There is entirely too much emphasis placed upon which region a particular car hails from. Anytime the words “East” or “West” are brought up in Internet conversation, those from their respective coasts put on their finest proud-suits and engage in digital fisticuffs. The reality of the situation is simple: it doesn’t matter where your ride comes from, if it’s built right, the masses are bound to notice it. The secret to success is not a regional one but rather involves the right combination of parts, a bit of creativity, and brilliant execution. Once that’s achieved, the masses will know it.
As a shop owner, representing oneself appropriately becomes increasingly important. The private builder can build something horrendous and lose nothing more than a bit of street cred, but if the shop owner pushes out something unsightly, it affects his business. Pop Smitasin knows this. As head honcho of Florida’s All Version Motoring, he makes sure that he and his employees have builds that represent the shop the right way. While his employees chose to build Civic hatchbacks, Pop went the other route and picked the DC2 chassis. “I wanted to build an Integra because it wasn’t as common or as easy to build as an EG or an EK,” Pop says...Pick up a copy of the February/March, 2009 issue of Honda Tuning for more.