2002 Ultimate StreetCar Challenge: Car Show

Because most of us on staff live by the "if it doesn't make it fast, it sucks" school of automotive enhancement, we called in shine pros Kelvin Hiraishi, a Mazda employee partly responsible for the Mazda MP3, and Primedia employee Jay Friedman, who is well versed in the show scene.

It was quickly obvious which cars were prepared with obsessive-compulsive attention to detail, and whose financial and creative energies were just put into making the cars go. Only three points separated the top three cars, though the bottom car finished down 82 points. It's also worth noting that none of the cars wore any parts or modifications that hinder performance, like so many wings and heavy chrome rims.

Of particular note was the rotary-powered Datsun 510 of Tod Kaneko. Believe it or not, there does exist a perfectly straight 510, and it wore rich, deep orange paint to our challenge. Like a box of chocolates, the deeper you dig, the more goodies you find, executed with forethought and precision. Carbon fiber interior panels, a chrome-moly cage, custom sheet metal, even custom full carpeting--rarely is something this fast this nice.

The 300ZX also fared quite well, fitted with all the creature comforts you'd use on a daily basis or need to win an Import Showoff--everything polished and ported, anodized and powdercoated, loud and streaming video.

A Ferrari, of course, doesn't need to do much but sit there to elicit wood from passersby and competitors alike. Not content with Modena's stock product, James Chen threw enough carbon fiber at the Modena to build an F1 car. And as if the car is not a lemon by birthright, everything was color-matched yellow, from seats to subs, trim to Chen's Prada shoes. Only slightly sacrilegious, four 10-inch subs mask the tones of a beautiful Tubi exhaust. The 360 Modena was voted "the car I'd most like to drive home" by competitors.

"Clutter," "dirty" and "poor finish" are highlights from the Tiburon's judging notes. Then again, who cares? The Tiburon is made to sprint like Ben Johnson and look like Fat Albert. Making the go-real-fast hardware conspicuous wasn't a priority.

At least the Tiburon wasn't described as "ghetto," a tag reserved for the nitrous-fed twincharged MR2, which finished last in this contest. This car's engine cover only gets popped for mods; time cleaning is better spent concentrating on not blowing the engine up with three power adders. Still, if the editors had to pick the car that most resembles their own cars, this would be it.