1992 Honda Civic CX - Iconoclast

In most cases, the tuners who are lucky enough to get a cover in this magazine are either 1) so rich that money not only grows on their trees, but also comes down from the sky along with the dogs and the cats; 2) have enough sponsorship support that even My Shaldan is on the list, providing a lifetime supply of its new squash air fresheners; or 3) are exactly like the man who owns this '92 Honda Civic CX, who has more passion for the scene than Britney Spears has for the hyphy juice. His name is Michael Hatten, and his story begins at the age of 16 when a hapless '89 Nissan Pulsar NX was handed down to him from someone who obviously hated him. If you didn't know, the Pulsar is the gift that says, "I not only loathe your very being, but I also want everyone else in the world to know about it."

As evidence-and not really a surprise to anyone-Michael was hit twice driving the car. As a result, he gained $3,000 in insurance money to allow him to purchase his first-ever modified ride, a '91 Honda CRX Si with a full Wings West RS kit, better known as the ambiguous Mugen copy. It also had a B16 swap and gold paint job that was not only a fresh ride to use as a freshman in college, but was also the best way for the cops to notice you speeding around campus. Of course, this is exactly what happened to Michael and the tickets stacked up so high that he had to let go of the car because like all freshmen in college, money was as scarce as heterosexuals at a John Mayer concert. So he sold it for $4,500, which was money that only lasted a short time inside his wallet because the itch to tune was running strong through his blood.

He used the cash to buy his first EG, a bone stock '93 Honda Civic CX. This was the car he was wanting since middle school. "All my friends wanted nice and expensive cars like the Lincoln Navigator," he explained. "I was the only one that wanted to fix up a '93 Si. I was in love with EGs and the more I couldn't get one, the more I wanted it." So his first EG was going to be a special one that would get the best parts and last forever. Wrong. Shortly after the purchase, he was rear ended by some drunken girl who drove away and probably drank some more. Naturally, he was depressed and was consoled by his best friend, Randy Gagan, a fellow tuner who motivated Michael to keep on truckin'. The best way for Michael to keep his sanity was to start collecting rare and hard-to-get parts when the most tragic event occurred: Randy died. This life changing experience motivated him to build the best EG ever, so he found one bare and built it from the ground up, installing all the parts he collected. Six months later, this EG came out of his garage, making sure that anyone who saw it would take notice of it. And we did.

The exterior looks like it should be on the cover of Option magazine with its JDM styles. In the front is a custom carbon-Kevlar Spoon-style lip. It sits under the BMW M3 bi-Xenon projector lighting retrofitted into the EG6 headlights and the paint is a PPG Frost White. This is the kind of look that all aspiring JDM Honda heads should look to for inspiration-it's that dope, and is a perfect example of how to style your Civic.