October 3rd, 2015: You're the meaning in my life; you're my inspiration. You bring feeling to my life; you're the inspiration!

October 3rd, 2015: You're the meaning in my life; you're my inspiration. You bring feeling to my life; you're the inspiration!

I've been online since Y2Kish, and much of the reason I even bought my first PC in eleven years was because of my CRX and the accessibility of parts via the Internet. Over that time, I saved pictures and webpages that have had information I needed to complete Project 88 or of CRXs that I thought looked good or had some part or feature that I wanted to implement in my own build.

Over the last 14 years I have amassed some 9GB in photos (not including my own car) in almost 15,000 different files. But out of all of those photos, there are certain CRX/CR-Xs that have inspired me and my build that still stand out in my mind - some after almost 15 years. I thought it might be interesting to post some of them here. This by far is not a complete list. There were so many magazine features that inspired me that I couldn't begin to search for all of them online. I clipped many photos and articles from tuner magazines before I got rid of them, so perhaps I will one day scan them and do a follow-up post highlighting those inspirational builds as well.

The 1998 BC CRX Meet

Going back in time to 1998, my old CRX, Project 88, was mostly stock, save for a new additions I'd made: trucker girl mudflaps, and a "dope" Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon decal on the rear window to name but a few. My outlook changed dramatically that summer when I attended the 1998 BC CRX Meet with some friends.



 

Shot of Wil McQueen's Rear Seat

Wil McQueen's CRX

For some of the younger readers out there try to keep in mind that this was before the term "JDM" was a household name, before The Fast And The Furious movie brought tuning your Import to the masses, and for most of us, before the Internet's Web 2.0 revolution. This was a time when the Car Magazine was king and there weren't many catering to the Import crowd; except maybe Sport Compact Car, and SuperStreet. By the early 2000's there were dozens: Honda Tuning, Import Tuner, Turbo etc... So in other words, displaying the mods done to your car was reserved for Meets, and for the select few, a photo in your favorite car magazine.

I first heard of swapping an engine from an Integra into a CRX about the year before, and it was told to me by a guy I'd met at an autowrecking yard while buying a new mirror for my car because someone had broken into my car and stolen my mirror to get at my "pot leaf and fuzzy dice" rear view mirror ornament. At the time, I honestly thought he was full of shit, but it was at this Meet that I heard the story again. I saw my first rear seat for a CRX in Wil McQueen's (the organizer's) car and got to see quite a few different CRXs with lots of different mods done. I first heard about Sport Compact Car magazine at this event, which opened my eyes to what modifications were available. It really started me on the path to getting serious about modding my CRX and actually led to the start of Project 88.

Ed Bergenholtz in his CRX Drag Car

After getting involved with Import tuning, I was magazine crazy. There was a magazine store in Surrey near 104th and 152nd that later became a Hooters. I had a list of magazines that they set aside for me each month. Super Street, Turbo, Honda Tuning (wasn't monthly back then, only quarterly I think), Sport Compact Car, Import Tuning, Modified Magazine are the only ones I can remember, but I must have spent a small fortune on them because I can't even remember the names of all of the ones I bought on the regular. Without a credit card, which I didn't have at the time, subscriptions were too much of a hassle. I followed the drag racing career of Ed Bergenholtz, of how he ended up with his famous CRX and the tragic story of his friend and previous owner of the car. I remember the excitement I felt when reading that his CRX, with a set of wheelie bars, broke the single-digit barrier. And if memory serves, the car still had most of its interior at the time. It was truly an impressive feat at the time in a stock chassis. No disrespect intended but I always felt that the attention given to Stephan Papadakis and his FWD "Civic" that also broke the single-digit barrier around the same time wasn't as legit as Ed's since Stephan's FWD car was a tube-chassis race car made to look like a Civic -vs- a Civic made into a race car.

An FX Designs hood scoop.

