Do you remember Play-Doh? It's that clay-like putty you could smash, squish, mold, and shape into whatever you wanted. Place a little rolled up ball of it into the shape press and you end up with a star-shaped worm of clay. It's the perfect outlet for a constructive mind. For many men the desire to design and create never ends. Female psychologists say it's because men cannot have children, and that is why guys enjoy creating things with their hands. Try explaining those multi-layered psychological concepts to your local lumberman sometime. Whatever the reasons behind it, some guys just cannot let go of drawing, building, or sculpting. Tim West's incredibly molded Civic show car proves that he's just the sort of guy that never let go of the Play-Doh. These days, instead of molding putty, he's molding show cars, and this is the Honda to prove it.
This creation originally started out life as a 1998 Honda Civic EX. With just three miles on the odometer, West was assured that his new purchase was not subject to any wild test-drive joyrides. Now, six years later, on its second custom paint job and interior, this Civic has been promoted to pure show-car status. With no fear of driving the car daily or fending off any number of car thieves, West boldly attacked the bodywork.
West assembled and molded on a body kit consisting of a Stillen front fascia, Buddy Club rear bumper, and modified Black Widow side skirts. The newly grafted body parts also had to be cut and formed to fit in the Lexus IS300 headlights and GS400 taillights. The final step before painting was to shave the body closer than the legs of the women's Olympic swim team; the emblems, license tag, body moldings, door handles, antennae, front hood-mounted windshield squirters, and taillights were all carefully sculpted away. After all the bodywork was done, the final accents that really set the Honda off include: a Sparco fuel door, Spoon Sports side mirrors and a custom modified Black Widow rear wing. With the body ready and the Honda already sporting a custom paint job in silver and blue pearl, the Civic was this time shot down with layers of arrival blue metallic paint.
Before its current incarnation, West's Civic already sported a custom tweed and vinyl interior. Therefore, to really up it before 2NR found him, West completely tore apart the car and redid the inside to a new level of opulence. First, the interior was completely laid and covered with molded fiberglass and then painted a combination of silver and blue pearl. Hidden within the new skin is an Autometer 5-inch tachometer with relocated shift light and an assortment of Autometer gauges including air/fuel, voltage, water temperature, and vacuum/boost. The stock Civic steering wheel assembly was also tossed out in favor of a Tsunami Grill Isotta steering wheel mounted on a MOMO hub. The seats are also performance oriented, utilizing a set of Tenzo Type-R racing seats re-skinned in leather and suede. The theme from the seats spilled over elsewhere and convinced West to cover the armrests in suede, install a new floor made of vinyl, and to build a custom rear deck.