A day before I left to Japan, I had the honor of shooting Lance’s wagon. I’ve watched him build up this car ever since he bought it, and I must say, it’s come a long way from the stock, family station-wagon it was before. This beauty made its first appearance in 2004 at Hawaii’s elite local carshow, Street Car Showoff, as a sleek-black VIP’d out wagon on polished Work Meister S1 wheels. The car was just as immaculate back then as it is today, but the fitment wasn’t perfected since it was before the whole “flush fitment” craze. He entered it in a couple other shows, then it suddenly disappeared in 2007. I had heard that Lance supposedly got bored and threw the car under the sheets for storage. I guess he was getting busy instead because a couple years later he messaged me to show a couple pictures of his car with a fresh coat of paint and custom body work done to the bodykit to add chrome accents. I was astounded to see that he redid his car since his jet black paint was already perfect.

I also need to mention that Lance does his own work for everything, he’s an expert in everything he touches, whether it being a master videographer and photographer for the nationally recognized website, teamrice.org, which he co-owned and operated with his cousin, Justin; or an expert automotive mechanic, bodywork and paint tech. He does it all, with perfection. He may have received some help from his friends from Team Ultraspeed to throw in his Japan-spec H23A motor swap with automatic transmission, but he is still quite the seasoned mechanic.

When I got a call from him saying the car was finally going to make an appearance in its new form at Fatlace’s Hellaflush show, I jumped at the opportunity to shoot it. Seeing his car in its new form was shocking, so much subtle things that made it so much more crazy; the custom re-barreled MAE Crown Jewel wheels to obtain perfect “flush” fitment, custom slotted Inspection body kit to accept chrome garnish trim, and custom xenon retrofitted Japan-spec Accord headlights with Acura TSX projectors and BMW E46 shrouds are a few things to note.

On my hectic Sunday this past weekend in Japan, I received word that Lance won best in show at Hellaflush the same day Saturday in Hawaii. I was glad to hear his work was appreciated by mainland judges and that his car would obtain the proper worldwide exposure it deserves. I can only wait to see whether or not this beast will go MIA again to mystify its existence for another time. Enjoy the pics, as this will be the last of my limited automotive photoshoots in Hawaii for a long time. Aloha.