1994 Honda Civic EX - Modern Day Classic

There are three important facts that you must know about this Civic coupe before you read any further: 1. Kane Chan is not only the current owner of this coupe, but also the original owner, 2. This is actually the second time that this Civic has graced the pages of Super Street—the first time dating back all the way to May of 2002, and 3. There’s a really strong possibility that his Rockford Fosgate amplifier is older than you are. Yes, you read correctly, Kane Chan is the original owner of this 1994 Honda Civic EX coupe and he’s been working on it ever since then. In a day and age when holding onto a project car for more than a year is rare, it’s almost unbelievable to think that there is someone out there who has had their car for nearly two decades. If you can wrap that thought around your head, now consider this; Kane’s Civic is every bit as relevant today as it was back in the day. He’s consistently maintained a simplistic method of tuning and modification since the very beginning and what he’s done has never gone out of style. To put it simply, this Civic is timeless. Not only has the entire vehicle remained in immaculate condition, the B16B motor also makes a substantial amount of power that allows it to keep up with enthusiasts who have turned to the newer technology of the K-series engines. Kane has even participated in our FF Battle series the last two years and has done very well, even finishing second overall in last year’s competition.

“When I was growing up, I always watched all the old school car crews build their cars. Bosozoku, Advance, Street Image, all those guys were a great influence on me,” Kane says. “I really wanted to build a car that was not only good-looking, but also performed well and made good power.”

The ‘90s were a different time; Street Fighter 2 was not yet a classic video game, skinny jeans were worn only by women and modifying Hondas was still very much an underground thing. If you had a nice set of wheels, PIAA foglights in your bumper and a nice sound system, you were set. Enthusiasts didn’t have to worry about aggressive wheel fitment and custom engine harnesses because they were busy saving money to buy JNCO jeans and compact discs (and mostly because such things didn’t exist). In the early 2000s, the “scene” if you will, started to take a gradual shift. Modifications became more heavily reliant on what fiberglass body kit you could acquire and what taillights from another manufacturer could you mold onto your Honda. While that madness was going on, there were guys like Kane and others who geared their modifications towards hard-to-find parts from Japan. These guys/gals were the ones who were into “JDM” before “JDM” was cool and now often misused. Within the last decade, Kane has been able to amass quite a collection of parts for his Honda. You’ll notice that he has the Spoon Sports carbon front lip installed but he also has both the Mugen and Back Yard Special front lips in his possession. If you like his trio of front lips, than you’ll really love his wheel collection. Kane actually has two sets of now-discontinued 16" Advan RGs in white and gold, respectively, a set of Volk Racing CE28s, SSR Super Mesh and 15" Mugen RnRs. The 17" Racing Hart ZR-Mesh wheels from his 2002 feature are still a part of his collection as well. Having all these different sets of wheels and front lip combinations have helped to keep the EJ1 coupe fresh throughout the years.