Gearbox Magazine 1.03

ISSUE #3

SHITBOX RALLY! DAMN YANKEES! THIS IS WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT. BUCKET LIST!

WHAT IT’S LIKE ENTERING SHITBOX FROM USA!

BATTLE TANK WRC BOSS

TED MARQUEZ’S SHOW-QUALITY DSM RACE CAR

HE RAN RALLY GB FOR 14 YEARS

PLUS

DIGO PINO’S EVO: REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE FOZZIE OF THE MONTH: FAT TIRE BIKES, NO TARD PARKING FT86 SPEED FACTORY: SACRIFICE, SERVICE & NICHE MARKETS SO MUCH MORE: WE RAN OUT OF ROOM ON THE COVER FOR IT!

STARTER ISSUE 3 | ESCAPE VELOCITY

This just keeps getting better. When GBXM #1 came out, in all its 22 pages of glory, we had 10 subscribers. When GBXM #2 came out, it was 32 pages. We had quite a few more subscribers. Today, I’m thrilled to announce we’re sitting at 76 pages and nearly 100 subscribers. You guys rock. Thank you.

If there was a central theme to this issue, I suspect it would be the power of gearhead networking. This magazine exists to help automotive enthusiasts build high performance machines and lives. It starts by adapting the skills we’ve used to improve our machines to improving our lives. If you’re reading this, you’re excellent in your own way, but did you ever stop and think about how your gearhead connections put you only a step or two away from the big leagues? You have but to ask.

This issue is just packed. We start off with an interview with James Freeman, founder of the Shitbox Rally down under in Australia. I’d love to do this event one day, but where to begin, right? Well, James put me in touch with Jeremy and Deb right here in the US. They ran the event last year and shared valuable insights into what it takes to get there.

Then we’ve got Ted Marquez putting the class back into the DSM drag scene. We DSMers never did much in the way of appearance mods because our cars already looked good. This has lead to some haggard race machines in recent years. Ted’s bringing back the class.

Malcolm Neill tells us a little bit about what it’s like being involved with world class level motorsport. He ran Rally GB for 14 years, and helped organize several other big events too.

We’ve got Digo Pino, who reached out to US for the interview (just like Ted, by the way). His time attack Evo is super sharp. After that, we get into Seth Scarborough’s fat-tire sporting Fozzie, Official Gearbox Partner FT86 Speed Factory talks about sacrifice and niche marketing, an Arizona Trollvo, an Irish Defender Pickup, and so much more. I can hardly believe how well this issue has turned out.

This will be the last free, cover-to-cover issue for non-subscribers, so make sure you subscribe today. We promise nothing but fresh stories you won’t find anywhere else. Period.

You can do it. Gearheads United.

Keep going fast with class and press on regardless.

bd

GEARBOX MAGAZINE IS • BRIAN DRIGGS, FOUNDER • DENNIS DEJONG, PARTNER • YOU? JOIN US? (CLICK ME)

CONTENTS | what’s inside THE EFFING COVER | SHITBOX RALLY! Ever thought about driving a piece of shit car across the Australian Outback with 100+ friends in order to raise a million dollars for cancer research? You should!

SHITBOX RALLY | DAMN YANKEES! What it’s like to step off a plane in a foreign country, buy a piece of shit car, & drive it across the Australian Outback with 100+ friends to raise a million dollars for cancer research.

BATTLE TANK | WYLDKARDZ WILD CAR “Going fast with class” means something once again. Ted Marquez, his family, & his friends remind us all what it means to be a gearhead.

WRC BOSS | HE RAN RALLY GB FOR 14 YEARS If you told me 5 years ago that one day a WRC-level organizer would introduce me to another WRC-level organizer, I would have laughed in your face. Malcolm Niell talks FIA, WRC, & more.

DIGO PINO’S EVO | REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE FOZZIE OF THE MONTH | FAT TIRE BIKES, NO TARD PARKING FT86 SPEED FACTORY | SACRIFICE, SERVICE & NICHE MARKETS PLUS | TROLLVO, DEFENDER PICKUP, UPDATES & MOAR!!1ONE!

ABOUT GBXM | the mission

Stories of real people doing things with vehicles they actually own matter more than thinly veiled marketing-driven propaganda spun as helping sheep select their next consumer-grade appliances.

We believe our shared passion for all things automotive unites us on a global scale, and that the things we have in common as gearheads empower us to get the most from our differences.

GEARBOX MAGAZINE. OF GEARHEADS. BY GEARHEADS. FOR GEARHEADS.

SHITBOX RALLY! OMG. SERIOUSLY. THIS IS BUCKET LIST.

Before I die, I will fly to Australia, on the far side of the planet, buy a piece of shit car, and drive it a couple thousand miles across the Outback with a couple hundred other nutters in what has to be the most meaningful way this gearhead has found to raise money in the fight against cancer on the planet. Let’s do this!

WORDS BRIAN DRIGGS | IMAGES DAN MURPHY (FOR SHITBOX RALLY)

PS: SORRY I HAD TO CUT SOME OF YOU OFF IN THE PICTURE HERE. SERIOUSLY.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS How often do we come across some dullard attempting to show his complete lack of interest in something by saying “I could care less,” oblivious to the fact he’s suggesting the exact opposite of what he really means? Fortunately, there are still people out there aware of how, in text-based environments like online discussion forums, spelling and grammar are the foundations upon which our online reputations are often built, and are willing to call them on their illiteracy.

It bears repeating then, the correct statement is “I couldn’t care less.” The idea is to communicate how, on the scale of how much - or little - you could care about something, it is impossible for you to care any less than you do at that moment in time. Those who say they could care less are actually implying they care about whatever it is more than other things.

GREAT LET-DOWNS Since 2009, I’ve been reaching out to complete strangers online, hoping our shared interest in cars and my explaining I’d like to tell the whole world why

they’re so newsworthy - will be sufficient to get us talking so I can put together an interview telling the whole world why they’re so newsworthy. “Hi. I’m Brian. I run a magazine. And I want to tell the world why you’re awesome.” You can imagine how frustrating it can be when some people either never respond or walk away mid-interview without so much as saying goodbye.

Three plus years in, I no longer obsess about such things. I’m trying to do people a favor. If they aren’t interested, that’s their loss. I try to remain optimistic, telling myself they probably didn’t get my message or are just too busy “with The IRL” (in real life), but whatever. If they want to be in this magazine, they’ll be in this magazine. If not, their loss, frankly. I no longer lose any sleep over it.

I COULD *ONLY* CARE LESS Back to caring less. In 99.999% of situations, saying “I could care less” is a sign of ignorance. Today, I want to suggest it might also be used as a platform for something which is very, very important. Take the Shitbox Rally, for example.

After hearing about this event and doing a little research into it, I’ve come to the conclusion it’s possible I might ONLY be able to care less about it. As in, there is a distinct possibility that, as far as automotive events go, it’s hard for me imagine myself caring more about it.

Okay. As far as introductions go, this one made more sense in my head than it’s making now as I’m reading back over it, but stay with me, Goose. What I’m trying to say is, Shitbox Rally is a bucket list item for me. I have to - HAVE TO - do this before I die. It’s an unparalleled automotive adventure with purpose. Where others seem to tack on a charitable angle as an afterthought, Shitbox Rally was purpose-built to make a difference in the lives of others.

Which is why, when I made my interview request through the contact form on the Shitbox Rally website, I suddenly felt the anxiety I felt back in my rookie year as a publisher. When you approach your heroes, there’s a lot of pressure to find the right balance between expressing how much you genuinely care (getting the interview) and coming across like some kind of batshit crazy stalker-type (getting ignored).

I typed up this elaborate introduction and interview

request. I wanted to show how Gearbox Magazine exists to encourage automotive enthusiasts to see how much they matter and how they can adapt the skills they use building high performance machines to building high performance lives, and how Shitbox Rally is the embodiment of all that and more. I clicked submit and sweated it out.

THE MAN BEHIND SHITBOX RALLY Three days later, I alt+tabbed over to my personal inbox at work and saw I had an unread email from Hannah at Shitbox Rally. She thanked me for my enquiry and looped in James Freeman, founder and head honcho. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I’ve heard it feels pretty good to learn a magazine wants to interview you. Let me tell you, from the other side, it feels pretty good to learn someone thinks highly enough of your magazine to be interviewed!

James lives in Adelaide, South Australia, and runs Shitbox Rally for a living. “To give a bit more background here,” he began, “my previous work experience was running media businesses, either my own in London or as the Marketing Director and/or Chief Operating Officer of a company in Dubai. Whilst doing some consulting when back in Australia, I started the

rally, and after the first year I knew I needed to dedicate myself to it full time to ensure it could grow and succeed in the way it now has. So, I put my normal career on hold, took a deep breath and moved across to the rally full time.” You might say he has a fairly cool job – running a rally and raising a lot of money for cancer research.

LIFE-CHANGING ADVENTURE, SENSE OF HUMOR Shitbox Rally was created for a number of reasons, James told me. “The first being that both of my parents died from cancer within 12 months of each other.

I wanted to do something big to help raise funds for cancer research. I then wanted to add a road trip element, as I wanted to see more of Australia and I had a lot of friends that had never travelled into the outback, and lastly, there had to be a challenge aspect.

What was the catalyst which finally inspired someone to take those first steps? Taking both of your parents to get chemotherapy treatment together.”

James spends an incredible amount of time and energy organizing this event each year. “The only people that really understand what is involved are the people that work with me. For example, the route for

the rally is always different, so we have to speak with new people every year.” Having friends here in the States who organize stage rallies, I know how hard they have to work just to get the same roads approved as the year before. I can’t imagine starting over from square one every year.

James went on, “Also, the places and roads that we travel to and through are so incredibly remote that sorting out food, drink, toilets, showers etc is a massive job in itself and then we have to organise all of the fuel!”

Whoa! I asked if that meant he coordinates catering along the way and has a fuel truck following along or something, suspecting smaller, bush fuel stations might not be ready to serve 200+ cars in a single day.

He replied, “Yes, I organise where we are staying, all the food, drink, toilets, showers, fuel etc. This is one part of a huge overall process to ensure everything comes together, and is safe and easy for everyone to take part. I have a lot of help from a team of people to bring it together each year. With the fuel, we don’t have a fuel truck as the teams are spread out over a very long way so a fuel truck won’t work, but I do organise fuel at each stop over and speak with all of

2013 route starts in Aldelaide, and runs deep into the center of the continent on the way to Perth. For those not entirely familiar with Australia, the former is toward the middle of the country on the southern coast, the latter on western coast. It’s a total of close to 2,500 miles one-way.

the remote fuel stations to ensure they have enough fuel for us when we come through.”

SHITBOX: WHAT, WHY & HOW James told me “‘Shitbox’ is an Australian term for a really crappy car. Where the rally is concerned we have a max value permitted for the car of $1,000 and this includes any work teams may want to do on the cars before the rally. They cannot buy a car for $1,000 and then spend another $5,000 doing it up. It is $1000 total otherwise it’s cheating!”

Every team entering Shitbox Rally raises a minimum of $4,000 for Cancer Council http://www.cancer.org. au/ , the leading non-governmental cancer prevention organization of Australia. Their mission is to fund cancer research, to prevent and control cancer, and to provide information and support for people with cancer. Between 2010 and 2012, Shitbox Rally raised $1.7M for Cancer Council. Their goal in 2013 alone is an additional $1.3M. That’s automotive shenanigans we can believe in!

Having raised $4000 (often more) for Cancer Council, teams get their shitboxes to the starting line. The

Australia is about as far as you can get from my desk here in Phoenix, Arizona. The more I looked at the 2013 Shitbox Rally route - which practically covers ⅔ of Australia - I began to realize something. Australia is huge. It’s almost as difficult for all those Ozzie teams to get to the starting line as it would be for me. What if my friends and I live in Brisbane and want to run the event in 2013. Do we drive our shitbox 1,200 miles (2,000km)i to the starting line? “Yep,” he said.

“Alternatively, you can put your car on a truck and fly down. We have a different route each year with the 2011 rally starting in Brisbane so there is always a route for everyone, but saying that, for the 2013 rally we have people coming from Brisbane.”

To put those distances in perspective for my fellow Americans, the above Brisbane > Adelaide > Perth example would be like buying a shitbox in Seattle and driving it to LA, before joining 200 of your new best friends to caravan to Houston - by way of Kansas City.

That’s an epic road trip any way you cut it.

Okay, suppose you drive your $1,000 shitbox 1,000 miles to the starting line, then 2,500 miles through the rally to the far end of the continent. Then what?

What happens when we finish in Perth, 2,700 miles (4,300km) along the most direct route from home?

Do we drive all the way back? James told me, “If you want to. It is up to you. At the end of the rally, we hold an auction and sell the cars off to raise more money, but also to get rid of what was an asset, but at the end of the rally is suddenly a liability if you want to jump on

a plane and fly home.”

BUSH MECHANICS I asked James about some of the more exciting challenges overcome by past Shitbox Rally teams en route and how they overcame. “We find that 9% of the cars that start die along the way and the rest of them need a lot of help to get them to the finish line. We have some great bush mechanic skills at work. To give an example, we have once taken a fuel pump from a 2 litre car that had died due to hydraulic lock after the driver went through a river too fast and transferred it into a 4L car. This might sound simple enough, but if I might paint a picture, we were on one of the most remote dirt roads in Australia, the sun was setting, we were 3+ hours from camp and we just had about 10 people and no workshop, so we needed to move quickly.”

“The only way to get the fuel pump from the donor car was from the fuel tank with no access from the top, so 7 guys rolled the donor car onto its side, cut the exhaust pipe off with a battery powered angle grinder, pulled the fuel tank off, grabbed the pump and swapped it into a car with an engine twice the size with the hope it would work - and it did. That car ended up driving all the way to the final destination!”

PUT SHITBOX RALLY ON YOUR BUCKET LIST James told me they’ve had people enter the rally from the US, Brussels, France, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and the UK. When I asked him why people enter this event for the first time, and why they keep coming back. He said, “Because the ridiculousness of it appeals to people. Because it is easy to be a part of. And because you do not need to have mechanical knowledge to do it. Lastly, because whilst we take safety seriously, we do not take ourselves or the rally seriously. It is not a race, it is a challenge, and we all

work together as a big community to get people across the line. Why do they enter it after that? Because it changes your life; it adds so much to it. People that do the rally are a part of a big group of people that have experienced something incredible together and the stories are endless.”

SHITBOX RALLY IS ON MY BUCKET LIST I think I speak for all of us as gearheads when I say there’s just something about road trips that speak to us. It’s the sense of personal freedom inherent in miles of open road. It’s the getting back to basics as the minutiae of everyday life fades in the rearview mirror. It’s the feeling of brotherhood as we undertake an adventure together with good friends. Shitbox Rally is all that and more. It’s bigger than all of us. It’s a road trip of epic proportions; covering thousands of miles in clapped out, unloved vehicles; traveling through parts of Australia so remote, even most Australians will never see them; and knowing you’re part of a

community effort that just raised more than a million dollars to fight cancer.

That’s why it’s officially on my bucket list - the list of things I feel I have to do before I kick the bucket.

It’s why I want to spend two months’ take-home pay on airfare, sit in tiny, coach seats for upwards of 36 hours to the other side of the planet, and buy a piece of shit car to drive nearly half that distance across the Outback. I want to experience the freedom of the open road in far away lands, reconnected with the simple pleasure of a simple machine over thousands of miles; to look the horizon in the eye with the sense of purpose that only comes from knowing you’re actively making a difference in the world.

HOW ABOUT YOU? I highly recommend having a look around the Shitbox Rally website, liking them on the old Friendface, and/ or giving them your ear on Twitter.

DAMN YANKEES! WHAT IT’S LIKE TO ENTER SHITBOX FROM USA

In 2012, Jeremy & Deb flew to Australia, on the far side of the planet, bought a piece of shit car, and struck out across the Outback with a couple hundred other nutters in what has to be the most meaningful way this gearhead has found to raise money in the fight against cancer on the planet. This is their story.

