Auto Obsession
Sun Herald
Sunday February 27, 2000
Forget loud stereos and wild paint jobs, the latest craze in modified cars is the shark-filled fish tank. Joshua Dowling peers into the subculture to find out why.
YOU hear them long before you see them. Not because of squealing tyres or a loud exhaust but because of the "doof, doof, doof" from the sound systems.
Modified cars are a way of life for some people - and a curiosity to the rest of us. Before you sneer, though, it is worth noting that they no longer live on the cultural fringe. They have
gone from a cottage industry to a multimillion-dollar one.
This weekend, for example, will be the fourth year in a row that organisers of the Auto Salon have filled the Homebush Bay Pavilion with more than 400 modified cars valued at more than $20 million.
Most enthusiasts view a car as a starter kit. In extreme cases, some spend up to $100,000 on a car as humble as a Hyundai Excel, but generally most cars have had their purchase price spent again on stereos, wheels and flashy paintwork.
Our only question is why?
Sydney University psychology lecturer James Dalziel, who has conducted research into driver behaviour and specialises in road safety issues, has studied car enthusiasts for years.
"All people identify with their cars but young males especially use it as a way to express their personality," Mr Dalziel said.
"Years ago, some French psychoanalysts claimed there was a link between modified cars and male sexual frustrations, but I would disagree with that view.
"That's what a lot of people say, but it is much more complex than that and I don't think Australian males would agree with those sentiments."
Mr Dalziel said while older males might tinker in a garden shed, the automobile was the most common way for young males to express socially something they have a passion for.
"Cars are out in the open for everyone to see," he said. "A guy in a modified car wants to say he's different from the rest of the crowd, but so too does a mum who drives a Pajero. She is saying to the world 'I can get away from the suburbs if I want to'."
The next level for young males, said Mr Dalziel, was one-upmanship.
"They've heavily invested in these cars and its inevitable that people use them to make social comparisons," he said. "So the guys want to have the bigger, faster or louder car than the next guy when they pull up at the traffic lights.
"You've only got to look at the magazines dedicated to this culture and it shows that these guys are pushing the boundaries and forever fitting larger engines into smaller cars."
From there, warns Mr Dalziel, the risks increase.
"They want to break society's rules and the road rules are one of the easiest rules to break for a young man wrestling with society. They can do it any time," he said.
"For some males, this is like an extreme sport. They can drive fast or take a corner fast instead of jumping off a canyon.
"Then there is the issue of social deviance, wanting to be an outsider, and both of these are potentially mixed in."
Mr Dalziel said that while the overwhelming majority of modified car owners obeyed the law and simply enjoyed cars, there was a minority which stretched the boundaries.
"There are always some people who get enormous pleasure from fast driving," he said. "Years ago, young men used violence at the pub as a way of showing their bravado, now it's cars.
"Young males who take risks on the road pose an enormous threat to their lives and the lives of others. I believe our society doesn't do nearly enough to discourage that behaviour."
Mr Dalziel said the car industry was partly to blame because "so many advertisements highlight how fast a car goes or how well it corners".
"You see it on Friday nights," he said. "It's not unusual to have someone in a hot car tear past at high speed."
European research published in 1994 in a book called Fuzzy Dice, Dream Cars And Indecent Gestures: A Choreology Of Driver Behaviour, showed there was a connection between the modified car subculture and risk-taking driver behaviour, although some aspects of those findings have since been criticised.
One thing's for certain, no-one has done research into why someone would install a fish tank in their car.
Brian Elhassan, 24, of Bankstown, reckons his car is worth $120,000 after all its modifications - not including the recent addition of a fish tank and six freshwater sharks valued at $300 each. And, he says, not including labour.
After starting with a Honda CRX worth $40,000, Mr Elhassan has spent $5,500 on wheels, $15,000 on paint, $15,000 on the interior, $26,000 on the stereo and $35,000 on the imported, turbocharged, nitrous-fed engine. The irony is, the car now has too much power to get traction and, driven in anger, is slower than a standard CRX.
"It gets so much wheelspin, it just sits there," said Mr Elhassan, the winner of the past two Sydney Auto Salons.
"To me, it's a sport. I just love cars, it's like a drug."
Although parts of his Honda's underbody, including suspension, have been painted or chromed, he says he still drives his car to work every day. The only exception is when it rains.
"I keep it so clean you can eat off it," he said.
But isn't he worried about it being stolen? "Nah, it's so recognisable. Everybody knows it. Plus, I've engraved just about every nut and bolt. It wouldn't be worth their trouble."
Mr Elhassan says he treats every show as a challenge.
"Last year it was big wheels, the year before it was a wild paint job but this year I got bored. I wanted to do something really different," he said.
So he mounted a perspex tank above the speaker box in the boot and dropped in half-a-dozen sharks. Don't call the RSPCA just yet, though.
"When the sharks are in there, I've got a switch which disconnects the subwoofers in the rear. I don't want to deafen them."
It would be fair to say Mr Elhassan's boot will have a few more trophies to take home after today's show.
Roll up
More than 100,000 spectators are expected to attend this year's Auto Salon at Homebush Bay, which finishes today. Star cars include Ferraris, BMWs and the usual fleet of hot Hondas and Subarus. And, of course, the Honda with the fish tank.
Say what?
The dB drag race is held at 0km/h. A competition comparing stereo quality, it has some contestants entering cars that are literally louder than a jumbo jet. It's not necessarily the loudest car that wins - criteria include sound quality and installation.
Groovy baby
Parts of the Sydney Auto Salon will resemble a disco. Some of Australia's top DJs will be mixing dance tracks. There's also a live band playing modern R&B.
Learn the lingo
There are more than 70 categories being contested, including That's A Sick Body Kit (sick is good), Wicked Interior (wicked is good), and There's More Power In The Boot Than Under The Bonnet for cars with mega-loud stereos.
© 2000 Sun Herald
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