ZDriver.com - RIP Homer... story of a car

This thread isn't about the specific make/model of the car... it's about A car. it could have been a chevette, a skyline, a mustang... it's the passion that we have for our cars that is what it's really about. keep tabs on your stuff if you really love it (GPS trackers, etc).
And it shows what ultimately happened to my car...

Cars, to the general public, are a simple mode of transportation. They amentities aid in the travel and make things that much more comfortable.

For car lovers, a vehicle can be a family member. Our vehicles can give us grief, can make us smile, they cost a lot of money, but can also generate money. They gripe about being pushed too hard, they pur when they are treated properly.

My CRX, dubbed "Homer", started life first, as a 1989 Honda CRX Si, purchased in the fall of 1999. The CRX was my first manual. Years prior, Brenda had taught me some basics, but I didn't get the hang out of it until the night I drove it to work for the first time. It was a 10mile trip to and fro, and I learned on the way. I stalled a lot. The CRX would be later dubbed Homer for it's compulsive behavior to not run right.. and it was yellow.

Homer's life would be cut short, three weeks after I got a fresh new paint job on him, when a truck would pull out in front of me and I tee-boned him. Homer was a complete write-off. Months later after driving my newly acquired Maxima, I began looking for another CRX to put the heart and soul of Homer into. I strolled onto a 1990 CRX HF which a guy was selling cause his wife rear-ended a truck. It was white, and the hood was crumpled, but other than that, looked good.

Over the next few weeks, I would transport everything from old Homer into new Homer. I spent countless hours wrenching on the two cars to get everything transferred over, along with Eric's help in dealing with some of the larger tasks.

Old Homer was never really a "race" car, per se. I raced it a handful of times at an autocross and a drag strip, but it was far from spectacular.

Celso waving me on at one of my very first autocrosses, during an autocross at Texas Station, 7/11/99.

Homer, always with it's hood up, 2/5/00.

The new Homer would have a purpose. To be built as a solid Autocross car, with the ability to be taken to an open track event, and do ok at drag racing. I began removing anything I didn't need from the car, heater controls, ac, carpet, etc, etc, etc. then we took it to an autocross to see how it would do:

Eric racing Homer, 1/16/01

Over the next few years, I would work on making the car handle better, make it faster, and learn how to drive the car to the limit. I would enroll in several "High Performance Driver's Education" (HPDE, aka Open Track) to see how well I could handle high speeds.

Las Vegas Speedway Autocross, 2001

Then, Homer would experience his next paint job. Prowler Yellow was the choice, and Maaco was more than willing to take my $300 to have him sprayed. I would also make some more minor changes, mainly cosmetic (like removing the tint)

Las Vegas Region Call Show (To get more people to autocross), 2001;; the tape was to keep the headlamps aligned, as I didn't have the tabs on the headlamps to properly mount them!

Las Vegas Speedway Autocross, 2/17/02
Texas Station Autocross, 7/7/02
Texas Station Autocross, 8/4/02
Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 9/22/02

Eventually, I would start taking safety as a serious subject and installed a rollcage. This would help allow me to race it on a road course at higher speeds without the fear of killing myself...

http://thekam.com/images/interior/cage/driver.JPG
Rollcage

Video of me taking a lap around SMMP
Autocross set up at SMMP

As always, I tried to keep the car clean for each race, in case any photographers were around to snap some pictures. As luck would have it, during one such autocross, I was approached by Grassroots Motorsports magazine and they wanted to feature my car in an upcoming issue. Me, seeing that the fruits of my labor were being identified by others, was more than happy to share.

LVMS Autocross, where I was approached for an article

GRM Page1
GRM Page2
GRM Page3
GRM Page4

I was always ok with letting people drive my car. It gave me an opportunity to help people see that Hondas can be made to perform and be a very fast "Racecar". It was also a way to get feedback about the car... if it's pushing too much or not enough.

Ray Berlo or Spencer driving Homer, 12/1/02

Fabrizio Leone driving Homer, 3/9/03

Between 2004 and 2006, I slowed down a bit on Autocross and began to focus more on open track days. The speeds were higher, passing was allowed, and it was more of a challenge to both the car and me. Autocross benefitted Homer much better than track days. Track days allowed other cars to stretch their legs... which Homer didn't have a lot of. A friend and I also came up with this weird challenge to see who could build a car that could do drag racing, autocross, and time trials... thus came about the BALLS Challenge.

SMMP during the 1st BALLS Challenge, 9/25/04

http://thekam.com/images/racing/2004...urse, 11/03/04
CalSpeedway, NASA TT-D, 3/14/05
CalSpeedway, NASA TT-D, 3/14/05; I took 1st in my class both days.
http://thekam.com/images/racing/20050430.gif
SMMP, see my head tilting? 4/30/05

SMMP #2, drive those curbs, 4/30/05

During the spring of 2006, I thought it was high time that I got Homer a new face lift, going with a color scheme i saw of another guy's CRX... yellow with black hood, roof, and trunk. Prep took about a two-three weeks, while the engine was being rebuilt to push the car at a much higher rate of speed. This tear down would be the most costly, but also the most ambitious, as I was shooting for a very stout 200whp in a car that weighed under 2000lbs, as well as make it look like a prize fighter.

Homer was torn down again, and stripped of his essentials.

Being torn down, 2006

Doorless, 2006

A friend offered to paint Homer in his garage, if I paid for the materials and helped with prep.

Being towed to the "paint shop"

http://thekam.com/images/rebuild/crxtowlean.jpg
Doorless, 2006

After:
http://thekam.com/images/cars/CRXBIKE_GOOD.jpg
Sunrise Mountain, 2006

And some race shots of Homer dressed in his Sunday best.

LVMS, 6/10/06

BC Police Lot, Autocross, 6/11/06

http://thekam.com/images/racing/20060609.jpg
Drag Strip, 6/9/06, yes that's Mike's pimp Z behind me.

and the last track day I had with him:

http://thekam.com/images/racing/20061028_edit.jpg
SMMP, 10/28/06

Then... some rapists took him... doing what they pleased with him...and then kicking him to the curb (and next to a fire hydrant in hopes it got towed quickly).

The Aftermath:
http://thekam.com/images/exterior/homer_jacked.jpg
http://thekam.com/images/exterior/homer_jacked2.jpg

I did what I could do to keep him from being molested from thieves. I did my best to avoid the street races, and other high crime places that would grab the wrong attention...Over the eight years that I've had a CRX, building this car from pretty much nothing, into what was a Magazine Feature, a competitive race car, an underdog in the realm of racing, to almost iconic in it's ability to perform...
Some people have cars as a form of Transportation... Homer was a child I nurtured for eight years. I've lost him....

So long Homer, the CRX...
http://thekam.com/images/exterior/homer_jacked3.jpg
indeed. (the thieves wrote that).