It's a tough act to follow. Building a show car that looks unlike anything you have ever seen would challenge all but a few master builders. Karem Banna's original 1991 Mitsubishi 3000 GT had existed as a rep's demo car for many years, featuring an installation done by the owner, a seasoned installer in a previous life. When Banna took a position as the national car audio product manager for Panasonic's Canadian operation, his pride and joy was a bit out of place since it did not feature a single piece of his new employer's product. The choice was to either put the old chariot out to pasture or "nuke and pave," creating a new feature vehicle. Banna went with the latter.
The idea of a new show car hyped Banna, but with his new job he would have no time to do the work himself. Instead he called Mobile Dynamics' Special Projects section at the school's new Toronto campus. Instructor/fabricator Dwayne Virag took on the project with the assistance of students looking for additional higher-level skills training. Part of the install also took place at the Audio Thunder car show in Toronto, where Virag and the students continued the complex build as a show feature. Banna knows what it takes to drive an installer to produce outstanding work, so he gave Virag a clean page to come up with a new design, and Virag used every corner of it!
New LookThe first challenge after gutting the old system was to create a new look for the car. With the fully molded body kit still in great shape, molding in some 2" fender flares to accommodate the wider tire package was all that was necessary. The roof was another issue-it was totally removed. The other major change to the upper body was to cut out the rear bulkhead and reverse the entire trunk lid so it opened "suicide" style using a pair of electric actuators. Last changes included shaving the door handles, moldings and hood trim, and adding a custom fuel filler door.
Turning a four-seater coupe into a two-seater cabriolet also required extensive interior modifications. Removing the rear deck, rear window and roof structure also removed a significant part of the chassis rigidity. The roof structure in any vehicle also serves as a rollover cage, so a replacement, fully functional roll bar was fabricated from 2 1/2" steel tubing. Unlike some cosmetic roll bars, this one is key to maintaining safety while reducing body flex and twist during cornering, but with an integrated look that lined up with the seat headrests.
Shaped To FitThe structure of the upper dash remained relatively unchanged, but a new custom center assembly was fabricated to house the dual Panasonic head units, one a conventional AM/FM/CD player with satellite radio tuner (CQ-C9901U) and the other a flip-screen LCD monitor (CQ-VD7001U). To accomplish this, the heater controls had to be relocated into the newly fabricated custom console. The Nintendo Gamecube also lodges in the console along with an Apple iPod interface with a shaped pocket to hold it flush with the console but within easy reach. A recess for the head unit's remote control is also formed into the console, which reveals a Phoenix Gold voltage monitor underneath whenever the remote is removed.
Show It OffBeing a demo vehicle, opportunities to show off product and keep the name prominent need to be exploited at every turn. With that in mind, an acrylic Panasonic logo was mounted in the door panel and backlit from inside the door. A form-fitted holder in each door keeps the wireless Nintendo game controllers housed when not in use. To top it off, one of the CY-V7100U 7-inch widescreen monitors is located in the back of each door. The door speakers are a pair of 5 1/4" Phoenix Gold components, with the woofers mounted in a fully sealed, custom-built enclosure within each door. This allows the speaker to perform more consistently and keeps the components safe from the elements. The tweeters are located in the dash. At the roofline above the conventional rear view mirror resides another LCD monitor dedicated to the rear camera, mounted in a custom-formed fiberglass housing.
Where It's AtWhile the front end of the vehicle holds a ton of cool tricks, the big business takes place in the back half. Immediately behind the front seats, a fiberglass cabinet houses a trio of Phoenix Gold Xenon 12" subs in a painted fiberglass baffle. The baffle was made using a strong but easily sanded compound created from fiberglass resin. Students in the Phase X Advanced Skills class named it "Polycrete," insisting it behaves like polyester resin and concrete at the same time!
Behind the subwoofer array, a welded amprack supports a Phoenix Gold Titanium 600.2 powering the subs, a ZX600 to supply the front speaker system and a ZX475 on the rear speakers. The 1" square steel tubing rack was finished and painted silver to accent the titanium-colored Phoenix Gold amplifiers. The amps don't sit directly on the steel frame but are mounted to a beveled and polished sheet of acrylic, edge lit with blue neon.
Directly behind the amplifiers in another fiberglass trim panel sits a pair of Phoenix Gold Titanium 1-farad capacitors, flanked on either side by recessed observation windows. Under one removable acrylic window is the DVD changer and Phoenix Gold fused distribution block powering the audio amplification system. The other window hides a Nitrous Express bottle powering the "horsepower-amplification system."
Spectators have plenty to look at. Aside from the LCD screens in the doors, two more in the rear area are positioned for outside viewing and suspended on custom fiberglass arms painted metallic silver. All screens share one thing in common: The screen's enclosure is "morphed" into the surrounding structure so it looks like a single piece.
Under CoversThe trunk lid was reversed to open backwards to continue the demonstration theme as a unique robotic "billboard." Twin electric actuators controlled by the alarm system's remote control raise the trunk lid into viewing position, revealing a 21-inch high definition Panasonic LCD monitor, mounted in another 1" steel tubing assembly and framed by more hand-sanded fiberglass trim panels. Below this massive screen are two Panasonic CJ-DA1600 5 1/4" coax speakers allowing for the presentation of a promotional video. On the backside of the HD screen is another 7-inch screen at eye level, again to keep spectators' eyes filled at all times and from all viewing angles. For non-show times, wind captured under the trunk lid and security both were concerns. Therefore, Virag created a fiberglass tonneau cover to make the roadster look like a classic race car.
The completed vehicle was prepped for a photo shoot before making the tours at shows such as SEMA and CES. Banna will be too busy to drive it, except on rare summer days when he can afford the time to spend touring people through the car. And Virag continues to train students on the techniques used in the construction of the vehicle, while thinking about the next "special project" at Mobile Dynamics.
TechBF GoodrichG-Force 265/30ZR19 tires19" Ikon wheelsStoptech brake upgrade packageTein one-piece coil over kitCustom leather-encased racing seats with a cam-lock activated 4-point racing harness
Driver ProfileKarem Banna started as a mobile electronics customer before becoming an installer, system designer and sales professional. His personal philosophy of "go big or go home" has earned him a lot of respect as a strong industry contributor. He chose the Mitsubishi 3000GT for his main demo car after being exposed to demo vehicles and exotics that were out of most people's financial bracket. Many car audio enthusiasts could afford this platform (which also exists as a Dodge Stealth), yet it's still unique enough to not be seen on every street corner. As a result, the most common question by spectators is, "What is it?" His last fill at a gas station took an hour-5 minutes to fill the tank and 55 minutes of showing it to everyone who mobbed the car. He plans on being late whenever he drives it, so it's a good thing his girlfriend has a sense of humor and a lot of patience. He offers special thanks to Keith Losier of Desired Customs for the body modifications and paint, and to Mobile Dynamics Car Audio School's Special Projects section in Toronto for the build.