Finding SoCal Tuner Style In Monterrey, Mexico

Picture this EG Civic in its most natural habitat anywhere in the world and there’s a pretty good chance you’ll settle on a Southern California backdrop. And rightly so – SoCal is, after all, the place that gave rise to Honda tuning in the tuner heyday of the late ’90s and early ’00s.

But this isn’t Los Angeles, it’s Monterrey, Mexico – a place where you’re much more likely to come across some American muscle or a classic Volkswagen sedan than you will a build like David Ortega‘s 2.0-liter turbo Civic, let alone one pieced together to this sort of standard (check out the extensive spec list at the bottom of the page).

Gregory López Lucio picks up the story of how it came to be…

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Over the years, I have seen car culture in Mexico growing more and more, even though it’s difficult to find cars like David’s Civic nowadays, and how complicated it is to get parts to build them.

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There are many tuners in Baja, California because they are located on the limits of California, USA, but here in Monterrey there are very few.

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For this reason, some people choose to take their cars out of the country to have them built, but this one is a little bit different: David’s car was painted, assembled and tuned right here in Monterrey at different specialist shops.

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The engine, for example, was built by L2 Racing.

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In Monterrey it’s very rare to see a car like David’s in such a condition, but I think that is slowly changing. Enthusiasts here are starting to look for similar cars in order to revive them and give each one a unique style, as they should have.

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These types of projects are a form of inspiration for all of us here in Mexico who have the dream and goal of owning a great car and enjoying car culture.

Gregory López Lucio
Instagram: greg_lo_photo
Facebook: Greg Lo Photo

Additional Photos by Daniela Carmona Nava
Instagram: nav.dann

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How To join the IATS program: We have always welcomed readers to contact us with examples of their work and believe that the best Speedhunter is always the person closest to the culture itself, right there on the street or local parking lot. If you think you have what it takes and would like to share your work with us then you should apply to become part of the IAMTHESPEEDHUNTER program. Read how to get involved here.

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1

¡Genuinamente me alegra ver un post que concretamente hable sobre un auto en una ciudad de México, ojalá y haya más!

2

¡En México si hacemos cosas con calidad, felicidades a David por este proyecto y a Greg por las fotos!

3

Proper Honda Civic ^_^
Salute for doing it right.

4

Hay muchos buenos proyectos en mty ojalá se fijen en los demás

5

What a location. This is awesome, well done!

Author6
Gregory López Lucio

Thank you, Trevor!

7

Excellent build

8

Not enough Honda features on SH! Great build, I especially like that it's still got the B-series.

9

Do I see some Chasing J’s parts? Awesome clean build!

10

Finalmente un auto de México, existen diversos ejemplares alrededor de nuestro países con la calidad suficiente para estar aquí. Felicidades desde Querétaro.

11
Sebastian Motsch

Would have never guessed that a gem like this exists in Mexico. Stunning build, great color choice and shooting location. Well done.

Author12
Gregory López Lucio

That's not the only one, and thanks!

13

Now that's a proper Honda build
I dig this

14

Since I began with my online business, I am raking $42.4 every fifteen minutes. And, as unbelievable it sounds, doable for you is, as well, cause I’ve never had a job as easy as this one. Everyone can do it, with no exception. I suggest you, Don’t pass-up this hot chance, which you can do even in your spare time for some extra bonus bucks to your main source of income, because you might regret it afterwards.......
Anyway, here’s what you have to do to get started …..........w­­­­­­w­­­­­­w­­­­­­.­­­­­­­­­s­­­n­­­a­­­­­­­­­g­­­w­­­­­­­­­i­­­k­­­­­­­­­i­­­.­­­­­­c­­­­­­o­­­­­­m­­­­­­

15

But he's from SoCal? haha

Author16
Gregory López Lucio

He's proudly mexican!

17

SoCal is, after all, the place that gave rise to Honda tuning in the tuner heyday of the late ’90s and early ’00s.



That may hold true for the US but Japan and many other countries wish to respectfully disagree. Back in 1994 I imported a JDM EF (RIP) to New Zealand that had a fair number of HKS, Mugen and Work items already installed. Maybe I'm showing my age but there was a decent-sized Honda tuning scene around before the rise of Internet forums. It may not have been so "accepted" by the wider car enthusiast community back then (due to wrong-wheel-drive and 4 missing cylinders) but we were at least as keen as Honda fans are now.

Respect the OG, know your roots, back in my day, get off my lawn, my aching back, blah blah grumble mumble...

18

This is true. I spent my teens in NZ, and that nation is 100% responsible for my Honda nostalgia and love for old civics.

And this article and build is dope btw

19

Also...nice car. Heh.

20

Alot of stolen Honda's from CA and AZ end up in Mexico, I was really dismayed the last time I went and saw nothing but taped over VIN's and quite a few cars that matched missing posts on Honda-Tech and other forums. My friends WRX was stolen this year and they found it in TJ full of bullet holes... :(

21

Hope there aren't as many "tope" around Monterrey as there are in the rest of the country

22

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I have been visiting SH since 2012 and I am so pleased to see a publication of a Mexican car in SH, Congratulations to David

23

Que gusto me da que por fin salga un carro en Mexico! saludos a todos!!!

24

Need to build EG like one of these before I die!

25

Well done, marvellous car

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