BENNY'S EM1 | THE UNIQUE PURPLE COUPE

 

Benny's EM1 is truly a statement ; how often do you see a midnight purple EM1? Inspired by his family's automotive background, he has grown to love the 90's Civics, and now, we are here to see the build turn into a reality.

 

 

Who are you, and what do you drive?
 
Hi guys I’m Benny, left the British army 4 years ago to move to sunny Sydney. I drive a 99 EK EM1 Civic. I’ve always loved the coupes over the hatch. Mostly because they are less popular and you don’t see as many, I like to be unique, I mean how many midnight purple EM1’s have you seen?

 

How did you get into cars? Tell us your early inspirations and how the passion that you have today was formed. Feel free to reference cars you admire, friends and family that steered you along the way, games and movie franchises!
I grew up around cars my whole life with my family being involved in Motorsport, I’ve been raised at tracks and around cars ever since I can remember, even had a stint at racing karts myself. My grandma even dated a very well known F1 driver…all be it very briefly. My uncle and my grandfather though were my biggest car influences for sure. My grandad was a car collector, his pride and joys to name a few would be his Red 1984 Porsche Carrera, Rolls Royce Silver Shadow and loved his old Jags. My uncle loved his Fords, I particularly remember his white Ford MK4 XR3i and Ford Escort RS Cosworth. My uncle and I would always play racing games growing up too with a full steering wheel and pedal setup to try make it as realistic as possible!

How did we end up with the vehicle that we’re shooting today?


My Civic actually holds a lot of sentimental value to me as I was actually going through a massive set back in my personal life when this car became available for purchase, I wasn’t even looking to buy a new car, but I have ALWAYS wanted a Civic Coupe from the 90’s of which I grew up in. It’s something that had just always called to me as such an iconic car from the 90’s and of course made even more famous by the Fast and Furious movie all though it was the previous shape, people still reference that movie to my car. So when I saw it I knew I had to have it, it came into my life at that time for a reason.

 

 

What is the favourite part about your car right now? It can be cosmetic, performance, an experience, or even a memory that you want to share here.

 

My favourite thing about my car is that no matter where I go it always seems to turn heads and cause people to come up to me and just admire it and talk to me about it. Even stopped in traffic with the window down or people walking past or at car meets, it always gets attention, despite it being “just a civic” the love that people have for these cars is like nothing else I’ve experienced owning a car. So my favourite thing is actually that other people enjoy it aswell as myself.

 

 

Do you have any future plans or a particular thing/modification you want to do with it in the future?
As far as future modifications go there are a few things in the pipeline mainly power/performance orientated. But for now just enjoying it as a stock B series is fun. My new wheels are finally ready to go on now after roughly 3 months waiting, so you guys might want to do another shoot with BENNYY, who knows.

What is the one piece of advice you’d give to someone who is starting their modification journey for the first time?


The biggest advice I could give to anyone starting out modifying there car for the first time would be to just be true to yourself and be creative. Build your vision, no one else’s, sure other people’s build might influence you in some aspects, but build something that represents you, that you enjoy, do it for yourself, and take pride in it.

 

 

Quickfire Questions

 

Dream 3 Car Garage

 

Dream car garage in no particular order:

  1. 1967 Fastback Mustang
  2. Mclaren P1
  3. FD RX7

 

Favourite Fast & Furious Character

Fav F&F character would be Roman Pierce, he’s simply just so funny, plus I can relate, I’m always eating too.

 

You can only spend money on EITHER looks or performance, which one will you choose and why?

 

If I could ONLY spend money on one thing either looks OR performance, I would have to say performance, as much as I do like my car to look good, it’s all about the driving experience and track days for me. So performance would just edge it for me.

 

First Mod on a New Car

 

The very first modification I always do first is the exhaust, I have always loved my cars or Bikes to sound really good! I’m always known for having one of the loudest cars or bikes hahaha.