For me, the essence of modifying is an individuals interpretation of the car they own, my car is awful to some people but that doesn't matter, they have a different interpretation of what it should look like, I always wanted the spoiler from seeing it on the ww website, I also wanted the 4 piece bodykit. The predator bonnet was one I'd seen and liked but never planned to get, I just got lucky. There are mods that I like a lot, the angel eyes are one such mod, I always wanted them before anybody had them but didn't, then once they became commonplace, I didn't want them as I felt I was copying other cars and I wanted to be a little bit more individual.
One point about the cougar clones, I have always bought cars that were just a little different and as a result they were difficult to mod as they weren't the mass produced stuff, My 309GTI, XR4i Cougar etc etc, I liked to take the individuality to another stage by modding the unusual cars. I still like the smug looking audi or bm driver who has a look as they pass you or you pass them, even a 9 year old car leaves them uncertain if they should feel superior or not, that's because my car is a one off and they don't see the same type of car day in and day out.