BURNING $75,000 ON MY CHILDHOOD DREAM CAR *JDM INTEGRA TYPE R*

It doesn’t have to make sense, to make sense – does that make sense?

I’m talking about buying a 1996 Honda Integra Type R off craiglist for $17,000 then immediately dumping $58,000 into it to revisit your childhood dream car. That is exactly what we just did (worth it).

When I was 18, I bought a 1991 Acura Integra RS. It was black, low kms and had a manual transmission – setting me back $6500. This was April 2001, adjusting for inflation – that’s $9,730 in today’s money. I had no money left for modifications but then on June 18, 2001 The Fast & The Furious came out – after that fateful night, I had no choice but to make this car insanely fast. That’s right, I bought a cold air intake.

While I was loving my 2nd gen integra, there was always one car that I was obsessed with – the JDM Integra Type R! Those one piece headlights, the massive wing, the creamy Championship White Paint. I was obsessed. I knew I’d have to wait until 2011 to import one as Canada has a 15 year import rule (beats the US 25 year rule). I was able to buy a 2001 USDM ITR in 2006 after working my way up the ladder at Pizza Hut to Restaurant General Manager. Sadly, my 30k a year a salary didn’t align with the $600 car payments – so after 6 months I had to say goodbye.

Flash forward 15 years in the future and I’m FINALLY in a position to make my teenage dream car come true!

I found this 1996 Honda Integra Type R on craiglist in Vancouver, BC listed for $20,000. After a test drive, we got the seller down to $17,000 as the car needed a lot of work.

Taken the day we test drove this 1996 JDM ITR

Once we had the car in our possession, the first step was to tear it down and send the car to Fastrack Autobody for a full paint job. At first we were just going to paint a few panels and polish the rest – but then decided we needed to go all the way. A full paint job took place over 4 weeks.

In the meantime, Ray at SR Auto ordered us every single SPOON part available. Even some parts that were impossible to find, Ray found. The Spoon bill alone was $36,000 and worth every single penny!

Once the car was back from paint, the final assembly took place. Watch below for the final reveal!