FF Squad Interview - The Real OGS

Dylan: I drove my brother's '93 Integra... and that was it dude! I was all about selling my squareback and getting a Civic. Katman: They're cool looking, easy to modify... and reliable. Dylan: Back then every car was a new car. There were no primered buckets running around. Steve: No rat-rods! Lee: They were expensive. I wanted a CR-X bad but they were like ten grand or more dude. I was just always the passenger going to the street races. Dylan: I paid ten grand for my Civic. Katman: That's back when Si's were a big deal.

SS: What did you guys look towards for inspiration back then?

Katman: Oh that's easy, Little Tokyo bookstores! Japanese books, Hyper Rev, J's Tipo. (laughs) Steve: Why did you giggle? Katman: Because we used to joke about that, about the "tip" of my dick. Dylan: And there were a few nice cars. I always liked Junior's car and a couple other Redline cars. Katman: The Ronald McDonald CR-X! That thing was tight. (sarcasm) Dylan: Um yeah, I was never of fan of those cars. I remember the big deal was the super sales at CarMate. That was the best car show of the year dude! That's where you'd see all the cars. Lee: I remember seeing Tony Fuch's car there!

SS: What were some of the things you guys aspired to do with your cars? Were there any parts or wheels in particular that you were like "oh shit I gotta get those!"?

Katman: Oh yeah there were the usual exterior Japanese OEM body parts. Lee: For me it was always the black Mugen RNRs, they were always the unattainable wheel. That or M7s. Steve: I think it was M7s. The M7s weren't attainable. Lee: Dude there were no M7s around. I think that they all came from Japan fairly recently. Steve: I'm sure they did, because look at how many are available now. Lee: Not that many people here bought them new. They were too expensive. They were like triple the price of a normal wheel. Dylan: And then they were off the market. I always wanted Super Fins. I love Super Fins. Lee: As far as body parts we always just wanted the stock stuff. Our cars were so low that anything we put on it, like a thousand dollar lip, would just get ripped off. Back then it was just not even feasible. Dylan: Although I was super into the Spoon parts when they first came out. The wing and the wheels. Lee: I was scared of the lip though!

SS: Why have you guys all stuck to owning and driving FWD Hondas?

Dylan: Because no one will pay me what I would want for my car! (laughs) Katman: For me I like going to the track, it's fun! Dylan: It's super fun. Katman: I'm kinda glad I got the EG. If I kept my '87 I don't know how well it would have handled. With the EG you can easily set those up for track use with all the N1 race cars or whatever we saw in the magazines. Dylan: I think had we not started going to the track we would have all sold our cars. Lee: Totally. I'm to the point where I'm done starting from scratch. Because every time you start from scratch...

SS: Yeah all the time and money Lee: Yeah. Whereas now it's done, every few months you can tweak on it and just change little things. Katman: For me that was the whole goal. We used to go to Little Tokyo and read the magazines and there would always be N1 racecars in there. I was like "dude I wish we could get on the track, that would be so fun." Lee: These two (Katman and Dylan) were the first two that went for sure. Katman: Our friend Eric Bauer kinda showed us. He brought us to a couple track events and set us up. He was like "there's a place called Speed Trials and they have track days. You just sign up and you go." Then you go early and drive the track with an instructor and learn the line. Lee: This was in the late '90s too. Katman: Like '99. Dylan: Something like that. Katman: Eric Bauer was an Internet friend from the Hybrid forum. When I got on the Internet, the Hybrid forum was the place to be. You could get all technical with swap information. Steve: You could get all Katman-del. FF Squad: (laughter) Katman: We've got history on there. Steve: On your Commodore 64?