WORDS BRIAN DRIGGS | IMAGES JEREMY & DEB

Psychology 101: If you say something, there’s room for doubt, but if I say it, it’s true. I can tell you all about how your whole sense of identity evolves when you step onto foreign soil and get to know gearheads in faraway lands. I can tell you how incredible it feels to drive a dirty, RHD Volkswagen you rented in London into the biggest Mitsubishi meet in Germany just outside Berlin and have an entire group of people cheer as they leap from their seats and run to greet you.

But if you’ve not experienced such things for yourself, then there’s always room for doubt.

Whenever there is any doubt, there is no doubt. That’s the first thing they teach you. Remember that. We’ll come back to it. (Ronin fans, with their exceptional taste in film, already know where this is going in 3,500 words.) Think it’s impossible to fly to Australia, buy a piece of shit car, and drive halfway across the continent for fun to raise over $1,000,000 for cancer

research that could one day save the life of someone you love? Think again.

INTRODUCTIONS Shitbox Rally founder James Freeman introduced me to Jeremy and Deb. They live in Maryland, USA, and work in IT. Jeremy designs large-scale computer networks and Deb works in computer security. “We both enjoy our career fields, and take a ‘work hard, play hard’ approach to life,” Jeremy told me. “We work long hours, but make up for it by taking crazy trips to new places.”

Note: Due to the sheer size of this story, I’m running it mostly Q&A format.

WHAT DO YOU DRIVE, HOW DO YOU DRIVE IT? At the moment, we both drive BMWs. Mine is a 2008 335xi, which I got a great deal on as a certified preowned car. I guess I’ve always been one for faster cars (my first car was a Ford Mustang), and after about 10 years driving pickup trucks it was time to get back to a manual transmission. Deb also drives a 335… it’s a standard, but I think her convertible top just screams “drive me fast!” We both drive like bats out of hell.

I won’t incriminate us, but let’s just say we’ve both been known to scare our passengers.

INTRODUCE YOUR SHITBOX Our Shitbox was really the product of a few days of frantic searching, and a healthy dose of luck. Neither of us had ever bought more than a souvenir in another country, so you can imagine how nervous we were about buying something that came with a legal obligation (registration - “rego”, as the Aussies call it - and insurance). Plus, being from the other side of the planet, we had no idea where to start! We ended up cruising a few Craigslist-type sites the day before we left, renting a car for the first few days, and stopping at every used car dealership we passed on the way to appointments. One of the ads we responded to ended up being the perfect fit, and so we ended up with a cute little Holden Astra hatchback for about $700.

One of the more fun parts about getting the car was dressing her up. We knew that people put a lot of effort into making their cars look great (although they ended up exceeding our wildest imaginations), so we figured we had to do something even with the limited time we had (about 36 hours). Since we’d named ourselves the Damn Yankees as a reference to being

Americans, we decided to dress our little Astra up as Captain America... which we accomplished by spray painting her over the course of two nights in the underground garage at the Melbourne Hilton. I’m still surprised we didn’t get in trouble for that.

FIRST, A FOLLOW UP I guess I’ve always thought I’d have to find an Ozzie friend to help source a shitbox and get it legal before I arrived. Your putting the whole thing together in just 3 days’ time sounds like one of those Top Gear specials. How tricky was it to get a vehicle registered as a non-citizen? Would you say that’s the hardest part of preparing (next to 30+ hours on a plane)?

Actually, no. I would say that the fundraising was actually the hardest part (of preparing, at least). I’ll tip our hand a bit: I found out about the rally from my sister, who lived in Sydney for a few years (she ended up coming back to the States a few months before the rally). She and her husband gave us some great advice on where to look for cars (websites like gumtree.com.au, etc.) and helped with translating things. (One of our first questions: what in the world is “rego” [insert American pronunciation: “ree-go”]?!?)

But to focus on your question, sorting the car out was actually a breeze. We had a stressful first night in Melbourne after running all over town and *not* finding a car, but we also learned how things worked that day, so we approached day #2 a little differently.

We’d learned some more about things like how the rego worked and what car dealers had on their lots for under a grand, and a few nice folks we met along the way had given us some great pointers. Uniformly, once we told everyone what we were doing, two reactions followed: Are you serious?” and “Wow, that

sounds amazing!” We got more help than we expected, and as we passed out our team business cards along the way, hopefully we got a few more people paying attention to the cause as well.

Once we had the car, though, getting it registered was easy. The seller had all the forms printed up for us, and we just had to go to Vic Roads (the local motor vehicle authority in Victoria state) to make it legal. The only hiccup was that we didn’t bring a hotel receipt the first trip (which answered our biggest worry: how do we register a car without a home address?), but once we came back with that, the whole transaction took about 10 minutes. Not having to deal with insurance - it’s included in the car registration in Australia - was a HUGE help, too. The biggest challenge, from a transaction standpoint, was actually getting Australian dollars to pay for the car. We had US dollars and were ~30 minutes out of downtown Melbourne, and no bank would change money unless we had an account (which required a local address). Five banks later, we ended up using our American ATM cards to pull money out of our accounts back at home. (And kicked ourselves for not thinking of it sooner!)

FIRST IMPRESSIONS Given the need, you said the Astra was a “perfect fit.”

Given you two usually drive Beemers like bats out of hell, what were your first impressions of your new wheels? Just how shitty was your shitbox?

I think the first thing to remember is that no matter what you’re driving, you can always stick the pedal to the floor and drive like a bat out of hell. In fact, we almost got pulled over while test driving the car because I was still getting used to driving on the left.

By the time we woke up on day two, though, I think we had narrowed our focus a bit. Of course, before we left the US we were looking at things like 1960’s Land Rovers, 1980’s Mercedes, and other such stuff that was a bit out of reach given the 48 hours left before we hit the start line. Having our worst nightmare come true - doing the rally on foot - inspired us to be more realistic. If it was in decent shape and in our budget, we were happy. Having said that, though, when we came upon that little Holden - a car that had been sitting in a driveway for a few years and was really just being used by a family as a learner car - it might as well have been wearing a halo.

Of course, when buying a car with the intent of driving it past its limits, one has to be careful. She was in great shape, solid, drove without strange noises, and was generally everything we needed, but we took her round for a check-out by a mechanic anyway. We got told pretty much what we expected: for her age, she was in great shape. She had a little oil leak that couldn’t be pin-pointed, but if we took care of her, Cairns was actually a realistic goal. All of the main functions were intact - she even had air conditioning!

- and we were happy to overlook the little stuff (the temperature gauge didn’t work, for example).

The only thing that we decided to do as far as maintenance was get an oil change. Besides the fact that oil is worth its weight in gold down under (the same $30 oil change you get in the US is $140+ in Australia), I don’t think we could have asked for a better car.

We even made friends with the guy who did the oil change, and he “donated” a puncture repair kit, some extra light bulb, and a few other odds and ends for the cause. All that was left to do was buy supplies and deal with the contact high we got from spray-painting her in a confined space.

GOOD POINT ABOUT THE FUNDRAISING. I suspect a lot of people are first drawn to the adventure aspects of the Shitbox Rally, then find the charitable component icing on the cake. (“You mean I can have this much fun while doing real good in the world? That’s crazy talk!”) Tell me a little more about the fund raising. What makes it difficult?

I’d agree with your assessment there. For us, though, most of the difficulty was in the transnational nature of the rally. Every time we make a bank transfer, for example, we got charged $35 because it was an international transfer. So we stopped doing that in short order and just brought cash with us. Also, people here had never heard of the Cancer Council, and the name “Shitbox Rally” definitely got a few strange looks, so we had a harder time than if we were raising funds for, say, the Red Cross or the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

And it’s not really fundraising, but you also can’t ignore the fact that plane tickets for two people from the US to Australia, plus hotels on each end, typically cost as much as we had to raise in the first place. We didn’t feel right using fundraising dollars to pay our

travel costs, so that took some budgeting and planning on our parts to make it happen. It would have been much easier if we could have simply driven to the start line from home - not to mention having a year in advance to work on the car!

If we could get past the first few minutes of “you’re doing what? Where?!?” though, people were great.

Cancer is a global disease, and the fact that any cure helps everyone went a long distance in our fundraising efforts. We had a big fundraiser at a local bar that took care of most of our needs, and personal networking made up the difference.

OKAY. YOU’VE GOT YOUR SHITBOX AND IT’S LEGAL. What was going through your heads as you got behind the wheel and drove to the starting line on Day One? How nervous were you guys?

You know, I wouldn’t say we were nervous... but it did sort of feel like the first day of school. Here we were with a wild group of people who all seemed to know each other, and we had just landed from the other side of the planet and were trying to figure out basic things like where to get an oil change. To say that we were welcomed as part of the team would be an understatement, though. Trepidation aside, we were all there for the same reason and that bridged a lot of barriers. Plus, everyone was having a blast and we couldn’t get away from doing the same!

THE GREATEST OBSTACLE What was the toughest obstacle you and Deb had to overcome during the rally and how did you do it? Did all those MacGuyver episodes come in handy at some point?

This is probably a good time to mention... our car didn’t actually make it to the end of the Rally! You’ll remember my comment about not being *all* too mechanically minded, as well as the one noting that we were happy to overlook “a few mechanical issues?”

Well, one of those mechanical issues did us in. Not in the way you might think, though.

Our first spot of trouble hit on Monday (day 3), when we did a dipstick check and realized... it was dry.

The problem was diagnosed by the outstanding SBR

support teams as a faulty front crank case seal. We found this out at Cameron Corner; a great place to visit in its own right, but not a place that had random seals for our little Astra. So, fearing the worst, we stocked up on oil and hit the road again.

Later that afternoon, we coasted to a stop without warning in the middle of some sand dunes. To make a long story (and some heroic work by Pete, our team’s mechanic) short, the leaking oil had heated our alternator belt until it snapped, and we didn’t realize it until the battery was too dead for the car to continue. Unfortunately, we had to cut the A/C belt to get to the alternator belt, but after about half an hour we were rolling again, cruising through the sand with the windows down.

Tuesday (day 4) went great. We made an unscheduled detour, got a drink in Eromanga, the “farthest city from the sea,” and got city prices on petrol by purchasing it right out of the ground (at a refinery). We forded two rivers that had overrun the road, drove down an emergency airstrip (painted on the road), and, best of all... didn’t have a single problem with the car. Not even a drop of oil lost! In hindsight, our best guess is that a rock had hit the crank case and knocked it off kilter,

and then a second rock knocked it back together.

Wednesday (day 5 out of 7) turned out to be our last day in the Astra. Again making a long story very short, the fact that our temperature gauges wasn’t working made us blind to the fact that she was overheating.

We drove her until she stopped, and then spent the last 90 minutes being towed down dirt roads with the windows open.

On arrival in Winton, the lead mechanic told us it had not just overheated, but gotten “Chernobyl hot.”

Turning the engine over with a compression gauge hooked in didn’t even register a flutter. Our engine was, effectively, a fused metal lump. No more rally for us. We each got a nifty little medal, but the next morning our girl was being towed to the tip by another team in exchange for giving them our tires… that was tough.

In all seriousness, one of the things that amazed us most about the rally was the dedication of the mechanics. People were regularly up well past midnight installing parts in a car that had no earthly right to be there. From fixing an alternator with a soda can on down, these guys were nothing short of miracle workers. Probably our little trick was about the only

thing we could do to *not* make the finish line!

WHY THIS STORY MATTERS

So... I’m not sure that those MacGuyver episodes came in handy, but we certainly had our fair share of challenges!

Finally, why should this story matter to other gearheads? I mean, why should someone reading this story today think, “Instead of putting all that money into my project vehicle this year, I should travel tens of thousands of miles to the far side of the planet to drive a shitbox across the Australian Outback?”

THE GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT And your greatest achievement between start & finish lines?

You know, it’s funny… in hindsight, our biggest achievement was probably getting to the rally in the first place. Once we were there, we really just tried to pitch in where we could and have a great time. We couldn’t spend any time working on our car before the start, so what we ended up getting was solid (until we burnt her to a crisp), and in fact it took less work than many others who shredded tires or needed hours of repairs at one point or other. Our hardest part was getting all of our ducks in a row from the other side of the world. I should note, though, that I can really only say that because of all the planning the James, Hannah and the [Shitbox Rally] crew did. We only had the time to focus on fun because of all their hard work.

I think there are a few sides to this. First, there’s the “gearhead” side. I can say unequivocally that I’ve never seen so many amazing repairs done in so short a time. If you think you know cars... show up for a rally and see if you’re right. These poor cars are subjected to crazy drivers in the most remote conditions, and still the mechanics figured out how to get (most of) them to the finish line. For people who love being elbow-deep in motor oil, this will be an amazing trip from that perspective.

Second, there’s the “doing good” side. We got to be a small part of raising about $900,000 for the Cancer Council. Every little bit counts, and even if you show up from thousands of miles away with just your luggage, you’re still contributing to the cause. I think

James has done a phenomenal job creating something that gives back on all fronts - both to the people we help and the people who drove the rally.

It was also great to hear everyone’s reasons for being there. We still have our medals hanging at home, and the rally will always be one of our favorite memories. And it was tough to decide not to enter this year.

We’ve already donated to one of our teammates from last year, and I’m looking forward to following along as this year’s rally goes on.

Finally, there’s just the sheer “Holy Shit(box)!” of it all. We got to see parts of Australia that plenty of Australians never see, much less Yanks. We saw kangaroos and road trains, swam in one river and forded others, and drove through almost every type of scenery you could imagine - dirt, sand, rocks, jungle, and even a sealed (paved) road now and again. It was an amazing group of people, a wild time (150 people playing 2-up in a town with a population of 13 is a great recipe for CRAZY), and a great cause. Why would anyone not go?

WHENEVER THERE IS DOUBT, THERE IS NO DOUBT That’s the first thing they teach you. Who teaches you?

I don’t remember. That’s the second thing they teach you. Jeremy asks why would anyone not go to Australia and run the Shitbox Rally. The obvious answers are

easy to come by: airfare is too expensive, I don’t know how to buy and register a car in Australia, or I don’t have any friends down under. If you’ve read both Shitbox Rally interviews in this issue and you think this sounds like the epic adventure you’ve always wanted, but didn’t know existed, don’t doubt your ability to go for an instant.

ONE FINAL QUESTION Start small. Mention Shitbox Rally on your favorite forum. Share this story. Anyone you know interested?

Many hands make light work. Chances are, there’s an ozzie or two on your favorite forum, too. Reach out and get to know them. You’ve probably got more connections than you think! The more you learn about Shitbox Rally, the better your chances of making this dream a reality. I asked Jeremy one final question.

3 TIPS What 3 things should non-Ozzies who want to enter Shitbox Rally keep in mind?

1. Plan ahead! You may not be able to buy your car in advance, but planning for costs in advance (get a credit card that gives you free hotel points/stays/etc., for example) can help focus your money on the charity and event.

2. Read up! We didn’t know as much as we could

THE ONLY AWD DSM

have about technical details like where your “home address” should be when you go to register your new shitbox, and how valuable insurance was. It won’t be real until you get there, but you can at least be prepared.

3. Don’t think twice! The Shitbox Rally will be - far and away - one of your best memories ever. If you can’t get it out of your head... sign up! Take the year to plan, and make a difference in the most fun way I’ve ever heard of.

IN CROATIA

BATTLE TANK

A SHOW-STOPPER THAT REALLY GOES

Ted Marquez shows us how “going fast with class” still means something in the DSM community. But it goes even deeper than that. This 8-second, automatic 1G represents the synergy of family & friends. It is truly greater than the sum of its parts.

WORDS BRIAN DRIGGS | IMAGES ROBERT DELUNA

A DOLLAR OUT OF 15 CENTS DSMs are dime-a-dozen these days. I figure I can make such a claim, since I cut my teeth on DSMs. Even though, aside from that 90 GS-T I parted out for the engine and abandoned when I moved out of a rental house, the only “DSMs” I actually owned were a 420A-powered 2GNT and a couple Galant VR4s, and today drive a G54B-powered Pajero, I still consider myself a DSMer. As a long time DSMer, let me just say, I remember a time when 400whp was a major accomplishment. It was more a symbol of knowledge than credit limit back in those days.

