Synonym for a heavily modified or self-made car or thing
I'm looking for a word for the following things (they may be the same, or have different words):
- cheap car modified or constructed by owner using scrapyard and low-end tools (and thus having certain "quality")
- cheap car with expensive and redundant modifications (golden bumpers?)
- a regular car which has almost all parts removed and/or replaced to make it more lightweight and faster up to make it unusable for everyday use
- not a car but technically complex thing fits any description above
The only words I've found are junker and jalopy, but may be there is more?
EDIT: Commenters asked me to present a sample sentence, but unfortunately I'm trying to find a name for a blog, so there is no sample sentence. May be "%word% Lab" or something.
I suggest customized (BrE customised). Lexico has
customize
ADJECTIVEMade or done to order; custom-made.
Modifying or customizing a vehicle has also become a trend among car enthusiasts nowadays.
Every bike is unique because everyone customises their bike to reflect their individual personalities.
Similar to this is the term custom car. Wikipedia has
A custom car is a passenger vehicle that has been either substantially altered to improve its performance, often by altering or replacing the engine and transmission; made into a personal "styling" statement, using paint work and aftermarket accessories to make the car look unlike any car as delivered from the factory; or some combination of both.
Batmobile
And then there is the kustom car in a particular style, see Wikipedia.
Kustoms are modified cars from the 1930s to the early 1960s, done in the customizing styles of that time period.
I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a word that perfectly fits all four of your descriptions. That said, one that comes to mind for me and which may get you close is jerry-build, which can be used as a noun or a verb meaning:
jerry-build: to build cheaply and flimsily (Websters)
For the record, though, I'm also a huge fan of @Weather Vane's more specific suggestions for your examples two and three: pimped and stripped down, respectively.