What is it that motivates someone to build a great car? Some might say that the motivation comes from their peers or even by the mere discovery of a rare part that they never knew existed. With this question in mind, we stop by Phoenix, Ariz., where Jason Buell happily tells us his journey of how his car went from just being a daily car to "The Mallard" it is today.
Jason had never intended to modify his Cypress Green Pearl Civic but an unexpected gift from his wife suddenly triggered his obsession. "She was online looking for a Christmas gift for me and somehow stumbled upon a Ferio badge for the car," Jason remembered. This Ferio badge sparked something in Jason, which caused him to develop a newfound love for the Civics' Japanese counterpart. He began searching aimlessly for everything that was Ferio-related but sadly, he came to the realization that his car was nothing compared to the Ferio. The Ferio would be his muse and his Civic, the slightly less-attractive sister. "There's nothing worse then having a brand new car you suddenly hate," Jason said.
That didn't discourage Jason into giving up on his car, in fact it encouraged him to build his Civic and make it special. What made it even more difficult back in 1998 was that the the Internet wasn't what it is today. While it was still useful, it was quite difficult for an enthusiast to find anything JDM or even of the Japanese variety. As if that wasn't bad enough, what was even more painstakingly difficult was getting those rare parts stateside once they were found. It took Jason two years of just collecting parts before anything found its way onto his Civic. According to Jason, "Some of the more rare parts I had stashed away, even before most of the kids nowadays had even seen them for the first time.
The initial phase of the build started with a first generation Mugen Ferio wing, JDM SiR front lip and EK9 front grille and headlights. Interior goodies included a SiR gauge cluster with EK9 carbon-fiber bezel and Spoon Sports Duracon shift knob. Jason then decided to give his car that proper stance so he called on Skunk2 for its dampers, camber kit and tower bars. It wasn't long before Jason also came to the realization that drum brakes went out of style in the late '60s. He called on his buddy Chris to help him swap in a set of Integra GSR rear disc brakes along with a Tanabe Sustec rear tie-bar for added chassis stiffening. No stance is proper without the right set of wheels so Jason added 205/50/R15 Falken Ziex tires with 15x7 Desmond Regamaster Evos.
The next stage of the buildup would prove to be more tedious but the results were definitely worth the miles traveled. Jason made calls to Password:JDM and JHPUSA in California to set up a road trip for him and his wife to go pick up some rare parts. Once there, the rented truck was loaded with brand new front and rear SiR bumpers, front grille, EK4 thin side moldings and assorted Mugen hardware. "The best part of the trip was paying the bellboys at the Hotel to unload the truck and take the parts to our room for safekeeping. They said it was the most unusual luggage they had ever handled."
Once they were back home, Jason unloaded all his newly bought goods into his garage and began working on the front and rear conversions. The interior was then meticulously disassembled, with each screw and bolt marked and labeled before the entire chassis was sent off to El Camino Custom Autobody in Phoenix to be completely resprayed.
"I call the color 'Mallard' Green, named after the car," Jason said. "If you want the color code, that's what I'll tell you with a straight face, then I'll laugh my ass off as you go on a wild goose chase looking for it. No pun intended."