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WTF Friday: Deadly Vixen

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Chris Johnston sent me a link to a Stance | Works thread the other day with no words along with it.

Since links from Chris are either good for a good laugh, or a great read I clicked through and was greeted with a LS powered project based on a car I had never seen before.

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If WTF is that is your first reaction to looking at the car above don’t be ashamed, as it was mine too. The car is a ’72 TVR Vixen, which in layman’s terms means somewhat obscure British sports car.

In decent enough condition but “in need of some restoration” the builder figured bringing it back to stock was boring, but building it faster, wider, lower, and meaner was certainly not.

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An LS6 was sourced to motivate this car and funny enough the motor and transmission is actually 40lbs lighter than that which it replaced.

The frame has been modified to work with the new power plant with a 2005 GTO rear end making its way into the mix since the factory one would have given up the ghost first romp on the throttle.

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The suspension is mostly custom, with some C5 gear thrown in for good measure, and the rollers are 18×10 and 18×11’s Boze Forged Wheels with 275/35/18 front and 315/30 rubber.

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The wide body is a fairly heavily modified version of an existing ’70s kit that houses the wide rubber perfectly. While the flares were being moulded to the body the factory rear tails were removed in order to affix the much nicer looking earlier model units.

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Judging by the progress thus far I had assumed this car was going to be primarily a track car but it is quite the opposite. While it will be driven quite hard on the track the wing will be removable as it’s going to see most of its use on the street.

Outstanding.

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The build is still very much ongoing and you can follow it right here.

 

 

Event Coverage: Eurocharged Canada – BMW/MB True North

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Seemingly under my nose Eurocharged Canada popped up as a serious player in the BMW, Mercedes, and exotic tuning arena here in the GTA. Offering bumper to bumper service, but specializing in making jam I imagine there will be quite a few very fast cars cruising Toronto this year with Eurocharged stickers.

This past weekend they had a BMW/MB True North season opening event and I headed out later in the afternoon to check out the facility and a few of the cars that showed up.

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Island time, combined with unseasonably cold weather and some pretty brutal wind, meant that I missed the bulk of the cars that were in attendance but there were still more than a few worth pointing my lens at.

Enjoy the photos and hat tip to Scraped Crusaders Gill for letting me know about this shindig.

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OEM+ action with this w202 on AMG monoblocks
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Outside the OEM bubble Meister SP2s looked great on this car
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Beauty e34 Alpina
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I’m all for the wide scale usage of te37s

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The tire sizing on this car really nails it

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Moving inside the shop I was greeted by this beautiful Datsun 510
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Not far away sat this clean Supra with some nice fab work under the hood
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Not sure what project these Forgelines are destined for
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Little up skirt look at the exhaust system on this m3
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Allen Of Simply Tire brought out one of his toys
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Randy Sparre’s built e46 m3 was sitting in the show room. Last I checked this purple people eater puts down about 375hp

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Randy’s car has WP Pros EX6-360 calipers and unique sawblade rotors, all behind equally unique/seldom seen BC Racing Wheels
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Can’t resist taking photos of this e30 every time I see it

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Great fitment on the LM 20s
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On my way out I spotted Sharad’s car on his winter set up and couldn’t resist a quick snap. Authentic wheels all year round for SK

Theme Tuesdays: Regas On Everything

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When it comes to single piece wheels in my mind two stand over the rest of the pack. The dependable and affordable Enkei RPF-1 and the extremely versatile, Russian made, Desmond Regmaster Evo (and it’s larger damn near identical cousin the Desmond Marquis Promada).

A simple five spoke that works on pretty much any car in an appropriate proximity to the ground (low) it is a little embarrassing that it has taken me this long to pay homage to an iconic wheel that essentially laid the ground work for the spoon sw388, Rota Slipstream and so forth.

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I’m not going to lie with aggressive fitment starting to become almost comically exaggerated in some cases, tucking seems refreshing
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For those who like things a bit more aggressive, but not extreme, these widened Regas are pretty awesome
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There’s a good chance these might be the same wheels as the ones above since I think the originated from MemoryFab In California
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I do not post nearly enough Z32s here and this one is stunning
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Today’s Theme Tuesday was actually sparked because of this car. I was originally pulling together a JDM wheels/Euro car mix.
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Nice spec too for a good balance of function and form
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Great looking FC
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Unfortunately the owner of this car cracked on of his Regas (seemingly common) and has temporarily replaced them with MB battles
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Hopefully he gets it repaired because these look great mounted
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This just cracked my all time favourite GC list
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I think it’s safe to say these wheels safely work well on any Honda between 89 to 1999 or so…

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End things off with the beautiful, but since parted, S2000 from Level One

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Blue Blooded: Bryan Costa’s Rocket Bunny FR-S

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I first saw the progress pictures of Bryan’s Scion FR-S on Cyrious Garage’ Instagram, and being a sucker for all types of BBS RS wheels I reached out to set up a photo shoot when the car was finished.

