It’s Not Fast…..NOT!

I met James a couple months ago through another friend (Cory). We went to his house to visit and check things out and I actually ended up wiring up his new radio to put in the car. He never got around to starting the car because he was still doing some work on it, so a live introduction would have to wait.

I have always been a fan of static dropped cars that can’t make it over pebbles in the road, but after seeing the motor in this thing and hearing about the power it was putting out, I knew I had to set up a shoot and get a ride in it!

I reached out to James through Cory after we left to let him know I wanted to shoot the car once it was “ready”.

That time finally came last weekend!

While I waited for James to wash the car, I picked his brain to gather some details about it. I knew it was a 2003 Mitsubishi Evo VIII and that I wired the aftermarket radio to put in it, but that’s about it. He rambled off details about the motor and drive train, that pretty much went in one ear and out the other. I was too giddy and excited. I just wanted to get in and experience it!

The shots are below followed by the details/specs of the car. Enjoy!

ENGINE

  • 600whp on low boost (30psi), 750-800whp capable
  • 2.0L half epoxy filled and O-ringed block
  • Carrillo Pro H-beam rods
  • Manley 11.5:1 gas ported forged pistons
  • Kurt Brown ported head with Kiggly high PSI springs, retainers
  • GSC S3 cams
  • ARP 625 head studs
  • Skunk2 ported intake
  • Boomba 75mm throttle body
  • Garrett GTX3582R .82AR T3
  • Tial MV-R 44mm wastegate, Tial 50mm BOV
  • ETS 4.5” core intercooler
  • 3.5” stainless downpipe, 3” aluminum exhaust

FUEL

  • Runs on E-85
  • Dual Walbro 450 E-85 in tank pumps
  • Bosch 2200cc injectors

DRIVELINE

  • Exedy triple disk HD clutch
  • TRE stage three 5 speed, 4:11 final drive, Evo VIIII first gear
  • TRE non-ACD transfer case with factory LSD
  • TRE rear differential, 12plate max-lock, HD ninja side cover

All fabrication and assembly done by the owner, James!

The Secret GOAT

A co-worker’s Father had been working on restoring his 1969 Pontiac GTO for over 20 years. About four years ago, she told me she would let me know when it was completed to have me take some photos of it.

He ended up finishing it in 2014 and she got around to pinged me at the end of August to see if I could do an impromptu shoot over the Labor Day weekend. I checked my calendar, and didn’t have anything going on that Saturday, so we got it on the calendar. The shoot was to take place in the morning at the Packard Proving Grounds in Shelby Township, MI.

There was one catch though…

He was going to be out of town for the Labor Day weekend, which meant, he didn’t know I was going to be taking photos of his car! He also didn’t know his daughter and wife would be sneaking the car out of the garage to get it to the shoot location.

I hadn’t done any automotive photography in over a year, so I was excited to shake the dust off of that part of my hobby. I pulled into the Packard Proving Grounds at 8:45 AM Eastern on September 3rd. The GTO wasn’t there yet, so I started to walk around the grounds to figure out some locations to use. I didn’t get that far into my search when the GTO pulled up.

It was at that point I felt like I was participating in something “illegal”. The urge to get going as fast as possible to get it over with as fast as possible came over me. I didn’t want the car to be outside any more than it had to be, given the circumstances. I took some deep breaths, calmed down, and got to shooting.

Hitting up a couple different locations on the grounds, a couple hours later, this is what turned out.

…and the owner himself holding his birthday gift!