FX Designs: Combat Kit

The late 90s, early 2000s was also the time of "rice". People put Supra tail lights on everything. The wilder body modifications the better. Integra fronts on a CRX? Sure! RSX tail lights on a CRX? Why not! The crazy paint schemes, full body decals, large rims with low profile tires, and scoops. Scoops everywhere! Hood, fenders, roof... Like cowbell -- everyone wanted more scoops. I was no exception. I fell in love with some pretty fugly designs back in the day. Except back in the day, they were cool. Yes. Yes, they were. Altezza tail lights were everywhere as were mono-wiper mods, 6" exhaust tips, projector headlights and Vibrant air intakes. Speaking of exhaust tips: anyone remember the ones with the spark plug in them to ignite your exhaust to make flames shoot out your tailpipe like in the original Fast And The Furious? I do. *smh*

Erebuni body kits for the CRX

Given that I was fully caught up in the "riceboy" culture of car tuning, I purchased some mods for my Project 88 that were... questionable at best. One of them was to paint the lettering on the side of my Goodyear tires with a pen I'd bought at Canadian Tire so my CRX would look more sporty. One of the others was the FX Designs Combat body kit and hood scoop I eventually purchased. Since the front and rear bumpers for this kit eliminated the moldings, I didn't care much for the side skirts because they incorporated them. I'd planned on going Wings West for the skirts and door caps to continue the smooth look... For a short while, I'd also considered going with the Erebuni rear hatch.  To hell with blind spots, I wanted my CRX to look like an MR2, dammit. All joking aside, I had a coffee can with photos of the FX Designs and Erebuni kit (the photos I uploaded here) pasted on it, as a way to help me save money for the kits. And all joking aside, however, there is a small part of me that still loves those old kits from that era.

Painted Letters On CRX Tires

In all honestly, one of the things that saved me from my myself was my friend, Brett. He also had a CRX. He came in to buy parts at the auto parts store I worked at and he and I got to talking. Brett had done all of the things that I had wanted to do to my CRX but hadn't done yet due to time or money (wasted on shitty body kits) or both. He had the body kit, he had installed power windows in his CRX (not JDM, he actually modified sedan power windows to work), he had his interior painted, as well as keyless entry and removed the door lock cylinders and was using sedan rear handles on his doors. He also had a Special Edition rear tail light. So not only had he switched to 90/91 tails, he also used the SE, which I hadn't thought of. And he'd switched his cluster to a 90/91 as well.

We're still friends to this day. He's now a mechanic and last year did the safety inspection for Project PRO.2 so that I could purchase insurance. (For the record, he did a proper inspection as well, no cheating. He even commented how he doesn't see even 5 year old cars come into his shop with an undercarriage and suspension looking so clean). A few years after we met he started abandoning the ricer phase and tearing down his CRX, respraying it and


slowly started restoring it, while I was still hanging on to the rice, even after discovering the world of Japanese Domestic Market parts. He gave me his red-painted interior while he went back to stock, and tried to encourage me to do the same. Still I hung on. Eventually the whole painted interior and ricer in me died away and I agreed that Project 88 looked better with mild, tasteful modifications -vs- loud and wild, and eventually even my FX Designs body kit was sold to a kid at my work. Based on what I remember of his plans, if he hadn't moved to another city, found a good girl, settled down, gotten married and started a family, I believe he would have eventually had one of the cleanest CRXs in Alberta. Sadly he sold it in 2011.

Ask anyone, and they'll tell you change is never easy. Changing habits you've had for years is even harder. That's why I think I fell in love with this kit so very very hard. Gulf Coast Motors in Ontario, Canada had invented a body kit for the Civic and the CRX called the Vitesse. There were two different styles for the kit: The Cabriolet and the Coupe kit. I knew the kit would turn heads. I wasn't crazy about the price ($6000 Canadian dollars not including the lights) and I wasn't all that thrilled with the styling of the rear end on it.