The arrival of the Lancer Evolution VIII on North

American shores in 2003 resulted in 4G63T development bypassing light speed and jumping straight to plaid. The DSM community enjoyed - and continues to enjoy - the benefits of all that domestic innovation.

No longer were we in the US forced to overnight parts from Japan if we wanted the best. Guys who, like me, cut their teeth on DSMs began applying what they’d learned to the new 3-box giant-slayer that filled the void left by the third generation Eclipse.

Therein lies the problem with DSMs. So many people dumped them for Evos (among other things - let’s be honest - tastes change), the market became saturated with DSMs. Where the Honda and Nissan crowds were pushing complicated engine swaps and all motor

limits on the wings of VTEC, DSMs had a developed a reputation for making cheap power rather easily. And the price of a modded DSM plummeted.

This, combined with our reputation back in the day for building sleepers, in my opinion, let the idea of “because race car” take root. For every cherry DSM, there are probably half a dozen hacked-up slags that wouldn’t look out of place on blocks at the junkyard.

600HP FAMILY VALUES Like Digo Pino, Ted Marquez reached out to me through our Facebook page. Right off the bat, he makes my day. “I’ve been a fan of Gearbox Magazine since you guys did a feature on Darren Thomas (1G auto DSM).” Aw, shucks. Flattery will get you anywhere, my friend! He was curious about the direction we were taking the magazine, as he’s taken a refreshingly different path with his DSM. He’s from Milpitas, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. He’s been on a hiatus from his job at UPS as a package car driver, but has been dabbling in doing work on local DSMs and anything that requires roll bars and cages to keep the bills paid.

Ted’s got the power covered pretty well. His DSM is making over 600hp on an older turbo and he’s grabbing 9.4s@146mph in the quarter-mile. He’s quick to point out “This isn’t a shop-built or sponsored car.

This has been 100% funded and worked on in my garage, with help from WyldKardz club members, local DSMers, and recently, my oldest brother.”

“The car has always been about performance. Being the black sheep of the family by being into speed, I am always taunted by my oldest brother, who is into lowriders and all about the looks of things. Here is where things take a turn. Before the recent passing of our father, my older brother and I never saw eye to eye. On anything. I finally gave in and took him up on his offer of painting my car. As time would have it, I have been pleasantly surprised and I think fans of the car will be pleasantly happy with the new look.”

He shared links to a couple build threads, on the WyldKardz forum http://wyldkardz.activeboard.com/ t51238184/im-building-a-show-car/ and DSMtalk http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showthread. php?t=198490. It was a lot of reading, but like he told me, “if you have the time, get a feel for where the car has been and where its going. I think it would

make a good story, based on what Gearbox Magazine is all about.” He was abso-friggin’-lutely right. This is exactly the sort of thing we want to hear about here at GBXM|united - gearheads of all stripes coming together, sharing their skills and expertise with each other, resulting in exceptional vehicles like this one.

TWO STEPS FORWARD. ONE STEP BACK. DSMs have reached the point where nobody doubts their potential anymore. The venerable 4G63 has been proven itself - time and again, over more than two decades - as one of the more robust platforms on the street. It’s weapons grade power for the everyman who knows what he’s doing. But DSMs getting to the point where people begin to doubt the quality of the builds. Far more effort has gone into making power than has gone into making the whole package look respectable.

Chalk that up to our proud history of building sleepers. We were fortunate that our cars looked great right off the showroom floor. There was no doubt about their purpose (unlike the Honda guys, who had to overcome that econobox, commuter car stereotype).

Unfortunately, I think that made us relatively lazy when it came to exterior/interior maintenance and upgrades. People like Ted are changing that dynamic.

Call it a DSM Renaissance; a return to the simple purity that was the DSM culture back in the day - cars that looked as great as they performed. Ted’s built a show car DSM. BROTHERS’ KEEPER I asked Ted about the thought process behind that decision.” I don’t really consider it a show car, since it was built to be a drag car. The paint job was really more of the icing on a 9 second cake. It was one of those things that just had to happen. There were many factors on why it occurred, ranging from my oldest brother (who has 20 years experience in the auto body field) not liking the original color, to seeing the color on multiple cars in my area.”

“Getting a little deeper into the drag racing side of things and wanting to land some sort of sponsorships to help with my racing expenses and such, the paint job will help on the resume. Still, the paint job was a chance to bond with my oldest brother with whom I’ve never seen eye to eye.”

“I learned a great amount working on my car with him. Not just about body work, but about the duties of an older brother, and a deeper passion for cars.

Pride also plays a huge role in our project. When I was a kid, I would see my two brothers working on Impalas, Cutlasses, and Regals. They would put serious hydraulic setups in them, reinforce the frames, extend A-arms, and so on. Then, to top it all off, a

custom paint job would be the final step. All for cruising downtown San Jose and their car club.”

“Going even further back, our father had a 62 Impala SS that was considered a high rider (gasser), with side exit pipes, Supremes, and a very potent 327 engine with headers. Back in the 60s and 70s, that was like having a fully built race car today! That Impala is still

in the family and will be restored piece by piece. So I have had car culture with a wide range and our family has seen it all. Lowriders, mini-trucks, lifted trucks, and now a nasty little 4 cylinder.”

“My friends have played a huge role in all of this as well. Years ago we used to get the car ready just to go street race. Until the recent years, with a job based heavily on my driving record, I have given up the street fame for something safer for my future; track racing. I guess it can be called ‘growing up.’”

“Don’t get me wrong, I will still take the car out for a spin on the street, but everything within limits and concerns for the general public. I remember spending nights in the garage working on the DSM ‘til the sun came up - just to get it ready to race the next day.

Yes, there are some dedicated friends and WyldKardz members that have kept me going.”

Remember when I mentioned a DSM renaissance a few paragraphs back? Such a thing cannot exist where there is entropy. Fortunately, Ted told me, “There is also a rising local DSM culture with locals lending a hand. Whether it be providing parts or turning wrenches, I have had help. I spent weeks at RyWires shop when he was here locally so I could work on my engine harness with their supervision. Or learning from Dave, Sean and the crew at FFTec, the motivation is picked up from everyone and everywhere.”

“The car ran a best of 9.45@146 last year. This year with the assistance of some pointers from Jesse Abele (previous AWD automatic trans DSM record holder 8.9@156.3mph), a very capable torque converter from BradCo (ordered through Jesse), I am in search of quicker times for the 2013 season. Jesse has really been lending a hand via email and I cannot thank him enough for being such a helpful person.”

LA FAMILIA Sounds like cars are in Ted’s family’s blood. I asked why he didn’t have a big street cruiser too. Why a DSM over something from the golden days of Detroit? “I had a street cruiser in high school that was a graduation gift from my oldest brother Angel - a 1983 Cadillac 2-door Coupe De Ville,” he told me. “Cream with a half-vinyl cream top on 14” cross-laced Zenith wire wheels. The Caddy is long gone, but I still have the wire wheels that I am saving for a rainy day.”

One of the things I like most about this story is how, even though Ted has different automotive interests than the rest of his family, it seems like everyone still comes together to lend their various skills to each others’ projects. I asked him to tell me a little bit more about that.

“My family has always been supportive of what I’ve done regardless of how many, ‘Send that thing to

the junkyard!’ comments I get. Apparently, when you know how to build a DSM, you know how to rebuild a Chrysler mini-van from the ground up. All of the sudden, the Junkyard knowledge comes in handy to the family.”

“I have received help along the years from many people. I cannot credit my family 100%, since WyldKardz C.C. members have helped me out the majority of the years. The paint job and body work credit does go to my brother Angel. The detail work credit goes to another loyal WyldKardz member, Tony Umbak.”

“With that said, there is a handful of faithful members I can still count on to this very day. Call and they’ll show. Same with a handful of local DSMers, and one very key part that keeps the Battle Tank moving; Daves Engine Machining.”

“The father and daughter team at Dave’s machine shop is what kept me going with this car. If it wasn’t for a W.K. member Woody, I would have never found out about them. I did some searching on the local forums, and found only praise and good experiences.

Push rods aside, one of my 4G63s was the very 1st 4G63 they ever did! To top it off, it was a tricky aluminum rod motor they built right - the very first time.

Local, honest, quality service is a rare find nowadays (besides SummitRacing.com) of course. Behind every

fast car, there is a solid machine shop.”

CONNECT. SEE THIS CAR IN ACTION What good is introducing you to gearheads who “get it” if we don’t also give you a way to track them down and connect, right? I asked Ted where people can find him, connect, and check out the car up close. “On the local subject, you can usually find me at Sacramento Raceway at most if not all CMI events. I do a couple of local meets and car shows (even when it was satin green). Online I can be found lurking the Norcal1320, ECMLink, DSMtalk, WyldKardz and DSMtuners forums. “ Today, Ted’s got his NHRA license, a certified cage, a solid machine shop, good friends, and a strong family.

He still likes to get the car out in front of gearheads whenever he can, but he’s looking forward to more track use this year. “I’m not going for records at all,” he said. “It’s more about personal goals. 9.4s out of a garage built DSM? Cool How about 8s?” WHO DO YOU KNOW Ever heard the phrase, “It’s not what you know, but who you know?” Doesn’t always seem fair, does it?

Well, guess what. As gearheads, we - all of us - have it relatively easy when it comes to getting to know other people. The world is full of automotive enthusiasts.

We might not all drive the same vehicles the samer

WRC BOSS

HE RAN RALLY GB FOR 14 YEARS WORDS BRIAN DRIGGS | IMAGES MALCOLM NEILL

There are tons of automotive jobs that don’t involve fixing or selling cars. Take “motorsport consultant,” for example. Malcolm Niell tells us a little bit about how he came to run the final round of the WRC for more than a decade and what you might want to work on, if you’d like to one day be professionally part of the pinnacle of motorsport.

WHO DO YOU KNOW

THE MAN BEHIND RALLY GB FOR 14 YEARS

Ever heard the phrase, “It’s not what you know, but who you know?” Doesn’t always seem fair, does it?

Well, guess what. As gearheads, we - all of us - have it relatively easy when it comes to getting to know other people. The world is full of automotive enthusiasts. We might not all drive the same vehicles the same way, or even speak the same language, but our shared passion for all things automotive and mutual respect for those who do exceptional things in the industry can be quite powerful. The trick is treating your automotive networking more professionally.

My buddy Eugenio Perea, part of the organizing team at Rally Mexico, recently introduced me to Malcolm Neill, self-employed motorsport consultant and former head of Rally GB. Malcolm was rallying before I was even born and today is based near Reading in Berkshire, in a village called Brimpton, in the UK. His focus is primarily in rallying, but he’s also done some consultative work in motor racing beyond rally.

We’ve all walked up to strangers gathered around a popped hood and joined the conversation. How often do we introduce ourselves and attempt to maybe keep those conversations going after the hood’s closed?

And if we can do that at the local car show, can’t we also do it online when we come across interesting gearheads elsewhere in the world? You bet we can.

HOW HE GOT THERE Being a self-employed motorsport consultant sounds both challenging and rewarding. I asked Malcolm how he came into this role. Is there a career path an aspiring enthusiast might pursue to do likewise? What skills must be mastered? “When all this started, I was fulltime employed with the RAC Motor Sport Association as Deputy Director of Marketing and Major Events, including controlling the organization of the British round of the World Rally Championship.”

One area many event organizers likely dream about, but know very little about, is just what goes into the process of selecting events for the WRC calendar.

The process is intense, with lots of legally binding contracts and decisions affecting lots of people.

Malcolm’s been through this process several times.

I asked what the meetings with the FIA are typically like.

[One of Malcolm’s first events, in a Mini on the Circuit of Ireland – retired on the third day – engine blown!]

“We had recently set up a small Consultancy Division and had an inquiry from the Turkish Federation to assist them in developing their national rally. I was asked to go out there and assist and within 5 years we had a European Rally Championship and a World Rally Championship event. Thus we started to get more enquiries from other events, and thus the whole rally consultancy was very active for quite a few years.”

He mentioned business and commercial skills being very important for this line of work, including management of people as well as a deep-rooted knowledge of motorsport.

“Selecting the events is actually reasonably simple.

There are not that many organisations who would now wish to undertake the running of a WRC event,” Malcolm told me. “Some years ago, there was a flush of new events into the WRC – Turkey, Jordan, Japan, Mexico, Germany and Ireland. Today the only events that have survived in the championship are Mexico and Germany and thus the calendar is again only running established events.”

“All the events in the championship have a contract with the FIA, as well the commercial rights holder, and these days, formal meetings between the FIA and the event organisers are generally fairly short.

Anything contentious is normally sorted out before the meeting!”

That said, I asked Malcolm about the challenges faced by major events like these. Do they all face the same challenges, or are they always unique to the host country? He told me, “The challenges at each rally are initially similar, but there are always differences in each event’s needs. The Jordan Rally has been a round of the FIA Middle East Championship for over 20 years and in many ways was the founding event of this championship. The culture of rallying in the Middle East is quite strong.”

[Airfield racing in a Triumph Spitfire at Bishops Court Northern Ireland 1965]

WRC EVENT SELECTION - FIA? I’ve met more than a couple rally organizers through Gearbox Magazine. Some, like Kris Marciniak and Anders Green, are located here in the United States, and I’ve met them in person. Others, like Kristof Denaeghel and Eugenio Perea, are based elsewhere in the world, beyond my financial reach most of the time. I feel it’s important to the sport of rally that we all share what we learn with each other.

“The events I was associated with in WRC ambitions were Mexico, Canada, Jordan, and Turkey. All four events were attended by an FIA Observer for several years, and whilst Canada failed, Jordan and Turkey did run for a few years, and, happily, Mexico is now well established in the championship. Only Mexico remains. This is of great credit to the organisers who realized that running a successful event requires strong financial backing and that continues to this day from both commercial and state sponsorship. The events that did not survive in the championship were, I suspect, for financial reasons, and/or maybe a lack

of enthusiasm.”

teams require. He told me, “At any WRC event, the manufacturers’ teams are the major customers and they like to be looked after. My role is to keep them happy, keep them up to date with the event, assist them in the removal of damaged cars, ensure they are provided promptly with paperwork, results, etc., and anything else they may need. (Within reason!)”

Clearly, he serves as the face of the event in ways many of us likely never considered. You can see the professional hospitality angle at work.

HOW MANY ENTRIES IS BEST?

[Taking second overall at the Touring Car Race at Pheonix Park, Dublin with the 3 Litre Ford Capri in 1970.]

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT Having spent so much time consulting on some of the biggest events in the WRC, I asked Malcolm where he most often finds room for improvement. “Key points are the route, which needs to be fairly compact, running the event to FIA WRC regulations, communicating well, well-trained officials, strong support from local authorities and motor sport clubs, and a good headquarters town with plenty of good accommodation for teams, officials, media, and the like.”

“These days, my main consultancy is Mexico, and I attend the event for two weeks each year. Most of my time is spent in ‘keeping an eye’ on all the key activities at the event and giving assistance to key officials when required; doing a lot of the event paperwork, looking after the WRC teams – it can be quite busy sometimes!

With the manufacturer teams being so well looked after, I asked Malcolm if it’s better to have 50 small teams at an event or one team 50 times more popular or larger than the smallest guy. His response?

“Personally, I prefer 70 to 100 cars competing. It is a good number and this generally enables the ‘local’ crews to have a run at their own WRC event – Sweden and Finland are a good examples. The advantage of good local teams participating successfully gets the local media and spectators interested in the event.”

Sage advice! How better to market an event than to have the hometown heroes come out to compete?

Malcolm also told me good communication to competitors of all levels is essential, as everyone from the biggest A-lister to the most inexperienced rookie is essential to the longevity of the sport. Rally is an ecosystem, and everyone involved has a part to play.

BRINGING PEOPLE IN, KEEPING THEM IN What brings people into rally, and what keeps them in once they’re here? “This is a bit difficult these days.

Participation in rally is very expensive and sponsorship is hard to get. Also, the publicity for rallying has declined through poor television coverage. One option [for both getting people involved and keeping them involved] is to create a good national rally championship which helps the image of the upper echelons of the sport – see Irish National Rally Championship/ Finnish Championship for examples.”

[Clerk of the Course of the Circuit of Ireland in 1973 – in those days the Clerk of Course led from the front!]

