THEY ARE EVERYWHERE.
I live in Ankeny, IA...just north of Des Moines, which is hardly the automotive trend capital of the world, and the most hidieous example of a ricestang that I have ever seen is right around the corner from my house. It's an Orange 1996-1998 six popper with a huge aluminum wing, and not one, but TWO fart cans, and some seriously ugly body kit on it. For the money the guy dumped on his 6 popper to make it look like that, he could have probably put together a nice solid 12 second 5.0, but then he would actually 'be fast' instead of 'looking fast'.
Right down the street from me, is a kid that has a 1999 V6 that again, has the ugly body kit...you know, one with the front air dam that extends about 5 feet in front of the car, big big wing, and a fart can.
At cruise night at Porky's (if there are any Iowa folks here, they know what I am talking about), I have seen one or two ricestangs roll in, and roll out wiht out stopping...and we all pointed and laughed, and said, "Poor little pony".
I see them alllllllllllllllllllll the time. The sad thing is that the owners of these cars really don't even KNOW what a 5.0 is, and think that their car is "fast"
I have to admit, V6 Stangs aren't my cup of tea, but if you throw a blower or turbo on one, I am sure it can be quick...but other than putting a poweradder on one, calling it a 'performance' car just doesn't seem right...to me.
Hax