1993 Honda Civic

Feast your eyes on this. Go ahead, feel free to drool if you please. Looks delicious, don’t it? Now, if you were to see it in real-life, you’d probably want to step in a little closer. But before you do, you’d have to make nice with its owner—Nyugen Tran.

In the beginning, this ’93 Civic was nothing more than a means of transportation for Nyugen’s daily commute to school and work. But the more he drove it, he noticed that it had too much potential to be left alone in stock form. With a little bit of creativity and some confidence, along with the basics he learned from a mechanics class in school, he decided to start on his own project. “I didn’t know anything about cars,” says Nyugen, as he reminisces about that moment. “It started off as a hobby. You know, I just wanted to have some fun.” But he soon realized that building a car on his own was no easy task, so he turned to some installers to help him—people whom he thought were legit. But once he found out that they weren’t certified, he quickly recovered his car before it got into serious trouble.

Learning from his mistake, Nyugen was now more cautious about having someone work on his car. So, instead of diving into a shallow swimming pool, he tested the waters by getting into the mix of the import scene by going to car shows. Since then, he’s done quite a bit of traveling. He’s been to NOPI, almost all of the Hot Import Nights on the East Coast, and even to shows in Canada. He met the right kind of people to help him build his Civic through the shows. One of those people was Rick Wells, who definitely played a significant role in this project.

First, Rick got to work as he replaced the original engine for a J-spec version, allowing the Honda to function on a 1.8L ’95 Integra GS-R. Additional equipment that dress up this engine nice and neat include a strut bar, oil cap, and valve cover insert from DC Sports, along with a fuse box cover from STR and a Weapon•R battery cover. The Civic also breathes a whole lot better, drawing air in through an RS Akimoto intake, then exhaling out through a Hyper Medallion Tanabe exhaust.

The exterior’s simplicity accentuates its clean, flawless body. Smoother than Moe’s face, the Civic was completely shaved from the fenders to the quarter panels. A Wings West W-Type body kit and rear wing were added to work in sync with the customized bodywork. The final finish was made with luscious bright banana paint.

Another noticeable change is its height. It was dropped low (close to five inches) with Ground Control springs and Tokico shocks all around, while the suspension was stiffened with a front and rear DC Sports strut brace. To have it rollin’ with style and confidence, Nyugen traded in the stock supply for 17-inch C2 Racing Hart wheels fitting snugly on all four FZ4 Toyo tires.

From the outside in, the Civic dressed in stock material left it looking too bland. So it was taken to Millas Upholstery in Kensington, Maryland, to add the kind of flavor Nyugen wanted. The stock shifter knob and steering wheel were taken out to be replaced with ones from MOMO. The white-faced gauges from HondaSport were great add-ons to brighten up the insides. And the custom carbon-fiber dash was just what this car needed to give it a modern touch.

Twisting down to the tunes, a head unit and CD player from Eclipse were added. Oncord speakers and Memphis amps provide clear, crisp surround sound. Then, a 12-inch subwoofer was placed inside a fiberglass box from Kevlar, allowing the boom to travel from one corner to the other. A Clarion VHS unit and TV monitor were also installed just in case the bangin’ stereo sound wasn’t enough to keep Nyugen and his friends entertained.

In the span of three years, Nyugen learned a lot from taking up a new hobby, experiencing both the good and the bad. But he’s not finished with the Civic just yet. He says he’s got some other things lined up…maybe a turbocharger? We’re not sure, we’ll just have to wait and see.