It wouldn’t be a Honda issue without something out of the ordinary and even a little controversial. With that said, nothing in this issue will surprise you as much as this fifth-gen Accord wagon built by Lance Akagi from Hawaii. It’s a bit on the bizarre side, sporting a mix of hardcore bosozuku and VIP styles with custom barreled Benz wheels, a rare Inspection kit, fresh repaint, custom headlights and much more. But it was designed to turn heads, which we naturally did at the Hellaflush Hawaii show two years ago and we simply couldn’t get enough of it.
A crazy project like this doesn’t happen overnight. How about six years? Lance had a vision in ‘04 when he picked up the wagon bone stock. “I wanted to bring something to Hawaii that hasn’t been in the spotlight—VIP styling at the time,” he explained.
So with the island’s biggest show Streetcar Showoff three months away, Lance went buck wild and attempted to finish the project in time for roll-in. Every night, Lance busted his ass in his garage slaving on the wagon. He started with the interior, dying everything jet black. Once the nine-piece body kit from Inspection arrived from Japan, he prepped it for paint, sprayed it and mounted it on the car himself. A set of Work wheels and coilovers were installed while his friend pulled the original motor and drivetrain out. “I completed most of the car in time (except the motor) but that wasn’t gonna stop me from displaying. So we literally pushed the car in with the exhaust dragging on the ground and everyone staring at us,” he laughed. “We even had to undo the front suspension because even with the coils all the way down, the car sat too high without a motor. It was ghetto but I didn’t care because it came out nearly exactly how I imagined it.”
After a couple more shows, Lance decided to semi-retire the car until it was 100% complete. The empty bay was addressed first receiving a JDM H23A power plant. Then, he started up a friendship with Revision Audio, a local shop that aided the chassis build. They helped piece together the air ride components, which were installed along with a five-gallon tank plus 3/8" lines and valves. To get the stance proper, the front suspension geometry was adjusted with more negative camber while the rear control arms and all four bumpstops were modified.
Choosing the right wheel was next. After ditching the Works, Lance went for something that would make anyone go bananas. He picked up a set of 18" MAE Crown Jewel wheels but they needed some love. The dimensions and offsets weren’t perfect so the 18" faces were rebuilt with 19" step lips and configured to align to the fenders.
Almost done, the owner realized there was still something missing to elevate this wagon above the rest. “I wanted it to be a burgundy color that still had a true red look in the sun. It took hours of playing with colors and pearls to get exactly what I wanted. I also thought it needed a chrome trim, like how the stock Lexus and other high-end cars had,” Lance concluded.
After hundreds of hours of trial and error, Lance had accomplished the unthinkable—a one-of-a-kind Accord that just isn’t a cool Honda but one of the sickest wagons we’ve seen.