Kustom Kulture is not just about enhancing a car’s looks and/or its functions. No, it is not limited to that. In fact, Kustom Kulture (pay attention to the second word) encompasses a wider scope, which, OK, we can attribute to the nifty changes one makes to his ride. But then, what am saying is that, it is not just about lifting a car to an extra height, or ramming in it a 24” TV, or having it painted with yellow and orange flames; it is about how this whole thing works, how it operates beyond vehicles and establishes a way of life among its patrons, from the artworks to the fashion to the hairstyles. We can sum the whole idea of it in four words: it is a culture.

That being said, allow me to point out one product of this culture that, dare I say, shall be remembered for generations—and no, I am not talking about MTV’s Pimp My Ride. Anyone here remember Twisted Metal, that game first published in 1995 by Sony for the PlayStation, which features custom cars dueling it out to the death?

The game very much embraces—and presents in an adrenaline-pumping manner—the very idea of Kustom Kulture: innovation. Sure, it may all be about blasting cars and wreaking havoc in places like Los Angeles, Paris, Egypt (cool, bro, it happens only in the game), but it provides an outrageous yet grounded supposition of how far we can operate on cars. I am not saying we load the Plymouth Road Runner with ballistic cannons or modify a Chevrolet Camaro with electric-firing guns, and create a shoot-out hell in the streets of New York. It is the idea I am pertaining to; how it is revolutionary, how it is challenging, how it is stimulating.

It is like this: Robocop is to man, Twisted Metal is to cars. Dig?

The thing here is for us to hope, more importantly to aim, for the grandest upgrades for cars—not necessarily the guns, but the innovative idea behind making one, which, I believe, can lead to the manufacturing of, say, exhaust pipes giving off earth-friendly gases. That we may not get too caught up with customization’s superficiality and appreciate more its functionality is another story. And it is actually beginning, and that we car aficionados can be thankful for.

Now, what is in it for the Twisted Metal cars if they do come to life? Who knows, such customized monsters might even save the world someday. Now that, in music lingo, is fuckin’ metal. \m/