The Instagram account Stancypants, run by a creator who goes by the name Luke, posted photos this weekend of a heavily modified Mazda RX-8 that appeared to have been destroyed by fire. In the post, he wrote that the car had been blown up intentionally.
“I understand a lot of people out there hold hatred towards me, my car, my business, ect [sic]. But this is a line that shouldn’t be crossed,” he wrote. “Endangering lives by blowing up a vehicle on the road next to people’s homes is not alright in any way shape or form.”
The car had come to some online notoriety after video of the “stanced” car trying to get onto a trailer surfaced online. The car is modified to get as low to the ground as possible and to have the most extreme wheel camber possible, while still moving.
Read: ‘Stanced’ VW Golf GTI In California Will Leave You Dumbfounded
As a result, the RX-8 struggled with aspects of normal roads, never mind trying to get up onto a car trailer, using standard ramps. In a video, the car was seen essentially launching itself onto the ramp, damaging itself in the process. That led to much commentary online about the car and the “stanced” style of modifying, which is an extreme aesthetic form of modification, and often makes cars significantly less practical.
As referenced in his message on Instagram, Luke was aware of this animosity. In fact, the Stancypants Instagram account’s bio reads, “I build cars to hurt your feelings.” As was written in the post, though, there is a large and important distinction to be made between disagreeing with someone’s aesthetic choices and attacking a vehicle in public, which is totally not acceptable.
Exactly what happened to the vehicle is not clear at this juncture, though we have reached out to the owner for more information. Based on the photos, though, it would appear that fire engulfed the front end of the vehicle. While that is where the engine is, a frequent source of fires in modified vehicles, damage to the bottom of the windshield on the passenger side could hint at an external source of fire.
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