Cars and Legends
What can I tell you except cars run in the Okamoto boys blood. Here's a little story I'll reveal to you, when my dad was courting my mom he used to drive a 1934 Ford Coupe. They were very poor and he had just reworked the car and had painted the hood. As the story goes he was picking her up and hit a bump and the hood flew up and got bent and ruined. For years I asked him if he was driving fast and the answer was always "NO". A few years ago at Thanksgiving my family and I were together and the story came out again. The TRUTHFUL story. My dad said he was going to pick up my mom and some other hot rod reved on him so he raced him. During the race the car hit a bump and the hood flew up! I laughed my head off and my dad said it was different back then, it was safer to race cuz there weren't any cars around!!!!
Anyways anyone who knows me knows my dad used to own the best body shop in town. He fixed toyota celebrity race cars for the Long Beach Grand Prix and can fix anything, it's absolutely amazing to watch him work. He did all the body work on my honda and my celica and a lot of my families cars too. He's retired now but he's currently working on a 1951 Ford F1 truck. When he's done with that I'm trying to talk him into helping me build a 1968 ford cobra or 1969 chevrolet camaro z28.
To give you an idea of how it runs in the family I'll give you a summary. My dad currently drives a Lexus GS430, its lowered with chrome rims. My brother in law just sold his chevy Impala and used to own a chevy 454SS. My brother also has an Infiniti G35 coupe, and Acura RSX and sold his Acura CL type S (that car kicked my hondas butt). It runs in the family...
The new news for 2004? I sold the accord and bought my dream car, the mighty Infiniti G35 6MT coupe. Known as the Nissan SKYLINE in Japan. 280hp stock, brembo racing brakes, sunroof, full leather, H.I.D lights, and all the works! But you know me, I immediately added tint to all the windows, hyper white lighting to the clearance lights, fog lamps, interior, and license plate lights. I also just added a Injen Racing Division intake which is supposed to add 12 hp to the wheels, man does that car howl now! Stock this car runs about a 14.2 quarter mile, and can pull third gear chirps, enought to infuriate BMW 330's, Mustangs, all accord v6's, Mazda RX-8's, Porsche Boxters, Lexus IS 300's, and Audi A4 turbos. Rumors have it that the beast has been seen running UPHILL on the desmond bridge at over 120 mph but I'll deny that one :). My goal is to tune it to over 300 hp to the wheels but it's going to take some cash and time, right now I'd love to add a comptech supercharger, that will put down an extra 120 hp.
The Mighty Skyline
The last thing Mustang GT's see...
My daily driver, a 1989 Honda Crx Si. I loved these cars when they first came out, but never got one. But man after the gas skyrocketed it was costing me 60 bucks a week to drive the skyline. The crx gets 33 mpg driving 80-90 mph! And it has a sunroof and a/c too! Right now it has the stock d15 block with headers and intake, but eventually I'm going with either a B16 or K20 block. When I'm done this puppy will be quicker than the skyline, there are a lot of crx's out there that are all motor and run ten seconds in the quarter mile and leave porsche turbos in the dust.
My newest additon a 1996 Toyota Tacoma Extra Cab 4x4, it replaced my beloved 4 runner that I sold back in 2003. I use it to haul the pups, my fishing gear, kayaks, and my 17' boat! I already added fog lights and a tow hitch and roof rack, I still want to get some wheel flares as well. You know I can't leave well enough alone! And yeah, so what if I have three cars and they are all black! The sick thing is, I keep talking to my friends about wanting to pick up a 94-97 toyota supra twin turbo, nissan 240 sx with the s14 engine in it, or a 94-97 mazda fd rx7 twin turbo! Dammit I need a bigger driveway!
My dad's 1951 Ford F1 Truck. Don't rev on him, trust me on this one! It was just featured in Custom Classic Trucks August 2006 Issue
It has a big block engine, 396 I think.
My dad put this all together, it was a piece of crap when he first got it. He even layed in the wood bed and lowered the frame, it's probably going to end up in a magazine!
My Previous Cars
I just got the Accord in 1999, but I had to sell her to make room for the new car. It was sure hard to let that one go, it was a total sleeper, I added a Weapon R hyperintake, Alpine stereo system, 10" sub with 200 w amp, fog lamps, progress racing springs, ECU chip, AEM pulleys, Centerforce racing clutch, DC headers, AEM big brake upgrade kit, and magnaflow exhaust system. The accord surprised a lot of people and I've blown away bmw's, civics, accords, integras, celicas, mustang v6's, and have held my own against most other 6's! But with over 137k on the odo it was time to get ready for the new car!
I'll Sure Miss This Accord!
Project Accord in the Beginning
Here's a pix of my first car, a 1980 customized Celica, Black Cherry in Color
My second car, a customized black 1991 Honda Accord Coupe Ex
My 4 runner that I just sold!