Jean's Blog

If you can find it, pick up a copy of Import Racer's Feb. edition.  John's Integra is on the cover along with Mario Chan's Celica, and David Fotheringham's Scion.  All their photos were taken by Josh Mackey.

And if you run into one of these guys, tell them, "Nice work!"

Congrats guys on all of your hard work and commitment to your car and crew and good luck in 2006!

Wow!  John's in the Seattle P.I. (August 2nd, 2005) and he's mentioned as a member of Team Menace.  The article is in the Lifestyle section and it's called: Fully Loaded: More than racing fuels tuner passion.  So check it out!

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/lifestyle/234813_tuners.html

A look at the tuner car clubs, of which there are dozens in this area, reveals that many tuners have hung on since the dawn of the trend about 20 years ago.

A longtime fixture of the local tuner scene (organizing the first tuner show in town five years ago), John Morimoto says he's been fascinated with cars since he was 16 years old and living in Southern California: "I grew up around guys who were already involved in hot rods and there were a couple of guys getting into imports."

(Note: Morimoto was misidentified in the original version of this article.)

The Redmond physical education teacher bought a 1984 Toyota Celica in '85 or '86 for $1,000, and over the next couple of years spent about $7,000 in parts and labor to spruce it up.

"I lowered it, I put 16-inch wheels (pretty big wheels at the time), I did a dual carburetor setup (providing more horsepower), put in an exhaust and put in a nitrous oxide kit (mixing in with fuel system, again making the engine more powerful)," says Morimoto, sheepishly adding that "at the time, there wasn't much available for that car."

Morimoto, 36, now has a 1999 Acura Integra, which he bought for $18,000, new. Which would have been good enough for most people, but not for a tuner. John has spent roughly $35,000 on customizing the car. And yes, he does own his own home, and, yes, his parents do think he's crazy.

"Pretty much every single piece of the car has been modified: motor, interior, exterior, audio and suspensions." Morimoto, a member of the Team Menace car club, could do more, but he's not the flashy kind: "My style is that I like the hot rods that had a single-color paint job that's kind of a metallic, so mine is sky blue - no stickers, no logos.[Note: The original version of this article misidentified the team Morimoto belongs to.] The entire interior is redone in (synthetic) black suede."

From what Morimoto says, getting on the tuner scene as a teen was the best thing that could have happened to him

"This has definitely kept me out of trouble. I've never done drugs; I've never gotten into severe trouble. I went through college. I see it as a form of art, it's just my way of expressing what's inside my brain."