This 1994 Honda Civic might look extra terrestrial, but phone home to Holly Hill, FL, if you want to see what you get when you take a Honda, add parts from Nissan and Ford, and incorporate style from the Dodge Magnum with a Roadster feel. It might be a car manufacturer CEO's worst nightmare; but, to car enthusiasts, it's a dream. Built to promote Metra products at trade shows and events, this once purebred Honda Civic, now automotive maker hodgepodge, is a showcase vehicle that will make jaws drop whether or not you're a Metra fan. Jeremy Carlson and a team of installers spent about six months and approximately $100,000 converting this automobile into a platform for audio and video equipment with unparalleled creativity.
Most Hondas on the import scene sport a carbon-fiber hood as an upgrade as if it were part of an import initiation. A carbon-fiber hood would not do the trick for Carlson's Honda. Taking it to the next level, a custom hood was fabricated and implanted with four acrylic windows by Carlson and Frank Paolillo giving it a race-like look. Peeking through the hood inserts, you immediately notice something different about this Honda. There is no Honda engine! Taking the place of the 4-cylinder 102hp engine is a 7hp, 48-volt electric engine. Carlson decided to get rid of the Honda engine in order to acquire additional space needed for the subwoofer enclosure mounted to the firewall. Additionally, four Tsunami X151700 batteries that power the audio system found their way under the hood along with two JBL PX300.4 amplifiers. The hood piece that holds the equipment was built by Metra's Tom Reece.
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Generally, when audio enthusiasts are designing an audio system the last thing that comes to mind is modifying the vehicle's entire drivetrain. Then came along Carlson's Civic. Representing JBL as a sponsor, Carlson wanted to use the Civic's firewall as a main platform for the superabundance of drivers from JBL's GTI & GTO. Maximum space was needed as he planned to install two W10GTI 10" subwoofers along the firewall that would fire into the vehicle's cabin. The large magnet structures and enclosure space requirements prompted Carlson to seek air space salvation in the engine compartment. To free up enough space for the audio equipment, Carlson with the help of Scott Palmieri and Chris Crisali completely gutted the engine compartment and ripped out the Honda drivetrain (only an audio guy, right?). As a replacement drivetrain, Carlson and Brent McCall of Metra as well decided to use a 7 hp, 48-volt electric engine giving him more than enough space for his grandiose design. The sealed subwoofer enclosures hover over the car's new drive train and are seam sealed to the firewall that's been beefed up by 1" x 1" box steel. Utilizing every inch of the newfound space in the firewall, Carlson installed a pair of GTO804 8" midbass drivers and 6 1/2" midrange drivers from the 608GTI component set. A pair of fiberglass pods that hold Monkey Video MHRM7 7" LCD screens protects the assortment of drivers in the firewall. The factory dash was ditched for a custom fiberglass dash solely dedicated to audio. At each end of the dash is a set of 1" tweeters from the JBL 608GTI component set along with a center channel comprised of a 5 1/4" midrange and tweeter from the JBL C508GTI set. The design of the dash flows seamlessly down to each door that is home to a pair of 7" LCDs and a 17" LCD both provided by Monkey Video. Rear fill is provided by a pair of JBL C508GTI components located at the rear of the hatch.