A few more tweaks, and a couple of weeks later, the car was complete and clad in a baby blue vinyl wrapped all the way down to the jambs by Premier Wraps.

As a fan of Action Bronson, when I saw photos of the colour I thought of the Mr. Wonderful single baby blue. I also thought, of all colours to choose why this one?

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According to Bryan his first car was blue and he promised himself if he started building his FR-S that it would too would be blue.

As he pulled up the to the Starbucks we were set to meet it became clear why he chose this particular hue. In person the colour makes the car stand out like nothing else, as many will see in a few weeks on May 23, at Fitted Lifestyle‘s Toronto Event.

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The BBS RS wheels currently fit to the car came originally 16” and were converted to 18” with new lips and barrels. The center caps are the Pininfarina type which go well with new colour, the front wheels are a steam rolling 10.5j with a 225/35 tire and rears are 11.5j with a 255/35 tire.

The car sits lower to planet Earth thanks to BC coil-overs and to get a bit of grunt out of the boxer engine there’s an Invidia N1 catback, over, and front pipe.

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To allow the car to sit nice and low in the front, Bryan explained that because the Rocket Bunny front flares sit higher than the stock ones, Pat Cyr from Cyrious Garageworks had to remove material from the metal inner fender and wheel well.

This prevents the reverse rake you see on a lot of other FR-S’, especially those of the bagged variety.

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Rocket Bunny also suggests removal of the plastic fender liner, however Pat worked his magic and now Bryan retains a trimmed version of it to keep things tidy.

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Another question I had for Bryan was, “Why did you choose Cyrious Garageworks over a body shop to install the Rocket Bunny kit.” Without hesitation he replied by saying, “…because it’s Pat! He’s got one, I thought it’d be cool for him to do mine too…. and I got to meet him! Plus I cant weld haha”

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Bryan would like to thank Pat @ Cyrious Garageworks/cyriousgarageworks.com, Rick @ Garage 16, and Paul @ Premier Wraps for their help with the build.

You can follow Bryan on Instagram @thatcosta

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WTF Friday: Long Dub Is Long

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Ever wondered what would happen if you took a four door MKI VW Golf, cut the hatch off, and in its place welded the back of a MKI Volkswagen Caddy?

Well wonder no more because that is exactly what one man in Utah did before he put it on eBay a few weeks back.

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In addition to the hack and slash described in the opening paragraph –along with some reinforcements– the builder also states that the suspension was replaced and all the necessary extensions were made to the emergency brake and exhaust to make this still 100% legal for the road.

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Billed as a turn-key car the seller does admit there are dents and dings throughout because “the guy” who was doing the paint flaked off.


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The price for this ‘carcuk’ was 7,500 and the auction ended with that not met so I imagine it will be up for sale again soon.

While it would probably look half decent a lot lower with some nice wheels under it I imagine this build will probably find its way to a junk yard. 17 feet 3 inches is a lot of VW for even the most die-hard of enthusiast.

Patiently Waiting

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In 2012 I stumbled upon a Pantera based racing team out of Japan known as Team Pantera Of Japan. While their name isn’t exactly the most creative thing ever, their cars are in fact awesome.

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Of their extensive Pantera fleet the car known as The Purple Demon has really captured my eye, and I’ve been patiently waiting for a media house with Japan contacts *cough*speedunters*cough*The Nariata Dog Fight*cough* to get some feature coverage but alas nothing.

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Thankfully they have a Facebook page that is updated often enough for me to get my fix. Enjoy these pics they recently posted while I try to figure out how to get to Japan on the cheap.

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Theme Tuesdays: UCF10 & UCF20 Lexus LS400s

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In the four-year span between this post and the original LS400 Theme Tuesday post people have pushed the first and second generation LS400 chassis passed what was previously deemed possible.