To be fair I never really pursued it that diligently, but I sure as hell did my research on it. I was so much in love. It would look so good with a glasstop or RHD conversion from Japan, I thought, and maybe some over-sized wheels/tires too! I mean it looks a little ridiculous now, 15 years later, but it was (and is) so radically different from anything I'd seen before, even in the ricer days of the late nineties; the entire front end (save for the hood and headlights) was one piece.
The style was aggressive, much more so than a stock CRX and it looked very European sports-car-like. Nowadays, the company is out of business, and the kit is probably long since gone, but that car in those photos was really the last foray into rice that I've had. I still have the mini seat belt pads in Project PRO.2 today -- one is on my Holy Shit handle, and the other is on my eBrake, paying homage to those days long passed. There are still times I miss those days.



After discovering JDM, I was enamored with the idea that in different countries around the world, the CRX came with different options. Europe and Japan had a rear seat, and power windows. Heated seats and headlight washers were also options as well as electric wing mirrors. The list of items I learned about seemed almost Endless (no pun intended), and so did my wish list... One of the cars I fell in love with on the Internet in those early days was a gold CRX owned by a guy named Erik. I never met him on the boards and he'd likely sold his CRX long before I'd discovered its existence, but over the years, it's the one car I found on the Internet that I think influenced and inspired me the most -- hell, it's this same CRX that inspired this blog post!! I have a folder dedicated to the pictures of it and most of the photos I have were my desktop background off and on for years. It's what made me want a glass roof, what made me take a long hard second look at the JDM SiR front end conversion (at the time I'd been content with only a ZC hood on Project 88), and the MR5 wheel... with lug caps of course. It had been featured in TMR'mzine (I had never heard of that, but I wanted my car's photo in a magazine very badly), and while I wasn't fussy over converting to RHD at the time, I had to respect the balls of someone to cut their car in two to do the mod way back then.



I'd always wondered off and on over the years: What became of that car? Did it get parted out? Was it still on the road? Did the new owner have it tucked away in a garage waiting for time/money to do more stuff to it? Did it look the same? Well, this past weekend, while doing research for Mugen spoiler information, I stumbled upon a photo and I recognized it instantly. I don't know how I knew but I just did. It had a different hood, different wheels, and the center tail light had been changed, but I just knew it was the same CRX. I never forget a 'face' lol.

I read the accompanying article where it was mentioned that the car had been featured in TMR'mzine and that's when it was confirmed. Apparently the newest owner said the car was in a state of disrepair and had to be nursed back to health. I can't tell you how happy it made me to know that this car was still around and being well cared for.

Another CR-X that had made its way to be my desktop background for many months at a time in the early 2000s and was a big influence was "G4 CRX", after its license plate. Between this car and the gold one above, they were cementing my desire to own an SiR front end conversion. Over the years I'd keep seeing this CR-X popping up from time to time. The next time I saw it, it had a Mugen front bumper, and lately I watched a video on YouTube featuring it as well as some build threads showing the progress including flared out fenders.   

This brings me to "The Twins"; Stanley and Ben. They are from the San Francisco Bay Area and have two silver CRXs built to be almost identical. Now, being from Canada and almost as removed as you can get from the NorCal/SoCal scene, I never realized just how competitive the whole JDM scene was in California in the early 2000s. With a limited supply of rare and hard-to-find parts I knew first-hand that you "had to pay to play", but it was on a whole other level there. My friend Rick, also from the Bay Area, was extremely competitive and had a rivalry with them so out of respect for him, I had a "rivalry" with them too, even though they don't even know I exist. Despite this, their builds inspired me to be better than I was the day before and to fortify my dedication to finding some of the rarest of the rare pieces so that I could one day perhaps compete on their level despite my pockets not being as deep.

JDM CR-X EF8 in Torino Red Pearl For Sale in Edmonton

My Project 88 CRX was Rio Red R63. I loved that color; still do actually but it's more of the way you will always love your first love. When I discovered the color Torino Red Pearl R72P, I fell in love again. This time it was like the love of your life love. These photos I found online really made me want to repaint from Rio Red to Torino Red Pearl. I started "trading up" my parts to get R72P ones. The first SiR I actually had considered purchasing was an R72P EF8 from Edmonton. It was for sale again a couple years ago and I almost bought it again. If I were to purchase another SiR, I think I would hold out for another R72P. Don't get me long, I like my black CR-X, but the accents of the black moldings against the red are beautifully striking.






