*** LONG READ ***

Some are familiar with my story, some aren't. So here it goes...

First thing's first, I purchased the vehicle in November of 2007 for a good price. EX, 5Spd, clean title and Milano Red. At the time, I had another coupe as my daily, a 1995 Honda Civic DX, black/5spd but was recently rear ended so I was looking for a new platform to start from. When I saw this coupe on Craigslist, I knew I had a great project at hand.

I started off collecting random things for my project and soon-to-be daily. Things such as 99-00 front, lips, wheels, suspension, exhaust, seats, etc. Since I still had the EJ1, the EJ8 got worked on during the weekends, slowly at first but once I sold the black coupe, I had enough funds to really get going. I finally found a full Milano Red front, got my lips painted, added a variety of different wheels, coilovers, and exhaust. Got around to removing and re-tinting it since the previous tint was super shitty. Things are now looking much better for the car and I am happy with it's overall appearance. But to my demise, on a trip to Lubbock for Halloween in 2008, I nailed a jack rabbit at 80 mph. It was a terrible sound and I instantly knew the damage before stopping to take a look. At first I was furious, but then realized this was a good time for a fresh front and OEM lip.

I got my hands on the needed parts, got a fresh coat thrown on them and I was on my way. Once again, I was super happy with the results and was constantly complimented on my ride. I did notice a trend in all the car shows/meets I attended, most people couldn't believe I was rocking the SOHC for so long. I had such clean mods done to the car and yet still lacked the extra cam. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I was revved at, messed with and mocked for having a little single cam. Well around November 2009, my second transmission took a **** on me and instead of putting a new one in, I purchased a GSR swap and threw that bad boy in. It was my first B swap, but I had owned an EBP Si prior to all this. I did all my own research online and took on the challenge.

I drove the car to my boys shop on a Saturday evening, pulled the motor, came back Sunday morning and put the new motor in. After all was said and done, I had the first crank around 6:00pm Sunday. Not bad for my first swap. This does include dicking around, parts shopping and smoke breaks... The first pull in my coupe brought a smile to my face. This is exactly what I had needed this whole time. I was thoroughly impressed with my swap skills and choice in motor. My coupe was a ton of fun to drive and definitely turned heads! But this also attracted the unwanted attention of those ever so prevalent thieves lurking in the shadows. It was garage kept, except when I stayed at my girls place.

I parked it early 1:30am on the morning of December 16, 2009. I come out to head to work at 8:00am and find the parking spot empty. My ****ing heart sank. Part of me was so panicked and astonished that this happened but the other part of me was placid and calm saying to myself that I should have seen this coming. It was only a matter of time.

I ran back inside and began to file a police report while scouring the online classifieds on Craigslist. It was but a mere couple hours and there was a full partout on my coupe posted on Craigslist. Anyone who has ever seen my car would read this ad and instantly know it was my car being parted out. This completely infuriated me. I finished filing the report when the police showed up at the door then took this online information and attempted to provide the police with some sort of lead. When I approached the officer on duty and stated my case, she quickly dismissed it saying there was no way to prove ownership of the parts and that they would not waste their time following around an online identity.

After hearing this, I stormed out, determined to find the mother****ers that took my coupe. I passed on the users personal email address posted on the shady Craigslist ad to some friends who provided me with a couple names and addresses. By lunch time, I had three addresses, a laundry list of prior charges against the suspects and nothing but time to kill. I personally stopped by each and every address to do my own detective work but turned nothing. I went home to hang with some friends and just ease my mind. That is, until I got about a million phone calls at 10:00pm that nite.

The first call was Jose (b18 crx) and he said his brother had spotted my car or another red coupe with all my parts on it out at the local Dallas street races. he described to me everything I had on my coupe and I knew it was mine. But how could this be? How could someone be so stupid as to steal a car and drive it the next day? I knew I had to act quick. I quickly informed my friends of the news and we jumped in a friends GT and headed out.

Talk about racing against time, an estimated 40 minute drive was made within 11 minutes. I can recall telling a bunch of friends out there already to keep my car in their sights and not lose it no matter what. I get to the location and ask one of my boys for a more exact location. We pull around the corner only to spot my very own coupe stopped at a light. once again, my heart ****ing sank. Do you know what it's like to see someone you have never met before drive your car like it's theirs and act like nothing is wrong? And to my amazement, there was "For Sale" written on every window along with a local phone number. I couldn't believe it! How could they do this?

