Front Mount Time!

FMIC install this week...

_SSR_ in The Charm City

Jason came up for the Import Alliance Meet in Baltimore, Md from Va Beach on Sunday morning.  We decided to link up & caravan en route to the event.  In pretty rare fashion, we had a 1st gen hard-topped Miata roadster & an ol' school t-topped MR2 join us for the NoVa - B'More leg.

Here are a few pics from our Charm City adventure.

Simplicity Is Key...

With just the right mixture of modifications, this sedan makes heads turn.
We here @ _SSR_ can appreciate this tastefully modified Slammed Sedan!

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$$$$$$$

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A Winning Slammed Sedan

1st place Import Modified...Honda's didn't have a chance!

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Black Sheep

Holy cow, this is one beautiful Speed!  Trying my hardest to track down the owner, I noticed the stop sign & ARRET is STOP in French so thinking Canada...hopefully I or a visitor can find out who it is!

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The Inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix Pt. 1

...checked out the festivities @ the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, MD today for the inaugural racing series.  I must admit, other than the late start (thanks to the slow covering of the man holes on the circuit) it was a lot of fun & pretty much went off w/out a hitch.
After the safety crew ok'd the teams to start running laps, it all went great from there...although today was just practice.

Back In Black...

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Just Teal With It...

I remember Jason from the back in the MSProtege days when forums in 2005 (I owned a Mazda Protege5 at the time).  I also remember tidbits of conversations about his car build with things the mainstream Protege guys weren't doing & frowning upon.  Swapping an autotragicmatic transmission for a manual 5-speed version & turbo-charging an lx.  Most guys back then were saying things like "Totally not worth it...", "That's just retarded...", "...you're better off selling your car or trading it in for a MSP (Mazdaspeed Protege)..." & so on.  But through what seemed like endless perseverance, he squashed those opinions (hi haters) & zoom-zoomed down his own path.  A path with more ups & downs than one could even imagine.  He ended up doing the tranny swap & installing the turbo, fixing all the issues that a local shop left him with & stunned the MSProtege world with a 5spd-swapped, boosted econobox.  Then unfortunately,  disaster struck.  On January 23, 2010, the three words every Mazda owner hates to hear:  ZOOM-ZOOM-BOOM!  But that persevering spirit of Jason shone through once again & the rebuild begun shortly after.  Now some years later, Jason is still on the streets of Virginia in his daily driven slammed sedan, only this time with a BIG turbo & all the internal bits to go fast safely.  Thanks for showing us what automotive motivation is all about!
It just goes to show you...some people can just "Teal" with it better than others & it's my honor to present you with the first full feature on _SSR_.
Hats off to you Jason!