1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse

To cope with the extra power, the clutch was upgraded with an ACT 2600-lb competition unit, and to make the shifts faster and more positive, Salemeda installed a Pacesetter short-shifter.

The suspension package on Salemeda's car was upgraded to handle the increased performance potential of the powerplant. First of all, KYB shocks were installed at each corner along with Progress springs to give a sportier ride. Then the brakes were upgraded with an AEM 12.5-in conversion at the front and slotted stock size discs at the rear. The pads were upgraded with EBC replacements front and rear.

Wheels are an important factor to anyone that builds a car intended to turn heads and garner awards. Salemeda didn't cut any corners here. The 19-in Racing Hart C2s are his wheel of choice and they're wrapped with 235/35/19 Nitto 555s at each corner. The guys at Baer Alignment took care of the mounting and balancing and the end result is a truly bad-ass combination that performs as well as it looks.

Speaking of good looks, take a look at the interior of Salemeda's ride. The tone is set by the six-point Pro-street rollcage. This interior is all about form and function. The seats are Sparco Torinos and the entire interior package is color-matched with red carbon-fiber details. Most of the interior work was carried out by Salemeda's good friend Lenny "Jay" Truitt, who also took care of the audio system installation.

When it came to the exterior treatment, Salemeda really wanted to show off the ability of his company, Carversion 2, to get hard-to-find components from the JDM scene.

A Sensei front end was grafted on along with Blitz side panels and rear bumper. After these parts were color matched to the original paint, Salemeda installed an APR aluminum rear wing to finish off the aerodynamic package.

The final stage for Salemeda was to get some killer graphics applied. After talking to the guy's at Cutting Edge he decided on a "Flying Eagle" design and you can see the final result justifies Salemeda's decision.

At the end of the day, Salemeda's bad luck in having his Mustang ripped off led to the creation of a bad-ass GSX and the founding of one of Delaware's leading tuning shops in Carversion 2. Some clouds do have a silver lining after all.