Little did I know that this car would be transformed into what it is now.  This car was purchased back in 1996 when my 1991 Toyota Corolla got side swiped during the Blizzard of 1996.  The spring of 1996 is when I met Tony & Donnie, when they worked at Sears Automotive (Lancaster, PA).  I was looking for some inexpensive 14" tires.  They sort of snickered and told me I should visit KAM Specialties (Reading, PA), and from there I caught the import bug.  My first purchase was Brospeed headers, and Konig pedals.  Then soon afterwards was an Akimoto Intake and a universal DTM tipped muffler.  I did learn from this generic exhaust, that you cannot skimp if you want quality.  I spent the next month trying to find someone to install my muffler, and to my despair - absolutely no one in Lancaster wanted to deal with it.  I found IMP (Clifton, NJ) who did the welding and install.  This cheap muffler burned the paint on my rear bumper.  While I was there I also got Tokico Illuminas and my Neuspeed springs installed, which I purchased from Donnie.

    I also remember applying my first set of decals, which rear "Neuspeed" across both sides of my car.  Gaudy was one term you could call it.  I've been through several graphics packages - ranging from the "Neuspeed", Super Touring theme, Cat Scratch graphics, reflective vinyl, and my currently no graphics period.  In July I bent up all four wheels due to the lovely PennDOT construction product going on in our area.  So I went to get them fixed at Wheel Collision Center (Allentown, PA).  I think I should have probably bought new wheels since I only had to spend another $100 more.

    I sold the VX1s at the end of 1997 season and waited for winter to pass.  In the early Spring of 1998 I saw a wheel company which caught my eye.  Team Dynamics.  I saw their wheels first hand in Max Power - a European import car magazine.  I've always been jealous of the people over seas, for their powerful cars and crazy ideas.  Now don't get me wrong I would love to be on the West Coast scene.  I purchased my second set of wheels called 'Qualifiers' in 17x7.5" variety.

    I purchased my first body kit in the Spring of 1998 from Versus Motorsports (Arizona).  The body kit was called the Aero-Duo kit.  There is one thing I would like to say about Versus Motorsports, THEY SUCK!  Their customer service reps. were arrogant stuck up snots, their shipping department took two months to deliver, and the body kit itself was poor quality.  The kit looked as if some drunk college kit laid the fiberglass on his dresser.  PIECE OF CRAP!  I called them back to ask if I could get a better kit and was hung up on several times.  So I ventured forth and tried to do the best I could.  The body shop guy even said what moron made this kit...?  When the kit was added to the car, there were HUGE spaces on the front kit, and the rear valence looked like it was barely on the car, but I spent $700 on this kit and had no choice.

    So to counter-act the awful body kit, I got some new designs for my graphics as always done by Signs-by-Tomorrow (Centerville, PA).  Kate and I worked for about 2 weeks on these graphics and the results were stunning.  The graphics were called "CAT SCRATCH" graphics.  Adding the graphics took me 8 hours by myself in the back of my garage.  At the next car show - Low Rider/Import Summer Slam (Englishtown, PA) I took People's Choice Award.

    Finally got to go to NOPI Nationals (Atlanta, GA) in September 1998 with John Negley and Shane.  That was a car fanatic's dream.  There were over 3000 cars at this show and every parking lot in the area were their own little car shows.  John came home with 2nd place for his Honda Accord V6.  That was very cool.

    I never did get a chance to buy a winter beater car, so I drove the Civic on the 17s the whole winter without much problems.  Little bit of slipping here and there, but not a headache.  Spring 1999 came along finally and I started getting back into car mode again.  I ordered a bunch of stuff: A&A Specialties Carbon fiber hood, Wings West kit, Xenon rear bumper, and other minor things.  Then one week before the Carlisle Import Jam (May) - the fateful day where I got rear-ended from an old school Honda Accord.  He hit me so hard that I went underneath the car infront of me.  I was actually looking up at her exhaust.  WEIRD!  Thank God I didn't have my mods put on yet, so I got my car trailered home about 30 miles.  I called around to see who cold do some custom body work, and my friend Sajy recommended Decker's Automotive.  Let me tell you now: DON'T DEAL WITH THIS GUY!  He will promise you something and not do it.  He told me it would take 2 weeks to straighten the frame, paint the body and such.  Well lots of calls, trips, and bugging ended up into 2 months.  Everyday I visited him and nothing was being done to the car.  All the painting and body work were done the week before the NIRA show in Reading, PA.  Can you believe this crap?  Well to top that off, I'm driving back from the NIRA show, and my front bumper cracks and falls off on the highway!  MORON!  Well I still got a good deal on a 1988 CRX SI.

    I did get to go to the NOPI Nationals again in 1999.  The Super Street Tour sucked, due to the part of Hurricane Floyd flooding the whole East Coast.  But it was great to be part of the import scene again.  I was in the process of purchasing a 2000 Civic Si in Electron Blue Pearl.  I sold my CRX Si and this Civic to cover the downpayment of the Civic Si.

    February 2000 I sold my 1993 Civic Ex for a measly $5000. The girl (Julie) who purchased the car was estatic and I was sad seeing my project leave - especially after spending so much money on it. I had offers here and there, but at the wrong time. Even as high as $20,000 which I was stupid not to take. Purchased my 2000 Civic Si in March 2000 with only 80 miles on the odometer. The car was everything I was looking for: Honda brand, 8250 redline, 160 hp I-4, 5 speed manual, sporty, and the Electron Blue Pearl. First time I saw this color I fell in love with it. The only options I asked for was the fog lights. Didn't want the rear wing since it would weigh the car down, and I was hoping to become competitive with this car.

    Two weeks later I dropped the car off at Denko's Performance in York, PA to have several items bolted on. A'PEXi GT header, AEM pulleys, Eibach Prokit springs, and Neuspeed rear upper and lower strut bars. Still only had 300 miles on the car so I had a long ways to go to break the engine in. I did get into one street light race around 800 miles and decided to go :) It was against a Mustang GT, and WOW the VTEC was so much louder than my Civic Ex. I beat the guy to the next light too!

    And in April I received my A'PEXi N1 exhaust and AEM cold air intake. Installed those and the gains in hp were a little better. Attended my first Novice Autocross school held by the Appalachian Sports Car Club in May. Ran the course on my old Kumho VictorRacers. I ran the whole year on Konig Burners (bling bling) bronze 16x7" with 215/40x16" Yokohama A520s. Also received sponsorships from KAM Racing Sports (Reading, PA), Purehonda.com and Konig Wheels. Ended the year in 2nd place overall for points in the Susquehanna Region.

    In 2001 I purchased what was supposed to be the tire to have for STS - Kumho 712s, which I put on 16x7.5" Kosei K1s. Faired pretty well and had some good competition with Mike Steere in his 1988 Mazda 323 GTX (turbo AWD). We traded back and forth for 1st places and it came down to the last event where he got me by 0.03 seconds on the last run of the day :) So he got 1st for the region in STS by 1 point!

    In 2002 I went to a smaller wheel & tire package - Kosei K1 15x7" with 205/50x15" Falken Azenis, and also installed custom rated Ground Controls (350f/400r) on Koni Yellows. The lighter wheels/tires came out to 34lbs, whereas the 16s were 39lbs. Total of 20lbs dropped from the car. This year I intended to go all out, since my wife and I were expecting our first child in December. So I went to VIR for my first track day - what alot of fun that was! Attended my first Evolution School (Phase I & II) - after this event I drove with determination and better precision than previous years. I ended up going from top 20 in PAX to usually top 5 in PAX.