Forza Horizon 5 is one of gaming's greatest car modding games, and I'm flying like a Bulleit in my restomod monstrosities

Why do I love Forza Horizon 5? Let me count the ways. From its gorgeous, varied map, to its Top Gear-influenced racing sensibilities, it's a genuinely fantastic experience. I've got a dirty little secret though – my favorite part of the game isn't to be found in a race, or even behind the wheel. It's found in a menu. "But Joe," I hear you cry, "isn't the whole point of the Forza Horizon games about driving? Why are you perusing menus like you're in a car-based restaurant run by Monsieur Mangetout?"

The answer lies in Forza Horizon 5's deceptively deep but wonderfully accessible set of car modding tools. You can keep your barn finds, those multi-million dollar cars that lure in other racers like sirens. I prefer my souped-up shitboxes any day of the week, thanks.

My best friend's girl

That's the real beauty of this game's car catalog (or cartalog, if you like). For every Lambo or Ferrari that winks at you from the menu with a promise of high-speed thrills, there's a woebegone little jalopy that, like the Ugly Duckling, can grow into something more beautiful. I'm talking about the Reliant Supervans, the BMW Isetta 300 Exports, and Holden Sandmans of the world.

While you can't change every component on every car, the number of individual parts that can be tweaked and swapped is huge for a mainstream racing game. Sure, it's not exactly My Summer Car, there's no real work to be done, but that's part of what makes it so enjoyable. If you don't like a certain modification that you've made, it's quick and easy to change it back, letting you try out as many builds as your credits allow.

For many of the cars, there are a lot of choices to make. I know that I've made some absolutely bizarre machines in my time in FH5. Let's take the BMW Isetta 300 Export – a car that my uncle once owned, funnily enough. This strange little bubble car has a one-cylinder engine as stock, and it is excruciatingly slow. So, let's change that! Rip out that tired old engine and shove an I4 motorbike engine in there! The result wasn't fantastic in any real sense – it was a squirrelly little thing that liked to tip over at the drop of a hat – but by God, it was fun, especially because it was done up to look like Kirby.

This neatly brings us to another aspect of customization that I absolutely love: downloadable skins for your cars. I'm not a talented man when it comes to graphic design, but that's no problem, since the game allows people who are talented to share their designs with the world. Thus, the Kirbymobile. There are a whole ton of skins around, some better than others, some horrifically tasteless, that you can apply to your cars. Police liveries, anime-inspired looks, and more, allowing you to serve car wherever you go. The same rules apply for tuning setups as well, giving novices easy access to tuning maps that will eke every bit of power out of your new components.

Take the UltraVolvo that I made as the ultimate sleeper car. Growing up, my dad had a Volvo V40 in dark green: it was a fantastic car, but what if it were even better? The V40 isn't in Forza Horizon 5, but the similar 850R is, and I chucked a three-liter turbocharged straight six in there as quick as you can blink. The result, along with some other modifications and light tuning, was a drag-racing monster that could smash its way to 220 mph, which was massively helped by the ability to just download a set tuning map.

It's a fantastic engine for creating the attainable cars of your dreams, and allows you to play a virtual part in the restomod scene. For those that are unaware, restomodding cars involves both restoring and modifying them, something that Forza's modification options make extremely easy. The dizzying number of cars in Forza Horizon 5 is another reason that it's just permanently got a place in my heart – it gets close to having 1000 cars, and I love that we're at the point that a game can do this now. The only games that have more cars are those that allow for user-made cars, like BeamNG.drive.

I've made Land Rovers that could have made the Queen a rallycross enthusiast, off-roader Mini Coopers, and a Ute themed around VB Bitter that would make the "VB LONGNECK" guy weep a single tear. While I come to Forza Horizon 5 as a car enthusiast, I really don't think that you need to be one to get a ton of mileage (har) out of the game. The community's work will help you make the car of your dreams, whether that's a little Austin-Healey Sprite that, by rights, should be pootling around a little Cotswold market town, or a Hatsune Miku-themed Nissan Skyline. The cars are secondary to the creativity of the whole process, and, much like you can happily haunt an art gallery while not being able to paint a dog, there's a lot to love about just perusing these automotive art pieces.

If you have even a passing interest in cars, modifying them, or simply blasting across Mexico like a mutant Chihuahua, there's something for you to enjoy. If you enjoy it, the older titles are worth checking out too, though you'll have to do some hunting to get your hands on them now. While I can't tell what's next for the Forza Horizon series, it's fair to assume that it'll have an inflated car list and a huge community ready to work their magic. Check it out, it's still well worth playing.

As we celebrate the five-year anniversary of the Xbox Series X|S, why not take this opportunity to finally play Pentiment?