LOOKING AFTER WRC TEAMS? I asked Malcolm what kind of “looking after” WRC

Seeing as we here in the United States seem to have competing national championships, I was curious about the possibility of an American event on the WRC calendar one day. He reminded me, “There has been a World Rally Championship event in the States!

[above: Relaxing with Brian Nelson after our first International Rally win in Donegal in 1976. Brian was a formidable competitor in both racing and latterly rallying – it was a great privilege to sit beside him reading the pace notes. below: Finish of Donegal – who says I can’t party!]

[above: The winning Porsche from Donegal 1976, Brian Nelso at the wheel, Malcolm Neill on notes.]

1986 The Olympus Rally in Tacoma, Washington, won

by Markku Alen in a Lancia Delta S4. The event had run previously, but not as WRC and, as far as I know, was not run in the WRC again.” This author thinks it’s a tremendous opportunity for rally organizers here in the States, but we’ll see what happens in the years to come.

The economic climate has been pretty rough in recent years, only adding to the cost of the sport. I asked Malcolm how he sees rally weathering the storm.

“Looking at the number of new teams coming into the WRC this year and next leads me to think that certainly WRC will ‘weather the storm.’ Worldwide, most national championships may have less entries than 4

years ago, but the sport is surviving. Sponsorship can be a problem in these times.”

THIS IS WHY I WORK SO HARD With all his years of experience in such world class endeavors, I asked Malcolm about some of his favorite memories; the sort of things that made him think, “This is why I work so hard at this.” He had two such things to share. First, “In 1986, I was invited to become the Manager and Clerk of the Course of the RAC Rally of Great Britain. It was dream come true and one thing I was determined to do was to get the event finished on time. (Many times I had been at the event, the finish was sometimes over an hour late.)

The 1986 event finished exactly on time, as did the further 13 events that I organized.” When he was replaced as organizer of the event in 1990, Malcolm was quite surprised to see the event finish 40 minutes late! His other favorite memory is Rally Mexico 2004.

As he put it, “It was our first event in the WRC. We got all sorts of awards and it was a fantastic event hosted in the new Poliforum in Leon.” [left: Field work at 1987 East African Safari rally.]

A WORD OF ADVICE Winding things down, I asked Malcolm if he could distill the sum of his rally and motorsport experience

[above: Scrutineering for The Lombard RAC Rally in Harrogate in 1988 with the FIA Observer and CRO.]

into a single piece of advice for anyone in the world involved in organizing a rally. He said, “I would tell them to communicate, communicate and communicate. If you can achieve that throughout all the aspects of the event you will succeed.”

WHO DO YOU KNOW? AND WHAT CAN YOU LEARN FROM EACH OTHER? The saying, “It’s not what you know, but who you know” might seem unfair at times, but we can learn a lot from each other if we’re just willing to open up and ask questions. Though Malcolm and I connected through a mutual rally connection and discussed things mainly in terms of rally, anyone organizing an automotive event could learn something from this conversation.

Get involved! If you want to be a motorsport professional, make yourself available to motorsport and be as professional as possible. Invite others to join you.

Give them good, solid reasons to stay involved. Look after your sponsors and supporters at every level.

And communicate, communicate, communicate. As gearheads, our shared automotive passions make for convenient ice breakers and conversation starters.

We’ve all walked up to strangers standing around an open engine bay and struck up a conversation. You might be reading this and think, “Yeah, but Brian is some kind of big shot magazine guy because he has lots of connections to WRC-level people that I don’t have.” The truth is, it’s the other way around. I was introduced to Malcolm by Eugenio. And I met Eugenio through an unsolicited private message on a rally forum.

What can we all learn from each other?

[top to bottom: + Dead Sea, Jordan, 1997 – Malcolm’s first experience in desert rallying. + Malcolm’s first visit to Mexico. + South Africa, 1998 w/ FIA observer on Table Mtn. + Route Survey in Turkey w/ Metim Ceker, Clerk of the Course. “It never snows in Izmir!”]

DIGO PINO’S EVO REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE

Something I wish happened more often: Gearheads with cool cars and stories reach out and drop us a line so we can share their stories with the world. Digo introduced himself via Facebook. Now we’re sharing his story. Give you any ideas?

WORDS BRIAN DRIGGS | IMAGES FOTOMOTIVE WE ONLY MATTER BECAUSE YOU MATTER Soon after launching Gearbox Magazine in 2009, I knew I wanted this magazine to show the world how much stories of real people doing things with the machines they actually own really matter. I wanted to get to the point where big shot, automotive celebrities wanted to be in the magazine, so I could go back to the regular Joes of the world and say, “This is how much you matter. You want to be like these guys? They want to be associated with you!” Getting to that point requires a metric ton of high quality content. We need hundreds of stories about people just like you.

About half the stories we’ve run to date have come from referrals. We still try to dig up new stories when we can, but since we all (both of us) still have full-time day jobs, it’s so much easier to get introduced to quality gearheads. When I’m done interviewing someone, I generally ask if they have any friends deserving of a little time in the spotlight and if I can get an introduction. But I’m always hoping there will also be people who see what we’re doing here, want to be part of it, and introduce themselves. Not self-aggrandizing choads. Not quasi-literate guest poster wannabes.

People who recognize how their automotive passion has positively impacted their lives and want to share their story with the world.

YOU TALK, WE LISTEN Sadly, the number of people who reach out to us directly - and who aren’t spammers or shills - is still pretty small. You probably have more keys on your keychain than we’ve had people contact us in this regard.

So when I got a private message on Facebook from Digo Pino, I was pretty excited. His first contact was simple. He said hello and asked if Gearbox Magazine was interested in talking to other Evo owners in his area.

Digo could have had the beige-est, 14” chromed-plastic hubcap equipped, slushbox piece of shit Chevy Corsica for all I cared. He thought highly enough of what we’re doing that he wanted to be part of it. As far as I was concerned, he was in on the spot. Fortunately, Digo doesn’t drive said tedious failcar. He drives one of the cleanest, mouth-watering Evos I’ve seen in a long damn time.

ICING ON THE CAKE When I asked Digo to introduce himself proper and tell me a little bit about himself, he told me “My name is Rodrigo G. Pino, friends call me ‘Digo.’ Here’s some pictures of my Evo. It’s been modified, and I’m still modifying for a time attack look and use. (Form and function.) I used to do road course, time attack, and drag racing back home in South America, and I’m thinking about going back to it here in the US.” “I’ve had the car since late 2008. It makes 500bhp on e85. From car shows and autocross/track days to family vehicles, I always have been around the racing spirit, my dad used to race and so did my brother, so it is in the family. I have more to share if you would like to keep hearing/reading me out. Thanks in advance.”

To me, Digo seemed the perfect person to interview.

GBXM|united is meant to help us find things in common with our gearhead brothers and sisters all over the world. The things we have in common as gearheads are what empowers us to get the most from our differences.

AN EVENTFUL DECADE Digo graduated high school in Peru in 2003. The following year, he moved to the United States. Today, he provides engineering support and more to a precision irrigation outfit up South Dakota. “I work for AgSense,” he told me. “This company offers precision irrigation systems by remote field management (Field Commander). Its an advanced GPS driven pivot

monitor that communicates via the digital cellular network. I do tech engineering support and I will be providing safety and health programs for them in the near future.” Ever notice those massive irrigation rigs in fields as you drive by? Yeah. There’s an app for that.

Digo works with them. He also provides automotive and performance consulting to his friends and neighbors; just about anyone who asks for his help.

He’s always been a gearhead, always had a fondness for the lines of the Lancer Evolution. He told me, “I’ve always loved the lines of Evolutions; the strength of its heart (engine), and the agility of the AWD is just insane!” He went on, “And to be honest with you, I wanted an STI before my first evo (this is my second - I had a white 2003 VIII prior this blue one).” This doesn’t mean Evos are all Digo’s into, though. He’s a total gearhead. “I appreciate every vehicle - no matter what brand or model or year!”

I run into this a lot, actually; people almost buying one model, getting something else, then trading into what they were looking for all along. The grass is always greener. We all know how it goes. Even if we had Carte Blanche to buy any and all the vehicles we wanted and for some bizarre reason weren’t allowed to buy

anything for more than US$50k - we could still spend millions in a day. There’s just so many cool cars out there. And cool people who own them all over the world.

HOW HE DRIVES IT “I take it to its limits whenever I can (if you know what I mean),” he said. “My plates don’t say ‘SRYOFCR’ for nothing! When I have my little one with me, it’s a different story for sure. The wifey likes me to go fast, so we have that settled. Like I mentioned before, I used to do some racing back in South America (time attack, road course, drag racing, autox and such). When I moved to the States back in ‘04, I got into shows and that kind of stuff, but am hopefully going back to do more of that sort of thing, we’ll see how it goes.”

As much as graduating high school and going off to college might feel like moving to another planet, how many of us literally pack up and move to another continent? I asked Digo where, exactly, in South America he came from and what brought him north. “You really packed up and just went for it like that?” I asked. “I sure did,” he said, “‘and I dont regret it at all. It has been a great experience for me. I graduated High School back home in ‘03, I came to the States in ‘04

and went back to high school here to shape up my English. Since I only had to take the basics because I had enough credits from home, I completed my junior and senior years in one year; they split it for me. It was pretty easy stuff.

“Then I went down south again in 2005 for college and came back to the States again in ‘08 (crazy, huh).

Since then, I’ve made a life here. As for how I ended up in South Dakota, most of it was my brothers fault.

He came to the States for vacation - I remember he was in Florida - but a friend here in SoDak invited him over since they hadn’t seen each other for a long time.

My brother got a job offer while here and he took it.

Of course, this is prior me moving here. I had my mind set on joining the Navy back home and becoming a Naval Aviator. (Speed, man, that’s the shit I love.) I remember I had everything set up to join the military, but my brother mentioned to my old man me coming to South Dakota to check out the area. I sure did, and now I’m telling you everything about it ! I came up here, and made a life here, simple as that.”

OBSTACLES I like to ask gearheads about the biggest obstacles they’ve faced and how they overcame them. This is

good, lessons learned territory for all of us. Digo’s response was one I’m recently familiar with - the birth of his daughter. “I don’t want to call it an obstacle at all - because it’s not - but with the birth of my little girl, Aubree Lu, I had to put car stuff on standby.

I did this because I know myself and I’m very dedicated to what I do, so I didn’t want to leave my fiance Stephanie hanging in there with the baby by herself while I ‘played cars.’ I wanted to experience the whole new idea of me being a daddy and me being there for my girls 100% full time, you know what I mean?”

Totally, dude.

“I pretty much did a 360-degree move and that changed a lot of stuff for me. I took myself off the road for work. (I traveled a LOT for work before.) I learned to split myself between my girls and my crazy, automtive lifestyle. CRAZY GOOD CHANGE.” He went on. “Aubree Lu (my daughter) is almost two years old, and now that she can appreciate more of daddy’s passion, we’re going HAM AGAIN!” Okay. I’ll admit. I have no idea what it means to go “ham again,” but Digo sounded pretty excited about it, so it stays in the story!

“I’m very lucky to have what I have,” Digo told me.

“What I have achieved so far in life, and of course,

to have my other awesome half Stephanie. I couldn’t have done any of it without her! Love you baby! That’s for sure. I can’t wait to see what crazy ideas we come up with in the future.” This author is glad to see he’s not the only gearhead compelled to give a shout out to his biggest fan from time to time.

Also, and I’m cool if you’d rather not divulge the info, where in South America are you from? I really want our readers to see themselves as part of a global community that transcends geo-political borders. Last month, I interviewed Tony Chavez, originally from Peru, and this month, I’ve talked to guys in England, Ireland, and Australia. I guess what I’m trying to get people to realize is, if you’re into cars and trucks, there are people all over the world who you could very well become immediate good friends with if you just tried.

FRUITS OF OUR LABOR In talking to Digo, it was clear to me that he had a vision for his Electric Blue weapon. I asked him to tell me a little bit about how he plans things out. “To be honest with you, I don’t usually plan stuff for the Evo (not too often anyway). I’m always playing and imagining parts I’d like to get or changes I’d like to make in my head. I’m always sketching, Photoshopping.

I’ve been using software to visualize the final implementation of the part I want to upgrade. I do so much research - you have no idea - I’m always learning more and more.”

“I do mods as they come to me, if you know what I mean, but eventually I want it to have a full wide body Voltex Aero kit and be ready to rock with competition specs that leave that little on the table so it can be street legal as well.” No arguments from this gearhead. Sounds like a fairly balanced plan, actually.

Next step for Digo’s IX is his getting to enjoy the car

more for what it is - a street legal race car. (More than he has, anyway.) He’s build a fairly serious piece of machinery and wants to explore it’s capabilities.

Vehicle modification isn’t the dark art often suggested by those who give up and walk away. It’s actually a fine art. And like all truly great art, a great machine speaks to us. It reaches into our chests, squeezes our hearts, sending blood rushing to the brain. It can be expensive, but it’s a way of life (or wayalife, as someone I’d love to interview puts it). Digo brought it all home. “I want to enjoy as much as I can and share that joy with my girls and my good friends.” Amen, brother. Amen.

FOZZY OF THE MONTH FAT TIRES, NO TARD PARKING

An email from SubaruForester.org asking everyone to vote on Forester of the Month (FOTM) lead me to a thread with pictures of several super nice Fozzies strapped to dynos. That’s how I met Seth Scarborough of Longmont, Colorado.

WORDS BRIAN DRIGGS | IMAGES SETH SCARBOROGH In my search for new stories, I often end up lurking on discussion forums. Each year on my birthday, I get a reminder of how many forums I’ve joined over the years. Some of these communities are more evolved than others, sending out semi-regular newsletters.

Which is why I got the email about FOTM and started talking to Seth.

Introductions: Who are you, where do you live, and what do you do for a living?

My name is Seth Scarborough. I currently reside in Longmont CO and work in Boulder CO. I’m the Global Quote to Cash Project Manager for a company that makes measurement devices for industrial applications. Basically, I’m trying to shorten the amount of time it takes for us to get a customer’s order into our business system. (It currently takes longer to process

an order than it does to build the actual unit from scratch, yep it’s a bit backwards.)

Introductions: What do you drive, why/how did you come to own it, and how do you drive it?

Currently my DD is a 2000 Subaru Outback. I bought it for a few hundred bucks because it needed a headgasket. Rather than replace the HGs I just ended up buying a used ‘06 motor and swapping it out (the used motor came with a tranny attached, in the end I was able to sell the tranny and old motor for what I had into the whole deal = free car.

My “fun” car is a 2004 Subaru Forester 2.5XT. I bought it because I loved the 04 STi I had in 05-07, but with dogs and gear I really needed a hatchback.

Since I didn’t have enough cash to buy the sweet

[Dirt is for racing. Tarmac is for getting there. Seth gets down on mixed surfaces with awesome bikes. His Fozzy helps him have fun getting there.]

08+ STi hatchback, I took my $10K and got the next best thing and had enough money left over to make it faster than the STi hatch I was longing for. But now I’m contemplating selling/parting out the XT to fund a purly “for fun” rally effort or making it into a for fun track car.

I currently drive it as it’s built to be driven (read: hard) usually a few times per week; to work or up into the mountains with dogs, bikes and friends to ensure the ride to and from the trail is nearly as much fun as the actual mountain bike ride.

When you say your Fozzy is faster than the STi you wanted, why is that? (Mods are good, but please don’t just lay a comprehensive mod list on me!)

Yes, I should elaborate: The Fozz is faster in a straigtht line, but would still get whooped around a road course.

Believe it or not, the Fozz weighs less than an 08 STi (STi = 3395lbs & 04 Fozz = 3250lbs). As for power my Fozz currently makes 330awhp/375awtq while a stock STi puts down 225/225 on the same dyno.

So as not to overwhelm here are some mod highlights: 850cc injectors Walbro 255lph pump 08 STi intercooler STi headers Full 3” exhaust w/cat Forced Performance 18G 7cm COBB AP tuner w/ pro-tuned 91 & Ethanol maps And it just feels much faster than my 04 stage 2 STi did.

I’m starting to sort out the suspension, but that’s on hold for reasons apparent in your next question. So far it only has a Perrin rear sway bar, Swift springs and updated struts.

