David Huang’s VIP M35

Speed-Build

Although 2008 is the first year of many more to come in the collaboration between ShowOpt and Nissan North America, but the story behind this vehicle can be dated as far back as the SEMA show in 2007, when Huang was recruited by the James Bond of Nissan North America- Thomas Henry, a senior executive from the company whom at the time was dressed in disguised. Initially, Henry proposed the concept of having Huang build its upcoming xB Killer – the CUBE, for the 2008 SEMA show; however, after months of follow-ups, Henry found out that Nissan has decided to delay its debut till the 2008 L.A. Auto Show, which comes just weeks after the 2008 SEMA show. Therefore, Henry refer Huang to his peer- Richard J. Kulach, another senior executive from the manufacturer whom then assigned Huang’s agency for the 2008 SEMA show vehicle build.

After many revisions on the vehicle-build concepts, Kulach and ShowOpt had finally compromised on a common ground, thanks to ShowOpt’s in-house designer Daniel Lim as he put in hours of effort into the artwork and renderings; the goal for the M35 is to demonstrate its already strong Japanese VIP presence into the American Luxury market. With that in mind, Huang decided to seek further advice from his good friend Freddie Fernandez of AutoFashion USA, whom has over two decades of experiences with VIP style vehicles. Once that alliance was formed, the only thing ShowOpt & AutoFashion were waiting for was the actual project vehicle from Nissan North America, which wasn’t acquired by ShowOpt till mid-September of 2008.

Once the vehicle has arrived, there was no time to waste. ShowOpt decided to order Junction Produce aero styling & Quad-Exhaust from Japan that were air-freighted to the states; and for the body-coloring, ShowOpt partnered up with its title-sponsor MAZIORA of Nippon Paint from Japan to produce a (now ShowOpt Signature) color-shifting chameleon paint, which was mixed by its US-base lab- CDSA in Detroit. The bodywork & paintjob were completed by Kenny Xu of K&W Autobody, an authorized MAZIORA body shop in Southern California.

With exterior styling on the lock-down, ShowOpt got in touch with Eddie/Steve/Brian over at Mackin Industries to run a set of the latest 20” Volk Racing Wheel- the Progressive TS; the rims are wrapped in Falken 452 Series tires thanks to Robert Chew of Falken Tires Corporation. ShowOpt knew that to achieve the ultimate ride height in a VIP platform was to go with air suspension; thus they got in touch with Air Runner. Thanks to Shin, O.G. and the folks at Air Runner, the M35 runs a sick air suspension setup with electronic gauge and wireless controller.

AutoFashion suggested implementing their finishing touch in the interior with diamond double-stitch two-tone leather over-wrap and suede headliner; the interior was also touched-up by Beleza with their cinnamon floor carpet and VIP curtains.

With the help of Masaya Nishino of JP USA, ShowOpt got in touch with Kenji Sumino from GReddy which hooked up the VQ motor with their infamous Twin Turbo kit (originated from the 350Z configuration). Now with 400+HP cruising down the street, it would be wise for anyone that is driving this car to enjoy some quality sound to please thy ears. ShowOpt hit up its long-time partner in crime, SoundStream, for a full audio equipment layout; from navigation equipped head unit to speakers, amplifiers, subwoofers and monitors, SoundStream makes pretty much anything you can ask for in the word of In Car Entertainment.

So there you have it, a project that usually takes an enthusiast up to a year or longer to complete, was built from start to finish in 40 days; but it definitely would not be possible without every single person and vendor that was mentioned above here. David Huang of ShowOpt would like to take this time to thank them, and everyone that has supported this project from the beginning; he would even like to thank David Rahemi too not only for this article, but that is another story for another day.

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