A few years back when the fitment scene in Toronto hadn’t quite got rolling yet and the only stretched tires I had seen in person were a few buddies with VW’s and my own, there wasn’t much that was making me say “WOW, I want to do that!!!”. At one of the first fitment meets put together by the Stretch & Poke guys, I encountered my first legitimate pure blood VIP car, a black UCF20 sitting on a set of Junction Produce Scaras. After that, Lexus’ flagship became VIP car royalty in my eyes, even seeing stock LS’ I started picturing them slammed with every wheel and tire set up possible, body kits, widebodies, Crown conversions, etc. After brief ownership of a UCF10 I ended up sticking to my roots and stayed in the Nissan family (those who aren’t familiar with my car click here) when it came to my big body purchase, but my love for the styling of every generation Celsior never left.
Photos By: Takashi Fukui & Kouji exclusively for StanceNation.com
What I love about our friend Kouji’s UCF30 is that I never once pictured anything like it… This Celsior stays mostly true to vip styling where most of the attention and work goes into the fitment and perfecting exactly how the wheels sit in relation to the fenders. In this case the choice of Work Gnosis and flush fitment flows flawlessly with his custom widened and vented fenders. Obviously the only way to pull off such aggressive fenders is to select the appropriate exterior accents. Kouji selected the Mercedes inspired Black Bison front, rear and sides from none other than Wald International. The black vents and ducts pair up with the custom blacked out projector headlights and badges grille as if they were made specifically for the car. Topping off the exterior is the matte orange paint job, in a world of the ever growing vinyl wrap it’s not so common to see such a loud color made a more permanent addition to the vehicle.
What is fender to tire relation without the right drop? As much as the static vs air argument goes back and fourth a lot of people don’t realize the difficulties both set ups bring fourth. When static, you need to pay very close attention and set the car up precisely so it can ride slammed without buckling fenders or constantly rubbing. On air, you need to not only perfect the aired out fitment but also the ride height. There is nothing worse than a car that needs to air up 3″ to clear the overly aggressive offsets the ride height can’t handle. Looking at this set up, you know Kouji has put in the time to pick the right tires, alignment specs and offset to still be able to ride low. If you haven’t already guessed, Kouji’s car is running Bold World’s Ultima Leggero Advance air ride. A set up that only the most dedicated American vip builds would consider.
As most vip builds go, the motor and performance work is kept to a minimum and exhaust work is exaggerated. Of course, like the rest of the car, no cut corners as Kouji is running a full custom exhaust with Job Design mufflers that fill out the rear bumper and accent the custom trunk. Of course, being an LS, a big brake upgrade is usually the last on the list, Kouji has cleaned up his stock BBK and given it his own flavour that flows great with the matte orange.
As this car may seem as good as it gets, our Japanese friend is just getting started. A unique custom interior with all new leather is soon to be in the works as well as full audio set up that I’m sure will make the trunk set up something to see! After just 3 years of ownership, I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say I’m excited to see this car in a year from now.
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Wheels/Tires/Suspension
Work Gnosis 20×9.5 & 20×10.5
Nankang 225/30/20 & 245/30/20
Bold World Ultima Leggero Advance Revision Air Suspension -
Exterior
Front/Side/Rear – WALD Black Bison kit from Mercedes
Custom trunk spoiler
Widened Fenders 1.2inch F & 1.6inch rear
Customer Fender Vents
Custom Exhaust with Job Design mufflers
Custom painted headlights
Custom projector lights w/x4 LED turn signals
Custom matte orange paint.
i just cant find anything beautiful in this new sporty vip styling..its a disgrace really..
obviously you wont find much in anything if you use the word “sporty”
Nice build! <3
Dont know how i feel about the japanese VIP scene, but what ever makes you happy i guess
Most definitely Form>Function lol. But since it has air suspension, Love it!
What’s up with the VIP scene in Japan making their cars look like the cars from FNF 1 and early 2000′s cars with all dumb kits and etc. SMH in disappointment… cleaner VIP buiilds get my utmost respect.
I agree with everyone else, i don’t know why these crazy, ugly, body kit VIP cars are getting so much attention. They’re hideous. Go back to the good looking vip cars.
The so called “clean” styles you Americans are all obsessed about are just more modest versions of VIP from the early 00′s and 90′s. You’re just in a different culture & time. You guys are finally accepting that negative camber on slammed cars looks good, while the Japanese have been doing it for decades. a couple years ago you would’ve called it stupid or Whack, but now it’s acceptable for some reason. hate all you want now, but when you guys run out of imagination, all the “JDM” cars in your country will start to look like weak imitations of this… enjoy.
Super Him, Thank you!
To those that think this is a disgrace or not a vip car, you just need open your mind a little. Pretend you have no idea about any kind of styling traits because those styling traits are one persons taste to another. Look at the work done and pay close attention to detail that was involved in this build, weather you like the way it looks or not, you can’t argue it wasn’t done perfectly.
Wells aid Blain.
Dig the VIP look and how outside-the-box thinking it is, but the front fenders don’t do it for me, neither do the graphics/stickers – BUT MAN, the fitment is freakin’ PERFECT!!!!! Only wish this could driven this low.
Oh and kudos to the Japanese for truly engineering cars in this scene to actually drive this low. The American styling doesn’t have the engineering which results in rippled fenders and torn off oil pans…
When did car guys start whining. If you dont like his opinion of what a VIP car then dont click “READ MORE”. That simple. Hating kills our hobby. He’s is not running for president so you dont have to like everything he does.
I’m surprised by all the hate this car is getting. I think it’s well put together and Super Him is absolutely right.
this car looks clean…and I respect the detail that went into it
nice comment from super him.
I’d really like to see the vehicles that people drive who post negative comments on here. Why even frequent the site and bother hating on peoples rides.
it my style.