For brakes, I’ve got some JDM STi 4-pot fronts and H6 rear calipers & rotors waiting to go on.

Why are you looking to go all-in on a race/rally car?

And are you thinking rally exclusively?

Well, I’m not quite ready to go all-in, just starting to investigate. I’ve dabbled in some road course events, but never had the means to feed the impending

addiction of really getting into any form of auto racing. So I’ve been holding off until I’m more able. Now that I am more able I’m first considering my first love, Rally. Seeing at least two SCCA prepped cars in the $5k range (thanks for the links, really liking the 82’ Corolla available on one of them!) is opening up the possibility of not having to sell the Fozz to race, which makes it an even more enticing proposition.

So why rally? It’s real world roads, in real world conditions where inginuity, helpful ‘neighbors’ and having fun are paramount. Doesn’t get much better than that!

There’s a sweet irony in a modified Subaru owner considering the purchase of a used, 2WD rally car.

(It’s the Streetwise Corolla, isn’t it.) Why would you do such a thing, dude?

Good question! I’m a wuss. More specifically, I’d want to start in a “slower” class to make learning technique/skill a little easier. I have a strong feeling I’d be overwhelmed with a high powered AWD car as my first venture into rally (I’d end up constantly crashing and in last place!)

But I’m not sure I could give up my Fozz now that I’m looking down the path of lower powered 2wd :) I’m

leaning towards an addition to the fleet rather than a replacement. Maybe (hopefully?) someday I’ll be ready to turn the Forester loose to rally duty.

You’re right that it doesn’t get much better than that. The vast majority of rallyists in this country bend over backwards for each other. Who wants to win by attrition? Rallyists run into all kinds of mechanical obstacles. Can you tell me about a mechanical obstacle you had to overcome and how you did so?

I agree, a win or even just a good showing rings hollow if you left your neighbor high and dry to obtain it.

Hmmmm, think I’ve got a somewhat relevant example of a mechanical obstacle: It must have been almost 15 years ago becuase I was in college and making the 4 hour journey home in my 3rd DSM, a 1992 Talon TSi AWD (big 16G snail). I had just installed my sweet new Dejon modified stock side mount intercooler. I was on a two lane back road in North Dakota and I wanted to see how fast I could really go. I had just hit an indicated 136mph (still slowly accelerating) and snapped a picture using the disposable camera I had resting in the passenger seat (that dates me as well). No sooner had I set the

camera down did I hear a deafening “thud” and at the same time the wheel jerked in my hands and car juked/jived/jumped as if I had just ran over a small child!

I was freaking out as the car died and coasted to a stop on the side of the road. I was praising the lord for keeping me from getting killed as I realized how close I came to a deadly accident. I poked around under the car and then under the hood... low and behold, I found the culprit, something was missing... It was my poorly installed, brand new intercooler! Apprently the bracket I couldn’t quite get lined up during the install was fairly important under sustained boost conditions. Yep, the intercooler popped right off and I ran it over at 136+mph!

So now what? Did I mention I was in the middle of now where on a back road in North Dakota? Seeing I had plenty of time on hand I strolled back down the road in search of my poor intercooler. It’s amazing how far you travel in such a little amount of time at that speed, but I eventually found it in the ditch quite a ways back. It was obviously completely mangled and of no use to me but a cool reminder of the event.

So I sat on the side of the road until a nice farmer stopped to see what was going on. (Yep, this was also before the proliferation of cell phones). I explained the situation and how I figured I just needed something to connect to the two ends of the intercooler piping.

I thought I could make it home sans intercooler if I stayed out of the boost.

Before we got done measuring and such, another friendly farmer had stopped by to help. Before I knew it the first guy was off to the harware store to pick up some tubing. He brought back some flexible stuff that I was certain would not withstand any boost

pressure and sure enough he was more than happy to go retrieve the next iteration of my tube request. In the meantime, I had the second farmer get some hard wall pipe that we could use to insert into the factory soft intercooler piping so we could clamp the make shift connector piece onto the factory soft hoses. So with some a little fiddling around we got it all together, she fired right up and I was on my way.

I got the farmers’ addresses and mailed them checks as soon as I got home to cover their parts and fuel costs.

Haven’t told that story in years, but I’d hope it’s still pretty accurate. I have the picture I took at home somewhere and I even saved the piece of tube that we eneded up using (used pieces of it here and there over the years).

What’s next for the Fozzy? What’s next for your rally program?

I’m leaning towards getting the Fozzy track ready for some fun outings this summer. I’ve got the brake upgrade, now just need some track wheels/tires and I’ll go from there.

I’m now leaning more towards buying an old beater Subaru and building my own Rally car. Keeping my eyes open for a Brat or old GL maybe, and swap in a newer EJ22/EJ25. Granted that will put me in some crasy open AWD class, but who cares, the fun is DRIVING. Where can people find & connect with you online?

I’m fairly active on the Subaruforester.org forum, username Shef, oh and of course Facebook.

EXTRA: Seth got back to me a couple weeks later

with an update worth mentioning.

Sorry if it’s too late but, I was mentionting this interview to my friend and in talking about it a Fozz project came up that I somehow forgot to mention. I didn’t think of this because it’s not really performance related, but it might be relevant.

I will be putting a single bucket seat in the back of the Fozz. It will replace the bench seat and be centered but I haven’t decided if it will face forward or backward yet. I’ve taken out the interior from the rear of the car, am taking measurements, and it will fit, but orientation won’t be determined until I have the seat mocked up and in place. Why you ask? Here are my reasons: + About 1% of the time I need to carry 4 people, 3 seats covers 99% of usage. + With a seat in the center, I can fit bikes on either side of the seat getting them completey inside the rear cabin (at least 2, hoping for 3). This is huge for me because I have had bikes fall off racks no less than three times and driven into the garage with a bike on top no less than three times. This will save money on breaking bikes and house, and a bucket seat costs less than a new bike rack and my current hitch rack is almost dead. + No mpg penalty with bikes in tow. Even with my hitch rack, I’ve still noticed an increase in fuel consumption with bikes on the back. + It makes for a more fun ride for the rear passenger (plus there’s even weight distribution with 1 or 2 passengers), huge bonus for track ride alongs! + No worrying about locking bikes on the rack if you stop anywhere on your way to or from the trail or whenever. + It’s different and I’ve never seen it done before.

THINGS IN COMMON. POWER FROM DIFFERENCES. When we stick to our own makes, models, platforms, and pursuits, we risk missing out. Just as a random PM on a forum where I have 0 posts lead to interviews with not one, but TWO WRC-level organizers over the years, a random email from a Subaru forum lead me to meet Seth, a former DSMer interested in getting into rally who introduced me to uber-cool, fat-tire bikes and is in the process of modifying his machine to better work with his 2-wheel passion.

That’s what it’s all about.

FT86 SPEED FACTORY OFFICIAL GEARBOX MAGAZINE PARTNER

Here at Gearbox Magazine, we believe in helping gearheads help each other, and we extend that belief to small, gearheadowned businesses. That said, we don’t do advertising, because ads suck. We believe in building a strong ecosystem, where businesses and customers mutually benefit.

WORDS BRIAN DRIGGS | IMAGES JEREMY BOYSEN

FT86 Speed Factory is one of our Official Gearbox Partners. They believe, like we do, that knowledge is power, and strive to empower the FRS/BRZ community by doing more than just slinging more made-in-China commoditites. They go the extra mile, educating their community on parts and fitment, and putting exceptional customer service at the forefront of their business.

I’ve interviewed company founder Jeremy Boysen a couple times previously. First, about Free Candy, their LeMons team, then about parent company JB Autosports. A big part of our Official Partners Program (are you down with OPP?) is showcasing the specialties of these small, gearhead-owned businesses. Our conversations with them are meant to first introduce

you to these specialties, then empower you with technical insights based on experience and expertise. So what was JB Autosports’ area of expertise?

First question, you’ve shifted your focus into a niche. Tell us about that niche? Why did you decide to re-double your efforts here?

Well, I had been battling the entire import market in the first half of 2012. We worked on marketing to several markets - S2000, Honda EG/EK/Fit, Subarus, Evos, Mazdas, and more. The constant marketing and researching of questions was exhausting, let alone the constant website upkeep and trying to manage customer service across 6-7 forums. Our name was so new people only cared about price and price alone

will never pay the bills. We needed to provide more value. I knew we had value to provide outside of our awesome customer service but no way to prove it.

Wait. You sold your Evo to fund this business venture? SACRIFICE. How easy/hard was it to make that decision? Think you’ll ever go back?

So to play off an idea I had back in 2011 when the FRS/BRZ was announced, for which I had done some pre-planning, I launched FT-86 SpeedFactory in late July after the car had been out just a few months. A good friend of mine, Yo, had already acquired an FRS, which really pushed me to launch the niche focused website. In late August, I had finally sold my Evo off and purchased a silver FRS. This was the start really of everything that was and is to come I feel. A perfect outlet for us to show the world what and who we are.

Yeah, got rid of it. It was my third Evo after a long line of DSMs. The decision was fairly easy to make. Stay with something I know and be comfortable, or jump head first into something new and enjoy the experience. I can always buy another Evo if I want to. I can’t always try and start a business unit based on a new platform. After owning the FRS and now a Focus ST as well, I honestly can’t say I wouldn’t go back to an Evo. Sure they are amazing cars, but there are so many other cars to experience as well. Every car has its own soul and and kwirks, which are amazing to experience and spend some lengthy time with.

The platform has and is providing a way for us to get out and show what we know about cars, and also to show how customer service should be done in this industry. We are doing marketing of products like no one else does. Which is one of the thing that really sets us apart from the others. We focus on selling our value and knowledge where most sell on price because they have no value to provide. We even manufacture some of our own products now. We have a couple exhaust systems, and bracing out for the car along with the only Lightweight Battery kit. We’re continuing to expand on the manufacturing of parts we do for the platform and possible others.

What does this mean for JB Autosports? What does this mean for those who don’t have or aren’t interested in the new platform?

Well as far as JB Autosports goes, it has given us a new look on things. I have shut down the JB website for now while we re-focus that portion. We will re-launch only focusing on certain platforms that fit a specific niche which I have mostly been able to define now through about a years worth of data on the industry.

We’ll be back to servicing multiple makes and models, but that list will only be about 10 models when all

said and done. I’ve learned you can’t come out trying to be everything to everyone. Need to start small and work up to it.

We are also going to continue the niche model moving forward. We recently picked up a new platform to work with as well, a 2013 Ford Focus ST, with our division catering to that being called ST SpeedWerks.

ST SpeedWerks will cover all Ford models released in the USA with ST branding and we’ll provide the same value and customer service in that niche.

Recently JB Autosports moved into a new location which will provide us with a much larger warehouse to use, offices, and a much needed car lift. We’ll be able to really ramp up a notch on marketing and inventory with a larger facility to work in.

Why and how are you racing the FT (in which series, if any)? How does this - which a lot of us would consider fun - benefit your customers?

We will start the racing year officially with One Lap of America. We have been working to prepare the car and ourselves for this event which happens in early May. We are doing this to prove how capable this little “underpowered” car is. We will be competing against Corvettes, Porsches, GTR’s, Vipers, and more which surely outclass our car in HP and dollars.

The benefit this will give our clients is all the things we learn in preparing the car. From being able to explain the tricky part of installing certain parts, how to videos, pictures, and of course car set-up. All these things will provide extra value to our clients as we have first hand experience, unlike most of the shops out there trying to sell parts that don’t own or haven’t even driven an FRS/BRZ. It will be fun, but it is work, and work takes the front seat on this one. We’re in it to win our class and finish in a very respectable position overall. We don’t have really any sponsors behind us - no “bought” drivers - just ourselves and a car we built. “Race on Sunday sell on Monday” is the idea.

No sponsors. As a business likely to be approached about sponsorship by others, what have your motorsport experiences thus far taught you about what you would expect as a sponsor yourself? You’re in a unique position in that you sit on both sides of the sponsorship table. You’re racing right now to gain experience and exposure, but these are means to an end - sales. How might sponsorship drive business goals?

We do get asked quite a bit about sponsoring cars. I would say 9.8 out of 10 requests are from people who don’t fully grasp what is required to even be considered as a potential candidate. First of all, you need to have already won events, or have a high amount

of exposure, a resume, and a professional image.

Sponsors are looking at you as an asset to sell more product. If you can’t bring in any sales there’s no point sponsoring your car.

We’re still so small, we cannot sponsor any cars besides our own - even that is hard enough - and all we do is concentrate on getting more sales. We’ve only been able to secure one sponsor for our One Lap of America race/build so far, and even then we had to lay down 50% of the funds for the product. I’m sure, back in the day, sponsorship was a bigger thing, but I think in the market today these opportunities are less and less.

“Every car has its own soul and and kwirks, which are amazing to experience and spend some lengthy time with.” I agree. My little Pajero is the slowest, noisiest, vehicle I’ve ever owned - it’s also the most fun. Final thoughts on the soul and kwirks of the F86?

The FT86 is an amazing little car. Every time I have it out, I get questions about it; what is it, how fast is it, etc.. People don’t believe you when you tell them how “slow” it really is. Sure the car looks unimpressive on paper, but take it for a spin and you won’t think that anymore.

Straight line speed is down, but smiles and pure driving enjoyment are WAY up! I come from years of owning DSMs, Evo 8s, 9s, and even a 10. While those cars are amazing, the FT86 is just as amazing in it’s own light. The car has already, in just a few short months, made me a better driver, which is what I enjoy more than anything. This little car just wants to go out and live its life on the track. It screams for it, and was built for it. I can’t wait for the snow to melt and get it back where it belongs!

DEFENDER

DRIVE IT LIKE YOU’RE LATE FOR MASS

When this daily driven farm truck isn’t out in the fields earning its keep or hauling dead rally cars off special stages, it’s crossing the rivers and climbing the mountains of Northern Ireland, with Michael McLaughlin at the wheel.

WORDS BRIAN DRIGGS | IMAGES BHPNI While interviewing Barry Boyle of Maximum Attack Marshals Club of Northern Ireland, I came across several pictures of this bitchin’ orange Defender pickup. Always looking to get the referral, I asked Barry if he could get me in touch with the owner for a possible interview. Less than an hour later, I had an email from Michael McLaughlin.

That’s one of my favorite perks to making this magazine; emailing back and forth with people all over the world in almost realtime. It doesn’t happen every day, but it happens a couple times a month, and it never gets old. There have been times when I’ve emailed back and forth with people on three continents within 15 minutes. Our world is shrinking and it’s awesome.

ONE MANS PARTS CAR. ANOTHER MANS DREAM Michael McLaughlin lives in County Derry, Northern Ireland. He’s a farmer. And he drives this badass Land Rover Defender pickup. It’s his daily driver, his work truck, his plaything. I asked him how he drives it. “Drive it? Every time I drive it, its an adventure!”

He said, “And there is only one way to drive it - like

you’re late for mass!” An old Irish saying, he shared.

Now, I wasn’t even aware these trucks existed, so I asked how he came to own his. “Long story. It was owned by a man in the 4WDNI (4WD Northern Ireland) club that I am part of, and I always wanted a pickup. It became available, I seen it for sale, and went to look at it. It was the total opposite of what it is now; no dash or real interior, but I looked at the engine and underneath and said ‘This is coming home with me!’ It was great condition, chassis and all. As one of the stickers says ‘Seen it, Loved it, Bought it.”

OBSTACLES & ADVENTURES Michael told me he couldn’t really think of any noteworthy obstacles he’s faced with the truck, though he did mention that “Driving through rivers is great fun! Especially when the pair of boots on the passenger footwell float up beside you! Every journey is an adventure and me and my Defender tackle anything!”

Pressed for more details on his off-road adventures,

he mentions having fun up in the mountains of Donegal with a couple other Land Rover owners. “What did we do? Drove along some of the most beautiful hills in Donegal. For me it was about seeing how many times we could get stuck. Answer? Plenty! Why? Because you have to be a bit mad to own a Defender. In fact, you have to be a bit mad to own a 4x4. So driving over random fields, roads, puddles, rocks, rivers and ditches - and everywhere in between - is part of that.

