Hawaiian Import Enthusiasts

Many of you may already be familiar with names like Lanny Higa, Paul Umholtz, Kazu Yamaguchi and Jensen Oda; also known as Team Hawaii. The quartet of "flyin' Hawaiians" have been, for the past few years, shipping its army of 10-second Hondas to and from California to compete in the West Coast's top import drag racing events (except for Jensen, who is now a permanent mainland resident).

These four are prime examples of how hardcore the Hawaiian import enthusiasts are. Remember, on the island of Oahu where they live, there is only one drag strip with no import events, just test and tune sessions. When you consider that it takes tens of thousands of dollars to build a Quick Class car and the only means of competing is to ship your vehicle across an ocean, it is a testament to one's dedication to the sport. While these all-out, die-hard racers keep the Hawaiian flag screaming down the various 1320s on the West Coast, back home, the show scene is following in their footsteps with several wild show cars being born since we were last there.

At the recent Import Showoff in Honolulu, we came across Jim Labrador's wild 1995 Honda Civic. Representin' Team Kaotic, Jim and fellow team member German Velasco were flexin' big with their hard-hitting Hondas. German's car, a tricked-to-the-max, old-school Integra will grace the pages of 2NR in an upcoming-issue, so be on the lookout.

In its own right, Jim's Civic showcases the abundance of aftermarket customization available for the Honda platform. Its sheet-metal skin has been caressed with six coats of white paint and permanent blue flames by Automotive Innovations which also fitted the Civic with a VIS body kit, Combat wing and Bomex side-view mirrors prior to painting. Jim is all about making his ride different from the next guy's and so with the fresh paint completed Abstract Signs & Graphics added the silver pin striping to the flames for a more detailed look. Matching flamed tint was applied to the windows by Solar Pro to push things over the edge. Of course, any phat ride needs to be slammed on aftermarket alloy, so Jim dropped the Civic 3-inches using Koni shocks and Aerospeed adjustable ride height suspension. The factory rims have been replaced with 17-inch Giovanna Kujis wrapped in 205/17ZR40 series Falken rubber.