Now, the interior is where it gets a little weird. Those who drive barefooted should dare not enter this car unless they want to get burned. The diamond-plated floor mats give a techno vibe-hard and industrialized. A Jamex steering wheel provides the driver a comfortable grip while seated in the Jamex Daytona red and blue buckets. The APC gauges do an indiglo dance at night, and the Autometer a/f/r, NOS, boost, and sport tachometer gauges do their job of monitoring engine performance. Maintaining safety standards are the custom six-point roll cage and Schroth four-point Rallye racing harnesses. And alas, the stereo is quite basic. Nothing more than a Kenwood deck and Alpine speakers all the way around.
Now back to Schopenhauer's point. Can this be ridiculed? In most cases, yes. Can it be opposed? Most definitely. Can it be accepted? It already has been. By Jeff (naturally) and us (ditto). And that's the truth.
Fast facts
Owner Jeff Filipiak
Ride '96 Dodge Neon
Hometown Baltimore, Maryland
Daily Grind Registered Nurse
Under the Hood Extrude Hone combustion chambers; five-angle valve job; shaved cylinder head; Iceman intake; Genie muffler; Pacesetter header; NGK sparkplugs; Magnecor spark plug wires; chrome valve cover; billet oil cap; Unorthodox cam gears and underdrive pulleys; Nitrous Express Stage 1, 75-shot wet system, purge kit, nitrous filter
Stiff Stuff Intrax lowering springs, Jamex struts, Suspension Techniques front and rear antiroll bars, Speedworks front strut bar, Full Throttle rear strut bar
Rollers 18-inch Team Dynamics Motorsport wheels, Nitto NT450 215/35Z18 tires
Stoppers Powerslot rotors, Raybestos Brut Stop brake pads
Outside Wings West RS Series body kit and touring wing, shaved antenna and body work done by Auto Collision Clinic; Altezza taillights; clear bumper lenses; Zendar antenna; Xenon headlights; Neuspeed side markers; Speedesign graphics
Inside Jamex Daytona seats (blue and red) and steering wheel; APC Indiglo gauges, air/fuel ratio, nitrous, boost, and tachometer gauges; Niken carbon-fiber shift knob and pedals; custom six-point roll cage, diamond plated floor mats; Schroth four-point Rallye racing harnesses
ICE Kenwood head unit, Alpine 6x9 deck and 6.5 door speakers
Props Jodi Tyszko, Mom and Dad for their continuous support, John Brunning at Speedesign Custom Graphics, Auto Collision Clinic, Team Speedesign, Ken Ebo at Fila, BJ Birtwell at Meguiar's, Rob Brooks from Wilco, Wings West, Intrax, Unorthodox Racing, Team Dynamics, Pacesetter, Mike at Schroth, PremierCompacts.com, Frankie Johnson and Manny Agosto from Autothority, Neon America, BelAir Honda, and Daren Proctor for getting this project started.