Heart broken and somewhat searching for a rebound, David started looking into Evo’s. Now I don’t want to say Evo’s are second fiddle to GTR’s but it seems to be a common ownership trajectory in the car community whereby Evo owners sell up and move to GTR’s (not that David fits in this bucket). Maybe it’s seen as the natural progression of AWD turbo performance for owners but let’s not pretend that Evo’s can’t can hold their own, I mean just look at how well they do at Sydney’s WTAC!

Outside of circuit racing, Evo’s also have a pretty impressive track record on the drag strip with cars like Powertune’s Snowflake Evo 9 cemented in the Aussie car community as one of the fastest street trimmed cars in the quarter mile at the time. It was a combination of these characteristics, a lot of YouTubing and seeing a few in the flesh that convinced David that the Evo was the right car.

When he first got the car, it was a completely bone stock silver 8MR from Japan; a pretty stark contrast to the car you see in the photos today. In retrospect, David said back then ‘I had no intentions of going wide body as I couldn’t justify spending so much money – and here we are”. David’s goal was simple, to make a daily driver that could make his work commutes a bit more interesting. Sounds simple enough right? David’s first mods were your standard bolt ons that included a full exhaust from the dump pipe through to a HKS Hi-Power Silent cat back as well as a rare GruppeM Carbon fibre air box.

A set of BC Racing coilovers and bronze Work CR Kai’s completed the look of the car and David was pretty chuffed with what he had assembled. It had the noise, the looks and the daily ability that he wanted from his car, in fact it was perfect for him!

A year on, David found himself wanting some titanium goodness and thought he’d splurge on the coveted Tomei Ti-Extreme that many Evo owners are familiar with. The raspier exhaust does sound incredible but with a louder note comes some sacrifice in the daily appeal of the car.

Adding to his growing collection of mods was another go-to Evo combination of an FP Red turbo and GSC S2 cams. With these plus a few supporting mods like a fuel pump and injectors, David’s car was well on its way to making respectable power for a street car, all that was left was a tune.

For those OG Evo owner’s out there, when it came to tuning your car (especially if you were based in NSW) there was only one guy to go to, Benchmark Solutions. A household name on the EvoOz forums, Benchmark had a great rep and for David it was an easy choice. Not long after linking up with Benny, David was pleased to have a cracking 279kw on 98.

The added power put it’s toll on the car however as the stock clutch eventually blew up after a few months. Thankfully with the help of some overnight parts from Japan (courtesy of always resourceful Jesse Streeter) the car was back on the road with a brand new ORC Ogura Twin Plate.

For those who’ve attended a decent Aussie wedding, the chances of some mandatory, marital celebration skids are pretty high. On a sweltering January day, David and his mate with an S14 brought along their Japanese dates for some wedding shenanigans and well, I think we know where this is going. While I think his mate got the sh*ter end of the stick with a blown motor, David ended up walking away from the wedding (literally) with a blown turbo, a fresh set of car problems and plenty of funny stories to tell from the day.

A new locally made GT Pumps 712 turbo was sourced to replace the broken FP Red and Benchmark was again summoned for duties to retune the car on the new setup. What was originally meant to be a touch up tune eventually snowballed (a common theme in David’s history with his Evo) into a two week process to get a flex tune setup which returned 270kw on 98 and 310kw!

Some additional supporting mods like a M&W COP kit, Brian Crower cam gears, ARP head studs and Hypertune exhaust manifold also managed to sneak their way into the intermission of David’s ‘touch up tune’ which undoubtedly contributed to the massive power gain.

The car remained relatively untouched for a few years, however like any bad addiction, the itch came back and David felt the desire to modify his car. Given the motor was done to his liking, the next obvious choice for change was the visuals of the car.

The Aussie Evo scene has produced some stellar wide body examples in the past (some of which have featured on our website) and it was through seeing Luke Xie’s Midnight Purple Voltex Evo that David had all the convincing he needed to pull the trigger on a similar build himself. Like many other wide body Evo’s of the past, David’s Evo was entrusted to Peter at Bodyform to produce the final product you see today.

Like a true artisan, Pete managed to seamlessly mould APR rear fender and doors into the existing body lines of the car and also ensure enough space for the massive 18×11 SSR wheels that the car would be riding on. Up front, a Voltex inspired front fender was made with a hidden side indicator and vent added too. By far my favourite thing on the car is the assortment of Varis parts including the front bar, side skirts and rear diffuser – a great change from the regular Voltex kits we often see.

For paint, David’s first choice of Honda Rootbeer proved to be a bit more difficult to match than expected and instead David was convinced into settling on the Range Rover Ruffina Red colour you see today; a decision he says he was much happier with after seeing the finish product. Some neat enhancements to both the front custom RGB head lights and rear USDM tail lights finish the car off nicely.

Inspired by a Snowflake and snowballing a build himself, the story of David’s Evo has sadly ended. Since writing this article, David has parted ways with his car due to a change in personal circumstances placing him ironically in need of a more daily drivable car. He passes it on with no regrets to what he’s done to his former pride and joy but I think David’s story is a common one in the car scene.

It reinforces the joy and addiction we often get when building cars and quite often it’s the journey that makes the ownership more memorable than having the finished product. Wishing David all the best on his quest for a new ‘daily’ but something tells me history may just repeat itself.