Lastly, Mike's CRX (CyberCRXT). When I first met Mike, I wasn't too sure what to think. He wanted to drill the spot-welds on just the roof itself to install his glasstop. At the time, there hadn't been a great many people who had done the install. Those I'd spoken to had assured me that the only way to guarantee the roof glass wouldn't crack was to splice it at the pillars. This was confirmed by the part numbers for the pillars between JDM and USDM CRXs being different. There was much discussion on the boards about this, some of it kinda heated... Well, I was wrong, but I gained a friend out of the deal.

Like the twins, Mike brought out the best in me. I'll admit I was very jealous of his car. I mean, it was the color I always wanted. By this time I had my Project PRO.2, and he had already assembled and completed his Mugen kit and the car was done. At that time, the Canadian dollar was very low (My $5500USD car was actually $7500 Canadian dollars), I was struggling financially with my wife and I purchasing our first home together and seeing him able to put his car together so quickly was hard for me. Mike, Rick and I started a website called CR-XCentral.com together. It was going to be our place where we could share our information with the community. We didn't have a lot of members, but it was our spot to hang out online. Unfortunately, we got hacked a few years later and we shut it down. Mike eventually sold his CRX and moved on to other projects and adventures, Rick eventually did the same.

Mike's CRX CyberCRXT

Almost everyone I once knew who had a CRX has since moved on, but here I am at 40, still working hard at getting my CR-X to the point that I want it be at. Sometimes I wonder if it ever will be there. But I'm focused and determined and every paycheque (that's paycheck to those of you in the USA) my list gets a little smaller.

CRX Special Edition (Canadian-only Model). I almost bought one at SurDel Honda

One of Asuka Kuroda's pics from his site. I don't remember if one of both of these were his.

Another of the pics from Asuka's site. Again, not sure if he was the original Photographer or not: 1989 CR-X Si Exclusive

The Mugen Race CRX Paint Scheme from Gran Turismo on the PS1

My friend Andy's CRX. He had the sweetest sounding exhaust - Borla 60mm universal muffler. I want my SiR to sound like that. Deep rich tones and not at all farty.

One of the most beautiful photos of a CRX I've seen.

Track Day - Can't remember the name of the track, but I believe you can play it on Gran Turismo 2

CRX that I've seen on everything from clocks to mousepads.

Another CRX that I've seen on everything from clocks to mousepads.

This was another big inspiration when I wanted to go with the SiR front end.

This was another big inspiration when I wanted to go with the SiR front end.

Always liked the color of this one.

The old-school wide-spoke wheels really make this one stand out

You can really notice the glass headlights in this shot

Very clean example of the OEM look

Action shots are always inspirational

Another great view of the glass headlights

Always loved the clear signal lights

CRXWolf - One of the cleanest CRXs I've ever seen

CRXWolf - One of the cleanest CRXs I've ever seen

This photo from Japan illustrates the ride height I had in mind for Project PRO.2

Rolling shot of very nice and clean Mugen outfitted CRX

Love the look with the foglights

JDMEFSiR from Florida. Unfortunately, this CRX was written off, but his new one was just as clean.

Mugen-kitted CRX from California

Mugen-kitted CRX from California - Love the proportions on her.

There's just something about the Mugen rear spoiler

This photo from Japan is what convinced me to buy the tilt plate bracket and get EL plate frames (thinner)

Vintage pic of a Mugen kit on an EF7

Wonderful profile shot

There's a special place in my heart for an R63 CRX with white wheels

Another shot of the rear spoiler

One day, I will own a set of these rims...

Another sexy profile shot

Could this be Mike's old CRX? I think it is.

Remember, this blog was written in chronological order so, you will need to click OLDER POSTS to move forward in time, and click NEWER POSTS to go backwards.