Making Waves - 2005 Mini Cooper

Hawaii's Not Just Beaches and Sun, as This Mini Demonstrates

By Adam Douglas

Photography by Jason Uchima

The Hawaiian island of Oahu may be small, but it's deceptively rich in culture. Karl Kawachi's '05 Mini Cooper is similarly small and similarly deceptive. However, it's not culture that this Mini is hiding, it's sound. Repping both the state and its quality audio and fabrication work, Kawachi's Mini turns heads across Oahu.

To achieve his dream of creating a proper showcase for the island's talent, Kawachi tapped both the in-demand Chad Paredes of Extreme Audio Systems and veteran installer Earl Shimabukuro, who collaborated on the Mini. "Never having worked together before," Kawachi explains, "they both brought different ideas and techniques to the project." The result is the unique vehicle you see on these pages.

Driver Profile:
Karl Kawachi, who got into car audio in the early '70s when he managed a Muntz stereo store, stresses that although the Mini is not a daily driver, it was built to be like one. "One of the initial guidelines was it had to be a true demo vehicle," Kawachi says. "Anyone should be able to sit in the car without the fear that something was going to break." When in Honolulu, Kawachi drives the vehicle to shows. This is no trailer queen. "We are able to demo it anywhere. When doing long shows we just roll in, connect the two in-car power supplies to an outlet, and we're ready to go." Of course, alternate arrangements will have to be made when the Mini goes off-island.