We follow the car and I contact the police and provide the necessary information for them to pull the car over. I was informed by the operator to not follow the vehicle and let the police take care of it. I quickly retorted "If I stop following this car, I will never see it again in one piece!" Just at this moment, we spot a Dallas cop up the road just a bit. My buddy drops it a gear and begins to haul *** towards him. The cop turns his lights on and attempts to pull us over, but we pull on side of him and yell at him about the situation. We tell him to pull over my red coupe and he confirms. Just then, a red EM2 drives by to which the officer begins to follow and proceeds to pull over. Upon seeing this, I flip the **** out and continue to repeat to myself "it's gone, we had one chance and he just blew it!"

My coupe exits the highway and begins to take random routes as if to throw us off. We pull off to stop another officer on duty while my other friend continues to follow the car. He radios ahead to other officers to pull the car over once he approaches their area. Well, as luck would have it, my car takes another detour and never passed those officers. The car begins to stop off at some local shops, closed for the nite, to switch drivers and drop things off.

At this point, other vehicles are now following my buddy and I am trying to get back into chase and locate my car. My buddy is putting his DB8 through hell and back to make sure he does not loose sight of my coupe. Followed by a big F250 and Focus, my buddy does not allow them to pass, thinking they are trying to aid in the evading coupe. Flying around a corner, my coupe comes to a sliding stop in front of a Dallas cop and an undercover cop. Cornered by those two and the other F250 and Focus, which were undercover officers as well, he had nowhere to run. I pull up to see my car in one piece, stopped and safe. It brought a smile to my face.

I get in the car and inspect the damages. My WINK mirror has been taken. My JL/Alpine system has been taken out and replaced with a system comparable to **** sold at WalMart. For the most part, all is there and in relatively good condition. The officers arrest the young 18 year old Hispanic boy behind the wheel and let me drive the car off that nite. I get it home only to find out that they had put 8 quarts of oil in the motor and ragged the **** out of it.

I decide to keep it and try and rebuild it the best I can, but every time I got behind the wheel, it doesn't even feel like my car anymore. I cannot get around this fact and lose all interest in the car. I made the claim with insurance who totaled it out and paid me a whopping $4k for it. i removed my parts off it and kicked it to the curb.

Got me a new project with that cash and am ready for the next time I am cruising in my coupe.

Here are the pictures to accompany the read. I know it was long, but most Honda owners do not even get a chance to tell a tale such as this. I am one of the few.

 

looks badass bro at it's prime. sorry about ur lost..

 

sucks man. crazy how fast you found it on cl.

what alarm, if any, did you have on it?

 

wow interesting story

 

Good ol TX..those fools are peeling our cars left and right over here...

OP, I enjoyed reading your post about getting your car back...too bad you lost interest.

 

Oh I didn't lose interest in Hondas, just lost interest in that coupe. I have another project in the garage along with my daily Accord

Oh and there wasn't any aftermarket alarm on the red coupe.

 

siikk car bro..fukin thieves low life!

 

dope car, **** thieves!

 

thats a crazy story. Its cool your friends helped ya out too and the idiot who stole it and posted it up around the same area, that part makes me laugh. oh well the kid got what was coming to him.

 

Glad to see someone actually fight to get there car back.

I would of loved to see the thieves face when he got caught. Epic win.

 

Thanks!

Thanks!

Yeah, it amazes me how incompetent they were. My car was pretty well known around here so when it went missing, everyone was on the lookout.

Kid was ****ing astonished when he got snagged. I'm not about to just give up on that damn thing, especially after it was spotted again. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't change a thing. I built that thing from the ground up only to have some lowlife take it all away. Well, guess what, I took that **** back.

 

Damn nice to hear you found out your car!!!

 

 

Nice story.

 

dope *** story and u lucky foool! lol

 

Did you press charges against the kid?

 

the same thing happened to me, but my ex girl freind and some wanna be thugs took my civic hatch. i ended up getting my car back too. but they changed the wheels and tried to take the stereo system. F@CK THIEVES!!!!

 

Glad you recovered it.

Sorry to hear you let it go.

After over a year from the recovery, I am starting to feel like my hatch is actually my hatch again.

Definitely sucks, but I still love it.

 

Yeah, sometimes if you want things done right, you gotta do it yourself. It was definitely a ride I will never forget. But I haven't lost my passion for the game, and that's what matters.