2 years flew by way too fast. Boy, a lot has happened since my last post. Life is running its course, and changes are always a part of it. I had so much planned for the Focus, all of which would have been documented here. Unfortunately, in June of 2018, a year after my last post, I was involved in what I thought was a minor accident.
Even a year later, it still hurts to write this. Forget the money, all the memories that left with Roslyn are what hurt man. Hurt more than my last breakup LOL. The car was coming along perfectly too. Here’s the story of the last year with it:
After my last post, in August of 2017, I went to two car shows. The first was Raceworz on August 12th in Sacramento as part of the Redemptionz crew who older readers would recognize as the same crew who threw some crazy car meets in Chico. Well, I mainly went to hit the drags, and the Focus did well! I was able to get a 14.09 with a trap speed of 102.2. That was the only run I got in because I had a Sam Hunt concert to go to. The fact that I was able to hit the drags, then drive it straight to a concert was exactly why I modified the car the way I did. I absolutely gapped the RX7 I went up against!
A week later, I took it to the Willows Car Show for the second year in a row and came home with a 2nd place trophy! Honestly, I feel that I could have come away with 1st, and that’s what the consensus was with the people. However, I watched the judges. They hardly looked at my car nor examined the mod list I made below.
Geez, that list got really extensive. Anyway, they went right to Mitsubishi Evolution next to me (Which the owner had admitted to me was almost all stock.) and stayed there for a while. They gave him the first. It’s cool though, sometimes biases happen. Regardless, I was happy for the guy and was happy I got some more trophies for Rossy!
Around that same time, a huge achievement was finally met. I was able to secure a magazine feature alongside Bill from Official ThreeTwenty! S3 Tuner magazine let us tell the story about our ST drivetrain and body modifications. It was such a proud moment because every car guy dreams of gracing a magazine with the car they built with their own two hands.
Wow. Looking back, I did this. With the help of great friends of course, but I had to work hard to do this. 2 years later and I’m still in awe.
After buttoning every little issue up, it ran so well that I took it to Thunderhill Raceway for a few track days back in January of 2018.
Form and function all came together so well. It looked great and ran FAST! There was a kid in a Mustang that day that COULD NOT keep up with me haha. He was shocked a family sedan was smoking him not only on the corners, but straights as well. He came by my paddock and asked me what had been done to it, and I told him about everything! It was such a great day with familiar faces from the ST/RS group and even friends and family that came by as well.
Around this time, I had also picked up a new project. A 1996 Ford Bronco! Yes, I know, it looks just like the one OJ Simpson used in that infamous chase. Hence why we just call it OJ now haha.
I was also working a new job with Hart Farms. It was local which was nice but the pay wasn’t as great as being over the road. So I decided to go back to Aggressive, which was my original job. The old boss was more than happy to have me back. I bring this up because in the time between switching jobs, I had a few days of time off from any work.
On one of those days, I headed to Chico for a day of getting some stuff to prepare to go over the road, and grab some grub with friends. Once you enter Chico via highway 32, there are a series of traffic lights right by Boot Barn. As I was coming up to the second of three lights, I saw there was a line of cars starting to move forward as both lights were green in unison. I was at the very end of the line. Well, as I made my way forward, I got distracted and at the very same time, someone at the front of the line slammed on their brakes. This caused the entire line to do the same, however I didn’t on time. This sent me into the Jeep in front of me. Everyone was okay. Not even a scratch on anyone. The cars all did their job in protecting everyone. My car looked the way it did in the first picture above. The Jeep only had a scratch on the rear bumper. That was it. That’s why my hood looks like it was hit from above, because it was. My car pretty much went under the Jeep, which is what one would expect to happen with a lowered car vs a lifted SUV.
I was in a daze. My car was written off by the insurance company and it went for auction. Believe me when I say, we desperately tried to get it back. Lost the auction by $50 if I recall correctly. Just like that, the car was gone. I stripped what I could and it was picked up mid-June. The Bronco was my daily now, and super expensive to drive with California gas prices. People were asking what my next car would be. I had so many in mind. All were rear wheel drive too. However, I had debt, and a lot of it. So I told myself that by 2019, I would be debt free. That’s exactly what I did. By January 2019 I was 100 percent debt free!
In January, I got a super random notification on Instagram. By random, I literally mean it in the truest sense of the word. I had been tagged in a photo with the hashtag “ST7” and some Russian text right after. At least, it looked Russian to me. Well, it turns out, a man by the name of Sergey in the Ukraine bought my old car and wanted to let me know she was in good hands!
If you want to continue to follow the build, follow Sergey on Instagram at @turbomah. It makes me happy to see the car in a better state than when I last saw it. She’s looking very good!
Since January, I’ve picked up two cars. The first was a 1994 Volkswagen GTI with a VR6 and a 5 speed manual. Unfortunately it didn’t work out because the car didn’t want to run after I had it completely apart. I lost a lot of money on it, but you win some, and you lose some.
Around January, I had a really bad anxiety attack while on the road. The loneliness was getting to me. I love my job, I really do. However, I’m not built to be alone 6 out 7 days a week. It gets to you after a while. It was then that I decided to go back to school. The last time I was attending, I did so bad that I got kicked out for a semester for poor grades. After re-applying and getting everything approved, I was able to go back! During the semester, driving the Bronco every day was getting super expensive. So we looked for anything we could get as a beater daily. Well, about a month ago, we found this. A 2002 Honda Accord LX.
Was it my first choice? No, not even top 20. But I’m grateful. It’s a car that runs very well for being almost 18 years old. A/C works, all the electronics do as well, and it has a J series V6. It’s got some grunt! Today, I write this a few days after the semester is over. I’m all caught up with this story. I’m happy to announce that my first semester back came with success!
A’s and B’s! I’m super happy and I can’t wait for next semester! I plan on entering the engineering program at a university that I choose within the next year. In terms of the Honda, I do plan on modifying it. No doubt about it! I have a list already that I need to complete before August. Why August? Well, I plan on visiting the homies up in Calgary for another Illmotion Sunday School weekend. Or week. We’ll see hehe. That’s all for now! I do plan on updating the site more often now. The Bronco may see updates, and the Honda for sure. Have a great week, and Godspeed!
-Jose
FiveThirty 