The VIP styling of cars is an undeniable trend. It’s bigger today than ever before and has yet to see its peak in following. From the notorious HellaFlush car shows to the cars showcased at the annual Tokyo Auto Salon, you’ll see an abundant amount of VIP’d Lexus, Infiniti, and the like. As a person who likes to tinker and modify cars, when given a luxury vehicle, what do you do with it? There seems to be only one answer—but Johnny Feng doesn’t agree.
We present to you his ’06 Lexus IS 250. From the factory, this car seemingly likes to play dress up—and does it impressively well. At a first glance of his striking sports sedan, one might be a little shocked that this is everything but previously discussed. Johnny simply isn’t a follower; he enjoys going against the grain. “I avoided the whole VIP scene,“ he says. “Because that’s the route most people go.”
Johnny is a 25-year-old accounting student and has a track record of owning some respectable cars. What began it all was, perhaps not so shockingly enough, The Fast and the Furious. Like millions of teens across the country, Johnny and his high-school friends were influenced by the hit flick. “It started all pretty ricey. My first car was an Eclipse GS-T. I wanted an Integra but my Dad found a really good deal on it. I had this fake body kit and it was so low it was nearly undriveable.” Years later, he attended a local car show where he found love with the Lexus IS line—particularly the IS 300—and purchased one of his own. “I wanted the ‘original’ Altezza lights and loved Nobuteru Taniguchi’s HKS Altezza.” After he was done building the IS 300, he went back to his would-be roots and purchased a yellow Integra Type R where his love for all-things JDM shown through as he had it converted to a JDM front. As all ITR owners know, theft is an ever-present danger. A common saying is, “it’s not ‘if’ your car will get stolen, it’s ‘when’.” Unfortunately, this saying held true for Johnny. After the loss of his Integra, he had to start his search for another car. “I ended up getting a new IS because it looked so revolutionary and I wanted to stay within the Lexus family,” he says.
Johnny took a great deal of pride in building his IS with definitive thought and a strong goal in mind. Having ultra-rare JDM goodies and having a show car that can also perform is very important to him. At first glance, the INGS+1 enhanced exterior and BASF Midnight Purple paint are the main attention grabbers. “The car has been through three stages of paint—OEM, flat black, and Midnight Purple,” says Johnny. “Flat black was all the hype a few years back. I decided to paint the car Midnight Purple because it’s always been my favorite color . . . that and it was keyed.” However much wincing that may have caused, we’re more than happy with the outcome.
Open the door and you’ll see custom work done to the interior with red stitching on the rear seats, door panels, and shift boot. Johnny pilots his Lexus with his hands on a Nardi Classic 330mm steering wheel connected by a Works Bell quick release and an ARC titanium shift knob on an F-Sport short shifter. To keep himself and his passenger securely strapped in, Johnny has installed dual Bride Brix seats with four-point Takata harnesses mounted to a custom harness bar. Rounding out his interior mods is his ICE (in-car entertainment): An Eclipse navi head unit with Crossfire amps, subs, and custom enclosures.