Mainly because a normal car and driver can't do it!

It's a 4x4 thing. Most people don't understand. Where most people see a random pile of dirt, we see an adventure!”

GET YOURSELF CLEAN I asked Michael what’s next for his tough-as-nails Defender. “I have lots of things planned,” he told me.

“First off being a clean up of the chassis and get it all clean and painted underneath. This helps protect it for a bit longer! Next on list is fit my winch to the front.

Been meaning to get it fitted. Next would be underside protection; rock sliders and such. Also, a lift kit!

It needs to go higher! I’m thinking a 3" lift with a bit of axle twisting! Then the paint. I fancy a change, so have to think what's next, maybe white? By end of the summer, i should have a full external roll cage too.”

Adventure-wise, Michael plans to get to as many rallies and off road days as possible, maybe get out ‘round the lovely hills of Ireland on a mini expedition.

He’s also go plans to attend a Land Rover show over in England. “To meet up with all the other fellow Landy mad folk!”

YOU THINK YOU KNOW A GUY Emailing back and forth with this lad, and seeing the pictures he sent in for this story, I feel pretty confident in saying this is a gearhead I want to meet in person.

I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve worked roadblocks and time controls and service parks at rallies here in the American southwest, and I’ve met a lot of exceptional people in the process. It bet we would have a blast comparing notes - here or there.

The things we have in common are what empowers us to get the most from our differences.

TROLLVO

FRESH, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

If you’re lucky, you cross paths with at least a couple other gearheads on your commute. The roads are packed with lesser, vehicle operators. It’s nice to spot the well-sorted machine in the other lane and know there’s still hope for humanity.

WORDS BRIAN DRIGGS | IMAGES CHRIS VANDERWERF Our Gearheads-United tumblr, which I refer to as GU+, is a place where I like to share pictures of interesting vehicles and automotive adventures from time to time. Admittedly, I’ve been a bit lazy lately, but it’s still an idea I believe in and want to develop over time.

The idea is pretty simple. You join, get a special email address, and then simply email pictures of cool automotive shit you see to it. Those pictures end up on both our Twitter and Facebook pages (Google+, too, when I get it figured out). In my mind, I see it as a place where you could always go to see something new and unique or maybe even meet other gearheads around the world.

That’s why I try to keep snapping pictures of cool cars I see when I’m out and about. One such car I spent months trying to catch for a picture was Chris Vanderwerf’s super nice 1998 Volvo S70 T5. For every clean, modified Volvo you see, there are probably 100 that are bone stock, neglected, and/or falling apart.

And the S70 certainly doesn’t sit very close to the top of the list of preferred Volvos to modify. That’s why this one caught my eye.

Introductions: Who are you, where do you live, and what do you do for a living?

My name is Chris Vanderwerf, currently residing in Phoenix, Arizona - originally from Buffalo, NY - and I am a Sales Consultant at Airpark Dodge Chrysler Jeep in North Scottsdale.

Introductions: What do you drive, how do you drive it, and how did you come to own it?

I drive a 1998 Volvo S70 T5, I purchased it from my long-time friend Ian McNicholas after I moved back out here from the east coast, and the car is primarily my daily driver. It’s, admittedly. not going to be the most practical of cars in the very near future; but it’s not going to stop me from driving what I love.

I had been saving for a bit for a down payment on a 2004 350z we had taken in trade at work, and they were unable to get the car to pass emissions, so I had to pass on it. I registered on azexiled.com as a close friend of mine was driving a 350z Nismo and suggested it to me as a Z & G community. I purchased the Trollvo after I registered, and the place is more than a Z/G club - it’s a community for car enthusiasts.

I always had a thing for unique cars that were modified. Driving my old 280zx, I had all kinds of people looking and paying attention to my car, and I loved that. I wanted that back. Little did I know that modifying the S70 to a way I was happy with was a bit of a hassle. Aftermarket parts are hard to come by, wheels that I liked are hard to come by, ONE company makes coilovers; and all of this jazz costs a lot of money, so I’ve had to improvise a bit in order to attain the desired look of the vehicle.

How have you had to improvise to get the look and performance you want? Can you give a specific example? Don’t Volvos have some kind of bizarre lug nut pattern; like the same as Ferraris?

Why do you say your near future plans will make the car less practical? Why do these mods if this will negatively impact your daily drive?

As a result of the wheel poke, and running a 18x9 wheel (the Konigs are 16x7), I’ll have to pull the fenders to make the tires flush with the vehicle. I’ll likely be stretching something like a 215 tire over a wheel meant for a 245 just to make sure I clear the fender.

After I get the wheels fitted, as they are larger, the current spring setup just won’t work for me. Last thing I need is the Trollvo on wagon wheels! I’m having Scott at Vivid Racing make me a set of H&R Race Springs; I’ll need to corner-weigh the car to determine what spring rates I need, and how long the springs need to be; which will lower the car another 1-1.5” to achieve a perfectly stanced look; I’m expecting about 1/8” fender clearance of my tires - and a completely unique look for an old Turbo Brick, to boot! The modifications won’t affect how I drive, and the car will remain my daily for the foreseeable future, though it might beat me up a little bit. I have a problem with speed bumps, but I’ll be slowly getting over them.

In terms of achieving a certain look - there isn’t one, really - at least not for the S70. The aformentioned wheel situation very nearly had me settling for a style I wasn’t 100% happy with, and thankfully the Konig wheels on it right now will be leaving VERY soon.

Admittedly, I don’t know a whole lot about the stance scene. The circles in which I tend to run can’t understand why anyone would modify a vehicle to make more power, only to fit rolling stock rendering it barely capable of handling city streets - think: “hard parking.” What is it about the scene that gets you so excited? Is it the people? Why is this the mod path you’ve chosen for your Volvo?

Chris over at Rev-em-Hard Motorsports is my go-to guy for car modification, as he builds most of his own drift and race cars. I had Motorsport Tech USA make me a set of wheel adapters, switching my bolt pattern from the dreadful 5x108 to a more common 5x114.3. At 20mm thick, my new wheels with a +30 offset will be poking about a half inch past the fender well.

Absolutely. The upside of the whole stance thing is that for the most part it encompasses a wide range of enthusiasts. While manufacturers will always have their “fanboys” and cliques dedicated to certain models, generally if you can wrap your head around the idea of a car you know literally nothing about - aside from the fact that its looks amazing when its slammed

Haha, well Ferrari and Jaguar, anyway - not that Jaaaaaaaag is a cheaper choice or anything!

on some nice shoes - and still love what the owner was trying to accomplish; that’s something special.

The look of a slammed vehicle, on big wheels that poke past pulled fenders, riding on stretched tires to meet an aggressive look - and knowing the amount of time and effort that goes into making sure that everything adds up the way you want it to is - in my opinion - the epitome of beauty in the eyes of not just the owner - but other like-minded enthusiasts.

In terms of why I’m trying to accomplish this in the Volvo, again it goes back to my love of it being such a unique vehicle in the customization realm. Nothing is more awesome to me than an old Mercedes, Volvo, or Bimmer with a different look. I know I’m not the only one that feels this way, either - these classic examples of modern perfection wouldn’t exist if that were the case. It’s a perfect blend of when cars were more “pure” with a splash of modern flair to let others know, “My car may be from the 80s or 90s - but the work under it is nothing short of modern engineering witchcraft.” Having a vehicle that turns heads is a dream of any enthusiast. Done on a budget or not; if it looks good, is something I’ve never or rarely seen before - its something I want to talk about and share with others.

THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

Here at Gearbox Magazine, we know that every gearhead is a little different. Though we might not completely understand certain scenes or cultures, we still know what it feels like to love our machines and keep pressing on toward our goals. There’s a prestige in being the non-conformist; in doing things differently, and doing them to the best of your ability.

Unfortunately, despite making quite a bit of progress in the weeks following our initial conversation, Chris had some emergency dental work deplete his mod budget, robbing him of the really excellent BBS -style wheels he had picked out for the car. And no sooner did he PlastiDip the existing wheels, really making the car pop, he lost both front axles. Add wedding planning to the mix, and he no longer had time for this dream. The Trollvo was sold and he bought a Miata.

Can’t keep a gearhead down, though. So I’m looking forward to seeing what Chris ends up doing with his new, RWD plaything.

GBXM NEWS UPDATES

WORDS BRIAN DRIGGS | IMAGES VARIOUS

media and fan integration this year (pretty much what I was banging on about in my GBXM interview) and will be launching a new radio service called BRC LIVE. It will fronted by Neil Cloughley who is part of iRally and Carl Williamson will be carrying out interviews in the service area (think he sits with Crazy Leo?!)”

DARREN THOMAS Giovannia says, “I thought about GBXM the other day when we were talking about the DSM Shootout. I guess there isn't much going on right now! We went to the Import Face Off in Baytown a few weeks back and placed 3rd. There were some really fast cars in our class and we hurt the transmission. Thankfully we've been using that tranny for quite a few years now so it was bound to happen.”

“The last few weeks, we've been playing with methanol at our home track, hoping to get all the bugs worked out. Darren is aiming to run an 8.50 without any issues so he can continue on his 8.20 goal.”

“Then we went out and I guess the GT42 we've been running for years decided it had it with us, and blew up at the 1000 ft. line. Darren still managed to run a 8.91 @ 131 mph. So that was a good sign for him that he's getting closer to figuring the time out.”

“April is going to be a hectic one for us. He plans on racing 3 consecutive weekends, Ennis, TX, Noble, OK, and Columbus, OH. This should pretty much keep us on our toes all month. “ MATT COTTON “BRC Media Day was 22 March. It’s a chance for teams and drivers to announce their years plans, take the press around a special stage in the woods and generally ‘launch’ the championship. It’s always well received and great to get the buzz of the championship going ahead of the first round in April.”

“The BRC will be making a big effort to push social

“I will be taking the role of ‘end of stage’ radio presenter, interviewing drivers and getting quotes fresh from the drivers. It will a great opportunity and I’m really looking forward to it. It will also allow me to carry on the MCR Marketing Solutions work with some talented young drivers in the BRC Challenge events where we will be looking after their media during the year.”

“As for my driving... well I did have an offer to contest the opening round, but I think I will save myself and try to contest Wales Rally GB, the WRC finale in November!”

“Sadly it was announced that the first round of the British Rally Championship has been posponed due to the condition of the stages. The ice has compacted down from the recent snowfall and the stages are impassable.

Such a shame for everyone concerned - and for us as I was looking forward to getting stuck into the new role of radio presenter!

As far as our social media outlay is concerned - truthfully we are still learning all the time. Having a normal day job like yourself means we are pretty limited to evenings to keep on top of our promotion.

CASUDI

ARCHIVES: MARCH 2011

Sometimes, you meet someone and immediately understand why they’re successful. Casudi is just such an individual. Back in 2011, she took some time out of her schedule to give us a glimpse into A Day in the Life (or Almost) of a High Octane Entrepreneur.

WORDS BRIAN DRIGGS | IMAGES CASUDI Being your own boss has got to be the best gig ever, but it’s not without a lot of responsibility. Time and project management, coordinating people and ideas, keeping up with the latest news and information – these are just some of the basic skills necessary to be the best at what you do.

I met Casudi a while back on Twitter. The consummate entrepreneur, Casudi could fill a book with stories about creative problem solving, international relations, and “designing bridges to success.” I, personally, consider Casudi a mentor, and hope we’ll be able to interrupt her busy schedule again in the future to get her insight on other topics, but for this, our first synchro interview, let’s begin our journey into the realm of entrepreneurship with a day in the life (or almost) of a hi-octane entrepreneur.

What’s the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?

A double espresso.

[Casudi’s double espresso.]

After which I preview the day ahead in my mind…

Everything is already filed in categories, and the very first thing I go through is each category I know I will have to deal with during the day (sometimes there is a list on my computer from the night before); but usually I do this even before I fire up my computer. I think things through – it’s sort of an abstract “business plan for the day”. How do I get from A to B the most efficiently. What needs dealing with first, what appointments/calls do I have, and what do I need to have prepared?

On any given day I might have a scheduled skype or call with an entrepreneur, or one of the small biz owners I mentor. Always some issue to deal with… Last week some new local building regulations were instituted, but Ken B., running a business I have mentored since he started over 6 years ago, was never notified, so now, suddenly, he is no longer compliant with county regulations for installing rain collection systems. Instead of doing a plumber’s apprenticeship for 2000 hours, we’ll convince them to count his years of experience and he’ll willingly take the exam. What is most annoying of all this is taking time away from the business; but I do think he will win this one.

is, or putting off something because it is unpleasant to deal with. Of course there are exceptions, as you can’t leave a fire half extinguished, :-) But as soon as a pressing problem is solved (the fire is out), you can most often rearrange your schedule to accommodate and prioritize for the rest of the day.

Good time management is very dependent on a realistic assessment of the time required to meet your goals and objectives. People who never seem to get things done or are always late, either have no plan or have an unrealistic plan. :-) And plans and time frames to meet objectives do change so what about that?

Clear precise communication updating any changes is a key ingredient for effective time management. It is unfortunate that so many of the best people who are quite artistic and tremendous craftsmen usually have an overly optimistic view of what they can accomplish in any given time slot. That in itself is not so bad, but what is, is the inability or disinclination to articulate by phone/email or carrier pigeon that there is a delay or change.

It is unfortunate that so many of the best people who are quite artistic and tremendous craftsmen usually have an overly optimistic view of what they can accomplish in any given time slot.

This disinclination to communicate makes project management extremely frustrating, whether it is a major house, car or boat restoration. Software development is another kettle of fish, but we know at the onset it always takes way longer than anyone anticipates. :-)

[RainBank storage tank 20,000 gal) & 1950 Chevy hot rod truck w/ 350 SBC/350turbo + suspension mods.]

How do you change gears between each different category of the various different things you focus on?

I guess this is easy for me, because I have things so defined and compartmentalized. It also makes multitasking easier, at least for me… where I am dealing with more than one problem or challenge at once.

Good time management is key to being able to shift categories, and that means not staying with something after the allotted time, no matter how cool it

In any given day I am dealing with at least three major headlines, and those I break down into manageable sub sections. Yes, I am obsessed with categorizing…

There might be a car or boat restoration project, and you know how many subcategories to that there are.

Our BarnFindRiva project is a good example of this.

There might be a start up or early stage company I am involved in either as a consultant or a principal.

And I am usually dealing with at least one mentoree, sometimes more than one.

If it’s not a start up, I will likely be managing an architectural & interior design project. We do some pretty

high-end projects for some very discriminating (aka: difficult!) international clients.

And I write or edit 4 blogs too!

When managing a restoration or renovation project how do you keep track of where you are in the process and what is the most frustrating thing or part of any project?

The most frustrating is probably the subcontractors who don’t do what they say they are going to do! This, beyond the time issue mentioned before. Example: I specified an exhaust system with quite smooth & generous curves (with pretty precise drawings I might add), and what I got back was this – with tight, sharp curves.

subscribe to new things that interest me. I limit my Twitter time to picking up links that interest me and to twitter chats from which I can learn (or can really contribute to). I don’t do FB. I allot a certain amount of time to “research” for any specific project I am doing.

Then, from time, to time I play catch up, often late at night or very early in the AM, and on weekends; easier in the winter when the weather is bad. Just one of the great things about being self-employed; you can work 24/7/365 and nobody can stop you!

Just one of the great things about being self-employed; you can work 24/7/365 and nobody can stop you!

What are your three favorite cars or boats you have ever owned or currently own? And why?

One of my choices is a ‘76 2002 BMW, which I bought used with about 30K miles. I left the engine pretty stock, and beefed up the suspension with the usual; Bilsteins, stiffer springs, sway bars, and an Ansa exhaust. What I learned from that driving experience was that cornering can be everything. That little sandcolored box on wheels could corner better than many of my friends bigger BMWs, Aston Martins and a 928 Porsche.

[Fail Exhaust]

Not acceptable! What was the fabricator thinking?

There was also an issue of missed schedules; this really set the project back by several weeks (and cost me a LOT of money).

