2004 Ultimate Street Car Challenge

Test 1 Price

Of all the tests in the challenge, the car show is the least quantitative and most subjective. Scoring is driven by personal opinion and nothing more. Therefore, this test can also be the most unpredictable. In this venue the judges' word is law, and if they take a personal set against you or your car, you can consider yourself pretty much screwed.

That's not to say point allocation is completely baseless. This year's judges have seen it all. Elton Lo returns for the second year in a row. He's a regular at such heavily promoted events as Import Showoff and Import Xtreme, in addition to running a custom tuning shop, so he's about as close to a professional car show judge as you'll find. Ditto for his buddy Phillip Phong.

Last in our panel of three is the legendary James Chen, he who entered the USCC three years in a row and made it his bitch on two of those occasions. Incidentally, his yellow 350Z won the car show in 2003 and his other two entries never scored worse than fourth place, so the guy knows how to build a good-looking sled.

Each entry was judged not only on the fit and finish of its various modifications, but also on the quality of the parts used. Every aspect was considered: overall appearance (first impression), engine bay, interior, suspension, stereo or ICE, exterior mods and paint.

Each judge was also allowed to allocate bonus points to a car that appealed directly to him.

The hands-down winner was Scott Gladstone's Sparco EVO VIII. While the rest of the field was judged with a cold sort of clinical detachment, the Sparco EVO reduced our panel to something like a group of enthusiastic nine-year-olds crowding around a salvaged nudie mag. It was the last car to be judged, and had drawn quite a crowd by the time the judges got to it. They were most impressed by the incredible full graphics wrap carried out on the exterior. It's so good you'd swear it was paint, even with your nose pressed up against the vinyl's surface.

Other areas were just as nice, particularly the interior. Ferrari Enzo seats didn't hurt, and the color-matched Design Craft roll cage is an absolute masterpiece, both in construction and fitment.

Brad Bedell's MR2 came in second. It's obvious this car was assembled with great care and sports a load of subtle custom tricks, including a blown V6 swap executed with the owner's own two hands. Elton described it as "pretty crazy ... a total sleeper."

HPA's R32 Golf finished a hair behind the MR2. The car was clean, straight and largely stock looking as far as the interior and exterior, but the judges were taken by the gigantic Audi racing brakes fitted to all four hubs and by the overflowing engine bay with its two conspicuously mounted twin turbos and miles of custom plumbing.

Fourth place went to Nick Wong's R32 Skyline. Despite the fact that it's been driven with a heavy foot for more than 13 years, assembled and reassembled countless times and is the oldest entry of the lot, it's still a Skyline. It still cleans up nice.

Fifth and sixth place fell to the Mazda camp, Andrew Campbell's Miata and Jason Cameron's RX-7, respectively. The judges gave big props to the Miata's engine bay and its nice original paint. The RX-7 was criticized on the jumbles of wires and haphazardly placed heat shrouding within the engine bay.

Matt Andrews' turbo Supra placed seventh. Though it's got more go-fast stuff this year, it doesn't look like much more than, well, a green Supra. Robert Fuller's Buschur/RRE EVO VIII came next. "Hacked-up vinyl," one of the judges noted disapprovingly, scribbling furiously on his notepad.

Bill Knose's Subaru Impreza, though brimming with a host of go-fast equipment and technical upgrades, was slammed for retaining too much of its factory aesthetics. "Stock doesn't win car shows," said Elton.

Scot Gray's black Eclipse was criticized in much the same way. Though the judges liked his paint and the car's pristine condition, the DSM was relegated to last place. - Karl Funke