Christopher

At a very young age, Chris’ dad had brought home a 1972 Datsun 240Z, this car was certainly going to be a project, but the shape, smell and aura of the car is what drew him in. Growing up spending a lot of time in the garage with dad, learning how to turn wrenches on a pair of 240Z cars, as well as a Datsun 1600 Roadster created an Obsession with Datsun’s. Fast forward to high school and once he got his license, he drove his Orange S30 to school every single day. This car taught him so much about wrenching and in a way, life too. The almost pristine white interior, the stock wood grain wheel and shift knob, the very healthy L24, everything about this car was ideal for him to fall in love with. Sadly, the car was stolen from his driveway one night. After a week, that felt like an eternity, police found the car out in Palmdale down a ditch in the sand. The wheels were the only thing stolen, everything else was left alone. The thieves did decide to smash the quarter panels and crack the rear window. Once the car had returned home, Chris and his dad tore it down to just a shell, and it currently is sitting waiting to be brought back to life. Not long after the Orange car had returned home, Chris had found and purchased a Yellow 1970 ‘Series 1’ 240Z that he drove for the remainder of high school, throughout his schooling at UTI, and beyond graduation. That car is still around today and currently undergoing some routine maintenance for a 50 year old car. The spirit of that orange Z lives on with several parts having been transferred to this Series 1.

While Datsun’s have been the center of Chris' love for cars, the car that carried him through life has been the family's 1997 Toyota 4Runner. It's an SR5 RWD model, and it currently has over 500,000 miles on it, the exact number is likely well north of that, but no one knows for sure ever since the odometer stopped working a couple years ago. That car took Chris to school everyday, he drove it occasionally in high school and is STILL a car he drives often, because it simply just works. It is an absolute work horse, an excellent camping and road trip car. He once said that the 4Runner is actually one of the most meaningful cars in his life.

Chris' fast, fun, and daily driver is his black 2017 Chevy SS 6-Speed. A rare car that has understated styling, that occasionally can be confused with a same-era Malibu, but could not be farther from that economy car. And that is sort of the beauty behind the SS, a machine that appears mundane, until the throttle opens and the car comes alive with sheer force. In fact, Chris is the embodiment of that: A person who is calm and centered, then when it's time to pick up a wrench, not many can do it better. The SS is a re-badged Holden Commodore SSV, the most iconic performance sedan in Australia. Chris has swapped out his Chevy badges for correct Holden ones - he even has the steering wheel badge. An excellent machine in the canyons, despite its size, and a perfect freeway cruiser.