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2014 Begins…

To give an insight in to the build process for these racecars, I will be doing a bold as we build my new car for 2014.

“We” is myself and Gerry from PerformanceTek, with a reshell also being done on my girlfriend’s MINI whilst we’re at it.

Here’s the donor for my racecar, previously owned by various racers and a veteran of many years in the championship. She’s had a tough life and it shows, but the engine and gearbox are good and the suspension and cage will be finding their way in to the new shell.

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New shell is being denoted by this 2001 Cooper sourced from the hallowed pages of eBay. With 132,000 miles on the clock she was still remarkably tight and the engine ran sweet but the gearbox has the trademark Midland rumble.

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Whilst I have had a love of cars from day dot in my life, followed by an interest in modifying them from my early teens, there’s always been certain parts of car culture that haven’t sat well with me.

At this point I may as well just come out with it, “I don’t like wide arch kits.”

To this end; were one of my mates to show up, pigeon chested and with smug satisfaction, having bought a Reiger kitted 80s or 90s hatch or a Dimma kitted Peugeot 205, there’s every chance I’d end up hyperventilating due to laughter. Ridiculous bumper and bonnet openings, jutting chin splitters and massive vents in the rear quarters with no engine or radiator to feed yet enormous strakes channeling air all the way along the doors up to the rear quarters.

Yet, were one of them to show up with a 993 Porsche GT2, an RWB Porsche, a Liberty Walk anything or, dare I say it, even a Rocket Bunny’d GT86/BRZ/FR-Z, I would be jealous.

I think its time to admit this styling has a place, WHEN executed well. Liberty Walk nail this just about every time. Their Ferrari 458 was probably the car of the show, their GTR a not too distant second.

Anyways, enough of my ramblings. Live large, floss daily…

[Full gallery on our Facebook page soon]

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Without doubt RAUH-Welt BEGRIFF (RWB) have made the biggest impact on the tuning and styling scene for Porsches in recent times. Possibly Liberty Walk has them pipped for overall market impact, with their larger variety of vehicles covered, but in my mind what RWB do is far more cohesive.

Here’s a couple of their vehicles from SEMA this year. Both were frankly stunning, especially “Catalina.”

Meeting Nakai-san himself was one of the highlights of the show for me.

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Although there was still a bounty of hotties this year, there were fewer than last. Outside the wheels and tyres hall, many manufacturers seemed more dependant on having their products do the talking.

Still, here’s a sample selection, full gallery on our Facebook page later this week…

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SEMA 2013 Reflections

First off, it has to be said, once again my mind is blown by the scale, variety, manufacturer involvement, expense and general awesomeness of the show.

Car of the show, in engagement terms, remained the BRZ/GT86/FR-S. Not as many as last year possibly, but still the most utilised car out there to showcase your company and/or it’s products.

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Supercar wise, the Mclaren MP4-12C has been dethroned. This year was all about the Aventador for high end companies.

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