2007. El Paso, TX.

I was 16 years old and got my license to drive on my own without an adult. My grandpa gave my dad his old 1978 Mercedes-Benz so it was the only extra car we had for me to drive. That was my first car. I’m not going to lie to you, I was kind of ashamed of that car because it was old and it did not look cool at all.

I started looking online for Hondas because I just loved them and I’ve seen them lowered on aftermarket wheels. It was probably one of the most modified cars back then as it is now. I wanted an Acura Integra. Here’s why.

In my early teenage years, my parents owned a red 1993 Acura Integra. My mom, sister and I were driving to a friend’s house and got T-boned by an old guy who tried to beat us across the street. I can’t think of how he managed to hit us versus us hitting him because he had a stop sign while the road we were driving on was a main traffic road. Long story short the car got totaled because the frame was bent on the driver’s side. The Fire Fighters had to use the Jaws of Life to get my mom out.

There is a long road in El Paso called Alameda. If you want to find a used car, you cruise down this road and skim through all the inventory that the many used car dealers have parked in their lots. I don’t know how it is now but every time I wanted to look for a used car, that’s where I started.

Online, I found this 1996 Acura Integra LS for sale at a used car dealership on Alameda. I did what every 16 year old probably has done and calculated how much I thought payments would be before telling my parents so that I could answer that question we all know they ask. I didn’t know anything about how loans worked. I told my dad about the car and was so excited but my dad had to kill it for me. Here’s how my dad is.

What year is it? How many miles does it have? Did you check the Carfax? Has it been in a car accident? Is it a flood damaged car? What are the reviews of that car dealership?

If you want to do something exciting in life, don’t tell your parents. What seemed like a possibility, quickly became something impossible. Additionally, all the things he worried about, made me worried about things too. So even when I got the car, it wasn’t that exciting! Spoiler, he got the car for me. It was really exciting. I was so happy!

I had so many things I wanted to do to it. I envisioned it having a carbon fiber hood and trunk with a black roof. I wanted coilovers and wheels. I wanted the Type-R style spoiler. I wanted angel eye headlights. A sound system. You know how you get so excited about something you constantly think of it and everything you would do with it. My used’ly new car was going to be my sweet import tuner. I love JDM, yo!

I owned the car until around 2011, when I passed it down to my brother. I only got the Type-R style spoiler, a $600 paint job, a Mugen replica lip, amber side markers, a Password JDM Whale *****, coilover sleeves and Rota Circuit 8s. I also graduated high school, joined the Air Force and bought an s2000. When my brother got it, he crashed it so I went half-sies on a JDM front end conversion and I bought him a weighted shift ****.

Fast forward to 2018. I’m living in Colorado Springs driving a rear wheel drive 2007 BMW 328i. It’s snowing so I ask my parents to trade cars with me so I can at least have a front wheel drive car during winter. My Integra was stolen from me in my ghetto apartment complex.

When I first got her, I was so happy. I immediately cleaned it up because I wanted to be proud of having this car. In the glove box I found an old registration paper from the previous owner. Her name was Christina.

Christina: 1996 Acura Integra

2012


2012


2012


2012 Nighttime Sisters with Pre-Good Camera Phones


2012 Golden Hour at a Random Warehouse


2012 Pre-Car Meeting a Car Meet


2009 Graduation Day


2012 Cruise


2012 Cruise


My little brother crashed.


We went half-zies on a front end conversion.


We went half-zies on a front end conversion.








Trying different styles of wheels.


Trying different styles of wheels.


Trying different styles of wheels.

 

I've always liked those JDM front integras. Another one I liked was the 94-97 regular front with the SiR-G urethane front lip. I had that on my 1997. It was a good alternative to the 98-01 front end conversions everybody and their moms did.