The typical early morning drive; how fast can you take the 35mph corner or a 3/4mile section of road with consecutive hairpin bends? Not my fault: I grew up a couple of miles from Sir Stirling Moss… watching him when I was young and impressionable. The 2002 is long gone now.

I keep track of projects (and the many parts of a project) using an Excel spreadsheet; sometimes a master Excel sheet and one for each category. Simple and easy. I am always looking at more complex project management programs, but I haven’t found one yet I am ready to commit the learning curve for.

How do you keep up with all the information you have to follow, read and digest to remain current?

I don’t! And I don’t think anyone really does :-), even though they might say they do. There is just so much information anyone can read and absorb in any given day. And when you are interested in so many things as I am, this can get you off your schedule really fast. I limit my RSS feeds to 20, and often delete and

[Riva SuperFlorida 418 (motor, bottom right, of course)]

My 1960 Riva Super Florida; che bella machina! (We found this in a barn too. Same ranch as Perlita, but a real barn, which kept out the elements – see above).

I like it because there is no need to keep it all original.

moved to first place. However, during this time my partner James had been diagnosed with an aggressive Lymphoma issue, so we had already decided to pass on my dream Audi.

They say timing is everything. Just 2 days after James got his first “all clear” from the doctor, we got the call from Zoltan at University Audi; our Daytona Gray R8 with carbon fiber blades had arrived. What would you have done?

When we found it, it had a Holman/Moody NASCAR 351. A call to Lee Holman at the time we found the boat confirmed how rare this is. Does anyone know anything more about this motor? I am sure [CASUDI on the ferry with her R8]

the ‘purists’ hate this, and won’t rest until it’s back to the way it left the factory in 1960. IMHO; It’s Riva; what more could I want?

My Audi R8 was the first car delivered to the northwest, and was definitely the most iPhoned-R8 during its first few months in the US! Purchasing the R8 was not what I would call a good business decision all things considered, but it was a great investment in living, fun and a fitting ‘celebration of life.’

The R8 had been on order for nearly 2 years. We were #3 on the list, and as D-Day approached, we were

METAPHOR: SYNCHRO You can learn a lot about something new by thinking about it in terms you understand. Synchro is a metaphor. You understand how synchros help bring gears up to speed to mesh smoothly in a transmission, right? Our Synchro articles are meant to help you build that extra bit of speed you need to shift your high performance life into the next gear.

Casudi and her partner James recently completed a positively amazing restoration. If you’re not familiar with the story of Perlita Too, you definitely want to check it out. Visit: The Barn Find Riva

SMITH AUTO GVR4 ARCHIVES: MARCH 2010

I scour the world looking for stories of real people doing amazing things with vehicles they actually own. If I’ve learned one thing from the hundreds of people I’ve spoken with since starting GBXM in 2009, it’s that you don’t have to go far to find exceptional gearheads.

WORDS BRIAN DRIGGS | IMAGES VARIOUS Ron and Troy Cochran get into their 1992 Galant VR4 and put the hammer down, achieving top speeds of over 200mph in a car shaped like a shoebox. Nearly 50psi of boost, wide open, to 8000rpm and beyond in all five gears, with all four wheels spinning madly the whole time. This year, they’ve set their sites on 230mph. Galant VR4 Month wraps up with the Raver/ Smith Auto Land Speed Record car.

Ron Cochran – owner/driver – Visalia, CA Troy Cochran – driver – Waterford, CA Vernon Brunges – engine tuner – Visalia, CA Don Sprayberry – crew/design – Fresno, CA What do you do for a living?

Ron: Owner/CEO, Smith Auto, Inc. (6 Central Valley Auto Parts stores)

Does your Mitsubishi race team have an official Troy: Owner/President, Valley IGA plus+ name? What would that be?

Vern: I am a cardiovascular ICU Registered Nurse, as Smith Auto Racing. well as the owner of RaVer Motorsports.

What Mitsubishi do you race?

How did you all come to do this together?

1992 Galant VR4

Ron: Life long quest for SPEED!!!

What’s your name and role in the team? Where are Troy: Ron is my father. We have been racing motorcyyou located? cles and cars my whole life.

What type of racing do you do with the Galant? How long have you been doing it?

Vern: Land Speed Racing at El Mirage dry lake in the Mojave Desert and the Bonneville salt flats in Utah.

About 5 years. Actually, I just support the car. The car belongs to Ron Cochran. He is the owner of several auto parts dealers in the central valley of California.

He and one of his sons, Troy Cochran, drive the car and hold the four different records attributed to the car. Ronnie is the epitome of a land speed racer: friendly, older guy with volumes of stories to tell over a steak diner.

Another vital crew member is Don Sprayberry. He owns a couple wrecking yards and helps out at every opportunity. He is credited with designing the oil system mods that have eliminated bearing failures for us. My wife, Patty, has acted as the crew chief at two events that I couldn’t attend; she uploaded the ECM changes needed between runs and generally bossed the guys around to keep order when problems came up. Without her help at Speedweek this year we would not have hit the 224mph mark. She licensed at 200mph during the event, too.

Ron: Motorcycle, rally, and land speed racing owner/ driver for 40 years.

Troy: I’ve been involved in land speed racing since 2004.

Why did you choose this Galant to race?

Ron: All wheel drive and availability.

Troy: The VR4 is all wheel drive and that benefits us in the Production Class… plus the Smith Auto/ Mitsubishi engine is bullet proof.

Vern: I like the owner so I enjoy helping him. He already had the Galant so that dictated the platform we went with. The car had already been set up for LSR, but at this point nearly nothing remains of the car as it was in that incarnation.

Got a favorite story to share about building or racing the Galant?

Ron: We raced and worked on the car for three years

before any success.

Troy: When the boost kicks in on that little engine, you’ve never felt anything like it! It has violent power!

This isn’t funny, but on my last run of the day, I put a beer in the intercooler tank so when I get our of the car in the shut down area after the run I can have a cold beer while I’m waiting for my chase vehicle to push me back to the pits.

Vern: There are tons, but the last event of this year gave us a good one. Troy was driving at the two day event at El Mirage. We succeeded in raising his record to nearly 213mph on the first run. The track is dirt, and last year’s lack of rainfall had led to a dusty plowed up mess to run on this year. Imagine stepping onto powdered dirt that your feet sink into an inch or more; now you have an idea of what we we’re running on I instructed Troy to hug the left side of the track as close to the cones as he was comfortable and then to fade to the same position on the right at about threequarter track. In theory, he could avoid the worst torn up areas by doing this. At best, our view from the chase truck is a big plume of dirt, but then there was a huge cloud of dust, and for a moment we could clearly see the profile of the Galant. For a fraction of a second I allowed myself to consider the possibility that the car had flipped… so many things went through my mind: Would the cage I built protect him, did we have a drivetrain failure from something not being tightened properly, did we have a catastrophic engine failure…?

As it turned out, the car was fine; rubber side down, shinny side up, firing on all four cylinders. Troy said the car had begun fading to the right on its own and

was nearly sideways about 200 yards from the timing lights. Since he was so close he decided to stay on the throttle to the end. When he popped the ‘chute at the timing lights it torqued the rear of the car back so hard that it flat spotted all four tires, ruining them and sending up the huge cloud of dust we saw. Reviewing the datalog showed that all four tires were spinning by 196mph; he went through the timing lights at 208mph with a speedometer indicated speed of 220mph! I don’t think anybody can question his ballsto-brains ratio.

What have you already accomplished with the Galant?

are spinning from start to finish under full throttle. At 224mph, the download shows over 240mph wheel speed! At 200mph, the car feels and steers like it weighs 100lbs.

Troy: I like to get in the car early in line. I just sit and relax and think how fortunate I am to have such a GREAT father that lets me drive this car! When the boost kicks in… there is nothing like that feeling… it plants you in the seat. Lots of power!

And when the car gets back to the pits? What then?

Troy: Vern does the computer download to see how Ron: We’ve set 10 separate Land Speed Records everything went on the run. Vern is the whole reason and earned life membership into both El Mirage and this car goes fast. Smith Auto does the engine build, Bonneville 200mph Clubs for me and my son Troy. but Vern makes the engine go FAST! Troy: My dad has done 6 of those records and I have What does it take to go 200mph? Mechanically? done 4. Dad had broken 3 records at Bonneville and 4 Mentally? at El Mirage and I have broken 1 record at Bonneville and 3 records at El Mirage.

Ron: A bullet-proof engine. We’ve broken every part Vern: We hold the PS record in both F and G engine that can be broken. We overcame a lack of lubrication classes at Bonneville and El Mirage. 224+mph on and head gasket problems in the first three years and the salt at Bonneville and 214+mph on the dirt at El have very little problems since. It takes 909hp on an Mirage. all wheel dyno to go 224mph at Bonneville (approximately 15% loss in the drivetrain). It has to make 2 When giving the car the final once-over before a run, three mile passes at 47 pounds of boost at 9500rpm what sort of things are you looking at? What are without exploding like a hand grenade. Then you have your primary concerns at this point? a World Land Speed Record! Uptight and tense until Ron: Engine temp, ice in intercooler, fire bottle pins I blast off. pulled, and chute pin pulled. All other concerns taken care of before get in line to run.

Troy: Vernon Brunges, engine tuner, and Smith Auto, engine builder. All I do is hold the throttle to the floor Troy: We always take the car to the dyno before we and try to point the car straight. race so we know that the car is ready to go fast.

Race day, we just warm it up, I strap in, and I try to Vern: In theory, it only requires about 500 sustainable hit my shifts smoothly at 9500rpm, and point the car wheel horse power to go 200mph. Given the Galant’s straight! awful aerodynamics it may need more. At speeds of over 200mph the HP requirement increases at Walk our readers through what happens between an exponential rate: the requirement arguably douwhen you get into and out of the Galant for a run bles for the next fifty miles and hour. I say arguably and your concerns each step of the way. because our experience has shown us that that is a Ron: I enter the car and strap in, run engine to around too conservative estimate.

200 degrees temp, run intercooler pumpe (liquid-toair), wait for the starter to wave me off. First, second, Ron: If we’re going to hit 230mph this year, we’re easand third gear are a blur (very little traction), fourth ily going to need another 200hp. gear to 9500rpm, quickly into fifth without losing boost. Focus on keeping the car straight. All 4 wheels How is that mechanical/mental prep different from,

say, drag or road racing?

Vern: The biggest differences between drag racing and LSR lie in two areas: First, weight is not a factor in land speed racing. In fact, often we have to add weight to cars to battle aerodynamic lift at over 200mph (our class specifies OEM body profiles).

Second, we do not have to worry so much about drivetrain strength. Sure, we need a very healthy transmission (which TRE has generously supported), but the transfer case, driveline, rear differential, and rear axles are still stock. Those items would probably explode with the first hard launch if we attempted a drag launch with good tires. Which reminds me, we also use narrow, tall tires with lots of air pressure for both gearing and minimizing rolling resistance. LSR is about smooth and easy power application since we have a greater distance to reach top speed.

Ron: Very little difference. Road racing is long and drawn out; LSR is very quick.

Troy: I’m no pro so I don’t know. I’m just having fun spending time wiht my father. This is something I grew up doing with him. We were always riding motorcycles or going to races when I was younger. Racing, to me, is a great hobby and it gives me valuable time with my dad.

How do you address the aerodynamic shortcomings of the Galant for this type of racing?

Ron: I compare it to a brick. We are building an Eclipse land speed car which will address the aerodynamic problems of our Galant.

Troy: It’s a flying brick. We have lowered the car as much as we can. It seems to drift or hover a little bit at speed. We might try to add some weight for next year to keep the power to the ground.

Given the amount of power needed to sustainably run at over 200mph, how much fuel does the Galant consume on a run? Can you convert that to MPGs? Ron: It gets approximately 1 mile to the gallon. (Warm up and a 3 mile run at Bonneville equals 4 gallons of A8C race fuel consumed.)

Troy: It will make (2) 1.3 mile runs at El Mirage, including warm up, on 4 gallons. We run A8C (118 octane, leaded) race gas.

Does land speed racing such as this require any specific equipment not generally prescribed in other forms of racing?

Ron: Two 20lb fire bottles and an SCTA approved roll cage. 20spf driver protective equipment.

record?

Ron: El Mirage in May and Bonneville (SpeedWeek) in August.

Troy: Our season starts in May and goes to November.

We run once a month at El Mirage and August (SpeedWeek) and October (World Finals) at Bonneville on the salt. Anyone can come and watch. Once you come watch you’ll want to get a car and run!

Troy: We use the same spec racing suit, helmet, shoes, Vern: Our first event for the 2010 season is May 15 gloves as NHRA. The car needs to be teched before and 16. This event will be at El Mirage near Victorville, every race by an SCTA tech official.

California. Spectators are welcome, and the pits are open to everyone without any special pass. It is also How would you rate ride quality and cabin noise at a popular off road vehicle destination so there are 200mph plus? Is the cruise control still functional? camping site available, too. Attending an event and getting a rule book is about all it takes to get involved.

Ron: Ride quality is equal to track quality.

New competitors will find a friendly welcome.

Troy: The cruise control is my foot pushing that throttle through the floorboard! That little Mitsubishi engine’s pounding out over 900hp sounds so good! It is so much fun to drive. I am fortunate to be able to drive a great car, go speeds that no one has ever done in a 2 liter production sedan, and spend time with my dad at the same time.

Who has helped you the most along the way?

Troy: Crank up the boost and go faster in 2010.

Mike Reichen is another person I’d like to mention.

He is a true hero among Mitsubishi owners with his standing mile endeavors and accomplishments. I’ve

Ron: Vernon Brunges and Don Sprayberry.

Troy: #1, my dad. #2, Vernon Brunges.

Vern: Our introduction to land speed racing came from Greg Carlson. He approached us for help with his ’94 What’s next for the Galant?

Nissan 300zx twin turbo. We eventually got him the Vern: We are replacing the intercooler and stepping record in his class, and we learned a lot along the way. up to the AEM second generation ECM this spring. He is a LSR guy from waaay back.

Our current IC is costing us at least 65-90 whp. Our Who do you look up to in the Mitsubishi community? current one is a pathetic little liquid to air setup that I quick-fab’ed using two OEM air to air cores from Vern: As a person, Jon Ripple is my favorite person Mazda Turbo IIs! Keep in mind that I did that back in the Mitsubishi community. He is a small business when 500whp was our goal. Now that we’ve nearly owner who shares many of the same experiences and doubled that output we’re seeing intake air temps trials that my wife and I did running RaVer Motorsports. nearing 200F with a restrictive pressure drop across He seems to maintain a far better attitude than I did, the core of 4 psi or more. The new AEM promises to however. be far superior as far as ease of use and programming is concerned. Were it not for the release of the sec- Andrew Brilliant is a fellow Mitsubishi competitor who ond generation of AEM ECMs we’d be stepping over I met through LSR racing and who I now consider to Motec this winter. among my friends. Great guy with tons of knowledge who is quick to share anything that will help a fellow Ron: I hope to go 230mph+ at Bonneville in August. racer.

Where will you be doing you next attempt at the

talked with him many times on the phone and through emails. He, too, is quick to share insights; the kind of friendly competitor who makes racing fun for me. He hasn’t made the transition to LSR yet, but our records will have some serious targets on them when he does.

(To be fair, Jeff Gerner has an Audi that has the potential to gun for us this coming year, too.)

What do you see as the biggest issue facing the Mitsubishi community today?

Vern: I can’t group all Mitsubishi owners into one community. There are too many segregating factors with elitists and purists weakening the common bond. To me, community refers to those with similar interests and attitudes whether that is a small group of people who get together on the weekends or a few competitors who correspond over the phone and only gather for serious racing a couple times a year.

service. Can’t forget Shawn Church, either; I highly recommend Church Automotive Testing to everyone.

Do you spend time on any Mitsubishi sites? Which ones?

Vern: My schedule allows little time to play on forums now days. And as I’ve gotten older I can step back and admit that too much time is spent defending one’s accomplishments on the internet. I do not enjoy the drama of dealing with haters and doubters, and I will no longer give some nobody who I will never meet in person the power to raise my blood pressure. Unfortunately, that does mean I also miss the opportunity to interact and share with tons of great enthusiasts, too. Sorry for the negativity; it comes from 12 years of owning a business in the import racing niche. I can truly say that my involvement in racing is now fueled by the satisfaction that comes from my own accomplishments regardless of what others think or feel about what we’re doing.

