Why do some do this?

My oldest friend has a place of his own. Every now and then when I drive by there, I see this black Honda Civic SI sitting there. Last night I finally met the guy, and I asked him if he ever thought about modifying his SI. He told me that it is not an SI, but actually an EX. He put on an SI badge, the red/clear tail lights, and the SI rims. When I finally looked at the front of the car, he had the 96-98 headlights and front end. I don't understand why some pretend to have something that they don't. You pull up next to a another EX with intake and exhaust and get beaten, but that other guy thinks that he is spanking an SI. I would be embarrassed!!...lol I told him that instead of going through all that trouble he should have just bought an SI for crying out loud. I know that everybody does their own thing, and I respect everything that everyone does, but still I don't understand. I was hoping that someone would let me in on the secret...lol.