No matter how hard you try, no matter how much you spend, some projects just never seem to get finished. Whether it's time, money, blood, sweat or tears, sometimes enough just isn't enough. Examples of futility include garages that don't get cleaned, reports that don't get written and cars that don't truly get finished. For shame, for shame.
We've featured our fair share of these types of project cars, and we're sure that you own one or two yourself. The kind of car that, despite the small mountain of dollars you've invested, can never truly be called "finished." Albert Chang's 2000 Honda S2000 is just that kind of project.
We first met Chang, a member of Team Hokori, at a local Southern California car show a couple of years ago and attempted to put together a photo shoot on the spot. This then-Berlina Black S2000 was still a dedicated soft-top convertible at the time, and featured a Vortech supercharger, big wheels and a full stereo. The car was cleaned up, organized and photographed. Unfortunately for Chang, 2NR was just about to undergo a few important layout changes, deeming the old photo shoot style unusable. Strike number one.
Not one to be swayed by the course of events, Chang decided to completely redo his project instead of calling it quits. A new scheme was done up in yellow and blue, with matching yellow center Volk Racing GT-U's and an appearance in the RAYS catalog. Chang even found time to have a custom turbocharger setup made for his Honda, something quite rare in the S2000 world at the time. It was all going according to plan and we began to setup plans for a shoot again, until alcohol stepped in. Chang's S2000 was sitting peacefully in his driveway when a drunk driver crashed right into it, taking it out of commission. Strike number two.
Determined not to let the long, loving relationship with his Honda go to waste, Chang decided to go ahead with a third rendition of his project. With the madness never ending, the body shop removed the damaged panels and replaced the bodywork with the flanks of a Chargespeed widebody kit. The same kit found tearing up the Formula D ranks on AEM's drift S2000, the Chargespeed pieces allow Chang to run 18x8.5 front and 18x10 rear Prodrive GC-010G wheels. Matched with an OEM factory hardtop, VIS Racing carbon-fiber hood, APR Performance carbon-fiber wing and GTP carbon-fiber trunk, the body is painted in a faded House of Kolor Deep Black and Raspberry Pearl Kandy.
Covering the forged Prodrive beauties are a set of Toyo's latest racing tire, the R888. Chang uses a 245/35/18 front and whopping 295/30/18 rear tire size. To ensure that the car is making the most of its newfound grip, JIC's flagship FLT-A2 coilover suspension was fitted, braced by a J's Racing front tower bar, Cusco subframe brace and Neuspeed x-brace. Maximizing the R888's performance under braking is a Wilwood front big brake kit, with stainless braided brake lines and Brakezone cross-drilled/slotted rotors.
A Honda S2000 is not a large car by any means and being inside one always gives a slight feeling of claustrophobia. To combat this, Chang sought to make his car as comfortable as possible. The custom carbon-fiber door panels and center console are by Mastergrade, themselves owner of a former 2NR cover car S2000. Sparco Speed seats replace the stock leather units, with Prodrive/Sabelt five-point safety harnesses at the ready. To ease with the entry and exit of the S2000, Chang added in a NRG Innovations quick release and short hub, which mounts to a leather-wrapped NRG steering wheel. A Cusco four-point roll bar with harness support is also on hand just in case, which is always handy when your ride has no roof to speak of.