult-car files
The machines worth obsessing over, one at a time — every generation, the specs that matter, how the scene actually builds them, and the honest realities of living with one. From JDM icons to the cars South Africa built itself.
Browse all 9 legends →
The design files
The concept cars that decided how cars would look — told through the people who drew them and the houses that built them. 4 design houses so far, from Bertone and Italdesign to the studios inside the marques.
Browse all 5 concepts →Just added
The newest files across the library.
Concepts Alfa Romeo Carabo
The wedge that started the wedge era — and the first car in the world with scissor doors. Gandini's beetle-green doorstop, built in ten weeks.
Concepts BMW Turbo
A gullwing wedge that was really a rolling safety lab — Paul Bracq's orange-and-red 1972 concept that pointed straight at the M1.
Concepts Ferrari 512S Modulo
A Le Mans race car turned flying saucer — Paolo Martin's two-shell Pininfarina spaceship, entered by sliding the whole roof forward.
Concepts Lamborghini Marzal
A four-seat brief answered with a glass-walled spaceship — the car a 27-year-old Marcello Gandini used to announce himself, hexagons and all.
Concepts Maserati Boomerang
The purest folded-paper wedge ever drawn — a running Bora reduced to intersecting flat planes, with a steering wheel that spun around its own instruments.
Legends Land Rover Defender
The aluminium-bodied farm tool that barely changed shape in 68 years — assembled in the Cape, engined in Atlantis, and worshipped from the Karoo to the Congo.
Guides & garage
The practical side — mods in the right order, real costs, honest advice. See all guides.
Retreat Mobile Mechanics Keep Your SA Build On Track
Modified car builders in Cape Town struggle with workshop delays. Mobile mechanics in Retreat provide a convenient solution, bringing services to your location.
26 Aug 2026The OBD2 Scanner South African Home Mechanics Truly Need
Many cheap OBD2 scanners sold in South Africa provide only generic error codes, often leading home mechanics to misdiagnose car issues instead of revealing.
25 Aug 2026Roadworthy For Modified Cars In South Africa What Fails
Modified cars in South Africa fail roadworthy due to changes impacting safety, visibility, noise, or dimensions, not merely their appearance.
The standard
What every file on this site is held to.
- Every figure gets a source — a spec sheet, an archive, an auction result.
- Every generation, not just the famous one.
- The honest realities, not the marketing gloss.
- The design and the people behind it, not only the numbers.
- If it's a legend, we treat it like one.