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TURNERS
Laying claim to the streets once dominated by 1932 Ford highboys and Plymouth Hemi ‘Cudas, modern Tuner Cars represent an approach to performance motoring that has significant parallels to the early days of hot rodding more than half a century ago. Yet, while they are vastly different in concept from musclecars, hot rods, and custom cars, Tuner Cars are built by enthusiasts who are no less passionate about performance.
Passion for Tuner Cars grew rapidly during the 1990s. It soon became apparent that Tuner Cars were not a mere passing fad, but an enduring form of personal expression that has helped shape the way major auto manufacturers plan and market their products.
The Tuner Car world is diverse, but can be generally divided into five primary groups: street, strip, sport, show, and sound. While the street scene is the center of most Tuner Car activity, the drag strip is where a growing number of enthusiasts find a socially acceptable release for their competitive impulses. The show scene came into being early on and has grown spectacularly in size and strength. The sport and sound aspects of the phenomenon also show strong growth, further demonstrating the size and scope of the youthful enthusiasts’ market.
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1971 Datsun 510_Danstan
Specially engineered and built for SCCA Class C Trans Am racing, this is one of only two remaining BRE-prepared 510 coupes that dominated Trans Am racing in 1971-72. Breaking the back of BMW and Alfa Romeo, BRE 510s helped rewrite the record and rulebooks for compact car racing. |
1994 Honda-Civic-SCCA-racer_Danstan
Specially engineered and built for road racing and sportsman style events. Ty Tipton’s race-prepared Civic demonstrates the capability of small-bore powered cars. Successfully competing on road courses throughout southern California from San Diego to Willow Springs, this car has been the foundation for testing performance products that would later be offered to Tuners.
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1995 Honda-Civic-Si_Danstan
Recognized as one of the top show cars in the country, this Civic has racked up over 20 Best of Show awards over the past two years. Requiring 18 months of intensive planning and labor to complete construction, the car has been a headliner at shows and events throughout the western United States. |
1995 NISSAN Skyline_Danstan
The Skyline is regarded as one of the ultimate import performance cars. Although Nissan has never officially sold the Skyline into the United States, a small number of enthusiasts have purchased and imported them privately. Originally equipped with right-hand drive for the Japanese market, this Skyline was expertly converted to left-hand drive by Skyline Racing in Santa Ana. The popularity of the Skyline among enthusiasts prompted producers to include one in the movie 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003).
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1996 Honda Civic_Danstan
Show and go condensed into one ideal package is what makes a Tuner Car standout. This 1996 Civic hatch features remarkable planning and execution allowing the applications to appear seamless almost factory-like. Featured in many leading Tuner Car magazines and on show circuits from coast-to-coast, this car has become one of the most recognizable Tuner Cars in the country. |
1998 Honda Civic_Danstan
Stephan Papadakis pushed the edge of performance capabilities by being the first driver to break the eight-second barrier for front-wheel drive drag race vehicles. For this pioneering efforts he and his race team have gone on to become one of the most popular competitors in the rapidly emerging Sport Compact Car drag racing class.
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1999 Ford Focus_Danstan
The specially engineered race car established new threshold of performance for small displacement engines of 7:37 and 182 miles per hour in 1/4 mile. The effort helped driver R.J. Simrock capture NHRA¹s first Sport Compact Pro Championship in 2002. |
2000 Ford FR200_Danstan
Ford locked its most talented product engineers in a race shop with a stock Focus. The team emerged a few months later with perhaps the most advanced and extreme factory tuner car ever constructed. This FR200 (one of three produced) ran head-to-head with a Corvette Z06 in tests performed by Motor Trend magazine. As a result many of the innovations seen on this car will soon by offered by Ford Dealer Part Departments.
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2000 Mazda Protégé_Danstan
Built by Mazda and key aftermarket companies to demonstrate the performance and styling capabilities of a factory issued sedan, this street car is capable of rocketing 1000-watts of audio thunder from 0-60 in less than six-seconds. |
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2003 Acura RSX_Danstan
Acura’s Integra is second in Tuner popularity to the Honda Civic. In 2002 the famous nameplate was replaced by the RSX. To demonstrate the potential of the new model this high-performance, CARB legal tuner car was developed in cooperation with leading aftermarket manufacturers.
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