Whether it be wider, lower, faster or more sideways this aging luxury sedan still looks pretty contemporary in the right hands. Heck it still looks a hell of a lot better than some of the luxury sedans that came after it.

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These cars are capable of swallowing wheels, if I had to hazard a guess.. 10s all around?
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It’s funny at the time these were released I hated two tones and gold emblems, guess my tastes are now more refined
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I’ve always been amazed that I have not seen a single photo of this car where the bumper shows any damage, with such a large lip I’d imagine it is a bit of a handful to pilot
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Sleepy Wagon’s not so wagony LS400
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The modified front fenders on this car really make it stand out when compared to standard UCF20s
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Locksmice Duke wheels just suit this car so well, perhaps the BBS RS of the LS400 world

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Bazerias are not a bad choice either
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A new burnout Theme Tuesday is on my ‘To Do’ list
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I’m willing to bet this is the only LS in this color anywhere
The SK Performance LS400 is also a very unique color, I have not seen another in it
The SK Performance daily driver is also a very unique color, looks slightly different every time I see it
Sic's LS400 is on 22s this season, 22x11 out back...
Sic’s Ryde’s car has seen a whole pile of different wheels under it
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Pretty sure these only lasted one show
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Brett’s LS400 which I post a lot but hey… it’s awesome
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This Super Star Garage build is absolutely wild
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It changed recently and actually looks as though it would fit in perfectly in Japan. There’s a build thread for this car here which I am only on the second page of
Elvis’ (of Stance Nation Fame) Lexus LS400 when it was bagged

The newer, wider, static rendition

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Sadly I don’t think it sees much road time anymore
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For those of you that love the color blue, but perhaps not the camber above here’s another state side example from AutoFashion
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…and sliding through with the combo breaker

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I know there are a few of you reading this who feel this is the only proper thing to do with a rwd sedan
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LS 400 race cars didn’t really yield a lot of hits but I did find this build by Sergey of Sergey’s House of wheels

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He has a thread on the progress though it seems like Instagram and Facebook might be your best bets for consistent updates

Awful Hero

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Sometime ago I started following @awful_hero on Instagram. Not sure how it happened but I am pretty sure it involved a conversation about an oddball car because that is essentially all we ever end up talking about.

Unlike myself, who just has a general interest in unique builds but actually drives a fairly par for the course car, AF actually pilots a fairly uncommon craft.

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Reppin’ for Unfriendly Garage his Volvo 240 wagon is literally always changing but the recent respray from blue to black is all killer and no filler.

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Who would have pegged Eagle Alloys to look so damn good on a Volvo? Furthermore who would have thought an early model e30 air damn would look good under the bumper of a Volvo, or that fender mirrors would work so well on the same car?

This. Car. Rules.

WTF Friday: The Italian Stallion

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Typically when the topic of car motors in motorcycles is discussed people speak of small block, or sometimes even big block domestic motors. Occasionally someone might also bring up that weird V-10 powered Dodge Tomahawk thing, or the insane 48 cyl Kawasaki, but as a rule motorcycles ten cylinder or better bikes are fairly rare.

A few days ago I spotted this Lamborghini V12 Espada powered bike on Brett Creates and immediately needed more info.

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Before too long I discovered it was built by Chuck Beck. A former Shelby fabricator who was responsible for designing the (awesome) Ford Shogun Festiva. Clearly Mr. Beck is clearly a fan of large motors in small packages.

In this case the motor came from a Espada that was involved in a fire so Lamborghini purists no need to fret.

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When asked how it rides Chuck is quoted as saying: It runs and drives— and above 5mph it goes down the road just like a regular bike. It’s a little unwieldy at low speeds though.

Crumpledphotos on youtube as some footage of this bike running, pre body work, at a Cars and Coffee event in 2014.

They also have a walk around video of it in its current form:

This bike would pair nicely with this previous WTF Friday vehicle.


Because Bags

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As I hopelessly wait for the weather to get better I’ve been kicking around forums looking for some new builds to read, and content to post. After catching up on a few threads I have subscribed to in the Stance Works Forums I peered into the Showroom where I was greeted by this M4.

Touted as the ‘lowest m4’ this black coupe sits on the ground via a custom Air Lift set-up. 20″ footwork is provided by Water Cooled Industries, and the very slick CF lip is an Enlaes piece.

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I do believe this is the first M4 I have ever posted on the site. Neat.