Is there a particular Mitsubishi shop you’d recommend?

A GREAT DAY OUT

Vern: TRE has never disappointed us, and the owner is a super guy, as well. Kiggly Racing is another small business with excellent products and great customer

I consider the day I spent with the Smith Auto/RaVer LSR team to be one of the best days ever and hope to get back in touch with them soon.

NICK + JOANNE X-AFRICA ARCHIVES: MARCH 2012

Having twice, now, jumped continents and met exciting new people face-to-face in foreign lands, I have this itch to go on a truly epic road trip. As in, to drive around the world. Research starts early. Fortunately, Nick & Joanne Yu told me a little bit about their trip across Africa.

WORDS BRIAN DRIGGS | IMAGES NICK & JOANNE YU Have you ever thought about driving around the world one day? Could it be the ultimate road trip? Here at Gearbox Magazine, we love stories of people doing remarkable things with vehicles. Nick and Joanne Yu bought a used truck in South Africa, then drove it home… all the way to England. We caught up with them between adventures.

Please introduce yourself. What’s your name?

Where do you live?

Nick and Joanne Yu, we are two Canadians currently live in the Southwest of England, in Gloucestershire.

What do you do for a living?

We came across this video and had to find out more [Nick]: Project Manager – Renewables, Projects recovabout Nick and Joanne. ering PGM (platinum group metals) [Joanne]: Programme Leader – Aerospace industry And what do you drive?

[Nick]: First Generation Citroen C4 VTS – 2.0L 16v Hdi [Joanne]: All I’ll say is its Korean and 1L, not very exciting!

[In the Nubian Desert, Sudan]

a lot of time convincing Joanne to do the trip; safety was one of the biggest issues. There is a lot of preconception of what a country or continent is like without really knowing the full truth. The main reason I wanted to go to Africa is its one of the last wild places on the planet.

[Joanne]: Nick can be a good salesman. Plus I get to pick every holiday from now until… forever!

Which truck did you choose for this adventure?

[Desert Camping]

You’ve been all over the world. And not always by car. Here’s the big question: Why?

A 1987 Toyota Hilux 2.2Y – Petrol. Known for its reliability and ruggedness with solid front axle for off road ability!

[Nick]: I’m very fascinated by other cultures and seeing how other people on this planet live their lives. In addition to being a bit of a gearhead, I like photography and what better excuse to buy camera equipment!

We have done a variety of travelling, sometimes by car and others not. It really comes down to the logistical practicality. For instance, when doing a ‘sun and sand’ holiday, it’s not practical to bring a car island hopping, other times getting a vehicle into a country is just too much of a hassle.

This is true for China as its very bureaucratic and expensive to bring a car in, plus it’s not the easiest to drive from your house to China. (Although we are working on it!) We always try for road trip holidays because they are the most fun to us.

[Joanne]: I travel to get outside of my comfort zone and to experience something bigger than my own life.

[RTT FTW]

Why not a Land Rover?

[Nick]: There is a huge debate in Africa as to which is better, Land Rover or Toyota. There are good arguments to both in terms of availability of spares.

However the main reason I selected the Toyota was because most of the blogs I read that involved a Land Rover they always seem to be fixing them! Not to say Toyota never break down, but we never had any major issues and in almost every town I saw a Toyota dealer.

There is a reason why it is the most popular truck on the African Continent.

Why did you buy your overland vehicle rather than build it? Pros and Cons?

[African traffic jam?]

In 2010, you and your wife Joanne bought a used truck in South Africa – and then drove it home to the UK. Why Africa?

[Nick]: Admittedly this was my bright idea and I spent

This is an easy answer, cost. At the time, it was much cheaper to buy a pre-built truck then to source a truck and put the kit on yourself. We were also very lucky; the couple we bought the truck from took very good care of the truck until we got there to pick it up.

Pros: Cost, due to currency exchange differences between buying and selling months later, we actually

made a profit on our truck when we were finished with example, after one particularly long day, I did not it. (This is rare, but it does happen). check the fuel (smell for gasoline) and only looked at the pump ‘marked’ unleaded. I assumed we got Cons: You don’t know the condition of everything, the right stuff, however 1 kilometre down the road and it takes a good couple of weeks to shake down we ended up with a stalled truck and a tank FULL of the vehicle. We planned a short ‘tester’ trip up the diesel. It took 5 hours to drop the tank drain it and coast and back in South Africa to hopefully expose fill it back up with gasoline from the reserve tanks. any weaknesses. The other downside is things are not exactly how you might like them; you have to live with someone else’s system, which could be very different from your own.

[In Ethiopia]

Although, it wasn’t all that bad. Other than my time, only cost me 12 cokes and the tank of diesel, which I gave to my ‘pit crew’.

[Pit Crew]

Can you tell us about a time when something went very wrong in Africa and how you managed to [Joanne]: Sometimes your worst enemy is yourself – I overcome? spent months being ultra-vigilant, in regards to safety and valuables. Only to let my guard down when we got [Nick]: “Very Wrong” in Africa usually means I wouldn’t back to the ‘civilised’ Europe and forgot our Passports be responding here today. So in that respect, we were in a McDonald’s bathroom! fortunate to have nothing serious happen in Africa.

But we did have two major inconveniences, which How about a time when everything seemed to come sum Africa up completely. In the end patience is the together perfectly and you thought, “This is what best quality, which goes a long way. life is all about!”

Political Change: Things can change in Africa very [Nick]: There are too many to list! But if I only could do fast. This was evident when the border procedures one thing again it would be us sitting alone on top of between Kenya and Ethiopia had changed in a mat- the Sossusvlei dunes watching the sunset. (Namibia) ter of days, meaning there were a whole new set of requirements to get across. We were one of the first who encountered this problem. With no access through Ethiopia, our trip would have ended. The only alternate options at the time were just too dangerous.

These were Southern Sudan, which was not a formed country at the time or Somalia, which is a failed state.

We ended up shipping our passports to friends back in Canada to sort out at the embassies there.

Never take anything for granted and check everything yourself in Africa, make sure its done right. For

[Joanne]: Having a 10m long Whale Shark swim so close you could touch it. (Mozambique) On your site, you make it clear that you fund your globetrotting through living beneath your means.

We know why you do this, but could you share some examples of how? Where do you draw the line?

[Nick]: I must give Joanne a lot of credit here. She keeps my spending in-line as much as possible! As much as I’d really like to drive a brand new car with 300+hp. But we tend to drive a lot, so buying second hand cars and diesel where possible, really helps the budget. This really helps in the EU where the cost of cars and fuel is very high.

[Joanne]: On the home front, we tend not to eat out and just enjoy cooking in our home. Also when purchasing something, we really ask ourselves ‘do we really need it?’ or ‘Can it serve dual purpose?’ 7 out of 10 times, we figure we can live without.

[Nick & Joanne]: We draw the line at never letting our budget get in the way of spending time with our family and friends.

You’ve also mentioned you’re in the process of designing your own expedition rig. What can you tell us about it at this stage of development?

[Nick]: Mostly my responsibility here, currently designing an overland expedition vehicle out of an ex-British military truck. It’s very much still in the design stage.

Not much to say yet, except it will be 4WD with a trusty 5.9L Cummins Turbo Diesel and have 20” of ground clearance! It’s a big project that I expect to complete in the next 3 years.

Can you share any lessons learned from your Africa trip you’ll be applying to the new machine?

[Nick]: Bring less stuff! The biggest danger of building a bigger vehicle is you will carry more junk around.

[Joanne]: Bigger fridge!

Where can we find you online for more information?

Over a decade ago, before the whole social media movement, we created a site to keep our family and friends informed, it has now become more of an online diary of our travels, mostly photos and videos. www.nickandjoanne.com

CHERRY POPPED AMONG OTHER THINGS...

On 7 April 2012, some kid in a Honda made a wild right turn from the inside of three lanes, totaling my truck. (Hey. It’s old. Okay?) I’m taking his mom to court for damages this month, but fortunately, I got the Fun Cooker on a trail requiring 4WD before the 1 year anniversary.

WORDS & IMAGES BRIAN DRIGGS John & Jill took Vanessa & I along on a mild 4-wheeling trip last year. We drove on some mild trails outside Sedona, AZ. Suddenly, all the desire to own a 4WD that I had back in 1996 when I walked onto a Jeep-Eagle dealership in Wichita, KS, to order a 97 Wrangler, only to drive off in a Talon (which was how I met John in the first place, ironically), came rushing back. Within a month, I’d sold my Galant VR4 and bought this Pajero.

We crossed rivers (before they dried up for the year), plowed through deep sand, and bounced over rocks, as we made our way through New River Canyon north of Phoenix.

For the most part, we were the only vehicles on the road, though we did get passed by a couple new Rubicons at a “pee stop,” and then had three more Jeeps pull up as we had lunch at some massive It’s been a hell of a year since, but we finally got the litboulders. tle Fun Cooker off-road for the first time, taking Table Mesa Road east to Seven Springs and Cave Creek. I’d recently seen pictures of the previous owner Those boulders at right? Here’s a map.

4-wheeling in my truck dating back to 2007. I still had the same tires (and janky, flat spare). Fortunately, I Though a mild trail, I was happy to discover there was didn’t lose the tire above until we’d reached paveno way I’d have made it in my Galant. It was great ment again. And John’s new air compressor came in to finally NEED 4WD. And being such a low-powered really handy. vehicle, I was glad the previous owner installed expensive crawler gearing from Australia. Like a boss.

Tomorrow, I buy US$1000 worth of BFG AT. Stoked!

ENGRAVED EG THE FINAL WORD

5,000 hours. At 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, that comes out to nearly 2.5 years. That’s how much time Shawn Lisjack has into this car. I’m sure you already read all about it elsewhere, but I reached out to Shawn, too, and his response blew me away.

IMAGES SHAWN LISJACK [GBXM] Now that you’re e-Famous. I bet you’re getting all kinds of interview requests. (I hope you are.

The quality of your work deserves such attention.) I’d like to get on the list of people looking to interview you.

Your build (which I just saw on Y!, linked from a Galant VR4 board, by the way) is inspired. It’s rare to see people put so much effort forward over such a long period of time. And one of the comments on the Y! article demonstrated just how people don’t get it. “Real racers are paid to put logos on their cars.” Sheesh. From what I see on your FB page, here, you’re one of the few people doing it right!

We’re not Jalopnik. Just a 2-man dream being built

slowly over time on lunch breaks and after work. But if we can encourage a couple guys to put just HALF the effort into their projects as you’ve put into yours, well, I’d consider us a success story.

Keep going fast with class and press on regardless.

Sincerely, Brian Driggs - founder, Gearbox Magazine [ENGRAVED EG] Hello Mr. Brian Driggs, Thank you very much for contacting me. I appreciate all of your kind words about my hand engraving artwork and the “Engraved EG” project.

Yes, you are correct about the Engraved EG getting numerous requests for interviews, write ups, and features on the Engraved EG and myself. All of this has been a little overwhelming for me, considering the car was just featured yesterday on the front page of Yahoo and Yahoo Autos.

I wasnt aware of Gearbox Magazine prior to you messaging me. Thank you for introducing yourself and your magazine. I checked out the Gearbox Magazine Facebook page (which I “Liked”) as well as the Gearbox Magazine website. Both your Facebook page and website have great content, also the photography and editing skills your team posses is awesome. Great write ups on the website Brian.

I really like your mission with Gearbox Magazine, its very inspiring. Bringing all types of automotive enthusiasts together from a single art piece (Engraved EG) has been a goal of mine since the beginning. It shouldnt matter what kind of vehicle anyone drives, owns, shows, or races. Automotive enthusiasts all share one thing in common though - love and passion for cars/vehicles.

In my eyes, this should bring car enthusiasts together, not separate them just for the kind/make of car they have. There are always gonna be that group of HATERS

out there that stand off in the distance, which I have seen since the first time I posted anything about this project.

Most of my Engraved EG fans/followers don’t even own a Honda - and some dont even like Hondas. They do have an appreciation for what i have created and thats what brought them to “like” the Engraved EG page. My fans are very important to me, even if some dont like certain aspects of the build or the specific designs in the artwork. I try to respond to all emails, messages, comments in a timely fashion to stay that much closer to all of my supporters.

You mentioned that you were linked from a Galant VR4 board to the Yahoo front page feature of the Engraved EG. That is not at all that shocking to me for some reason. I knew from the beginning of this build, it would be stirring up some gossip/controversy. I’m glad the Galant VR4 board was inspired for what I have done. I have a big respect for all car enthusiasts, even if some of their comments are negative. The car was seen and exposed and that is what is important. It makes me very happy to hear that this project has reached more than just Honda fans.

Referring back to the comment you mentioned you saw “Real racers are paid to put logos on their cars,”

I was definitely expecting to see that type of response.

Some people. LOL. Obviously those people don’t know everything involved with this project and dont know what I went through to get to this point.

car derived from an old “scratch art” piece I created in high school. I have been a big automotive enthusiast, artist, and amateur photographer since I was little. I have close to 400,000 photographs I have taken from car shows and events since 1998, so I guess I like To fill you in about the logos on the car; Most of the cars. LOL. hand engraved logos are sponsors, some are supporters, and the rest are brands/products that I like The motivation factor has been on my mind since day and support. There is a good reason why each and one with the “Engraved EG” project. Creating an autoevery one of those logos are on the car. motive art piece that no one on this planet has done before was another idea that still drives me towards Way back before I started on the “Engraved EG” pro- completion of this project. To really get noticed as an ject, I approached a BIG auto manufacturer with the artist It takes a crazy idea and concept, as well as concept and idea of hand engraving an entire car. having the drive and determination to follow through That idea got shot down just for the fact that they had with that set goal. no clue what the results would be, how they would benefit, and how exactly this idea could be put into a My family has been a BIG motivator for me throughshow car. out this entire project. I just want to give back to my family, provide for them if necessary, and make After that meeting, I had the opportunity to hand them proud. They have been there for me during the engrave an entire Lamborghini as well as a BMW. I duration of this build, which hasnt been an easy task. liked the idea of engraving a Lambo for the first car Recently, my mom was diagnosed with Glaucoma to be done this way, but then I shot that idea down which is another huge motivator for me to be sucand respectfully declined. I didn’t want to spend that cessful with the “Engraved EG” project. Helping her in many hours of engraving time and not be able to times of need pushes me to work harder and achieve enjoy, drive, and promote the car. All due to the fact the unthinkable. that it wasnt my car. Plus, the money I was offered to engrave the Lambo was minimal considering the In the long run, I hope I can inspire many artist/ hours I would be putting in. I think choosing my EG auto enthusiasts to pursue their dreams, no matter was the best decision I made. I figured there are more how “far fetched” their idea may sound. If you have Honda, EG, import, other automotive enthusiasts, and a passion for something, keep pushing towards that art lovers out there than would appreciate the fact goal, little by little everyday. Progress is one step that its not an exotic. closer towards success, well thats how I look at it.

Seeing the content and how you interact with your fans/followers on your facebook page and website show that you have a big passion for what you are doing. I respect you for that Brian. I can see where you are coming from with having only a 2 man crew working on everything. From what I can tell, you are already successful Brian and you should be proud. Being an artist isnt easy either and me having to create the art, promote it, attempt to be a salesman, market, and answering all of the emails I receive is no simple task.

It’s overwhelming, especially after getting on the front page on Yahoo.

Thank you for contacting me Brian. Im looking forward to hearing back and to see what your thoughts are.

Thank you so much for the interest in this project and for the support. Much love from one auto enthusiast to another.

Best Regards, - Shawn Lisjack (Engraved EG)

Everyone else has shown you pretty pictures of Shawn’s work. Hope you enjoyed the story behind the story. Shawn has the right idea. He gets it.

That’s what it really means to be a gearhead. And Inspiration to engrave on an entire car has been a I speak for all of us here at Gearbox Magazine dream of mine ever since I picked up a DREMEL tool when I say we wish him the utmost success in the for the first time. The idea to engraving on an entire future.

GEARHEADS UNITED YOU CAN DO IT

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