I blame this modern age of "stages."
There used to be a million different parts from hundreds of different companies to rice out your Civic to your heart's desire. Now there are only a handfull of companies offering the same few parts, so that everyones modified car is basically the same as everyone elses except with different wheels (unless you spend thousands of dollars to make a track car).
Personally, I'm at the point where I think I'd rather just have a nice Tacoma or Wrangler Unlimited that I can take camping, skiing, and anything else I will ever need.