Name: Chris Grantham
Location: Concord, CA
How did you become an automotive enthusiast?
It really hit me when I was 16. Being around my older cousins who modified their cars got me interested on how to install my own stereo and how I could make the car go faster. Watching my Dad and Uncle just do the everyday repairs on their cars got me into the inner workings of how to work on the car. Back in 1995 my cousin let me drive his Turbo Porsche halfway back from Los Angeles and I couldn’t get the grin off my face. I knew right then I was a car junkie.
Do you enjoy and do you perform customizing and/or modifying?
I really enjoy working on my car, my friend’s cars and also just trying to figure out how to make something work that may not normally work for the applied car. From installing an alarm in my first car, to tearing down the Lexus and modifying it to what it is now I love to modify cars. The great thing about modifying the car yourself is you know how to work on it when something goes wrong.
If so, how did you get involved into customizing/modifying your automobile?
When I first bought the GS back in 2000, I didn’t know anything about how to customize the car. I saw an article on Martin Kraft’s GS which was modified by Nomura Tuning and Design in Tracy, CA. I ended up finding the shop and started to visit the shop more and more to learn on what I could do with the GS. I ended up working there for a few months for free just so I could learn more about modifying the car. That was on top of working a 40 hour work week and traveling 90 miles one way to Tracy from Concord.
Is this a show vehicle, race vehicle, daily driver or a combination of?
My GS use to be a daily driver for about 7 years and then it became a 50/50 split with my daily beater. I do take the car on long trips but I do try to keep in top condition for shows. But it is a car, so you might as well drive it right?
What’s the story behind your build?
My car evolved over 10 years. At first it was just lowered with intake and exhaust. I was thinking of a body kit, but realized that if that happened the car would be too low to daily drive. Well once I picked up the Mode Parfume kit, I had to purchase air suspension. Since I was on Tein coilovers and wanted to have the same adjustability of the controller, I went with UAS with the Digital Dakota system. My stereo system was slowly integrated and when I installed the air suspension I redid the entire audio system on how it was set up. I was always into functionality and that meant keeping the spare tire while still having some decent trunk space.
Did you have any ambition?
When building the car, I didn’t want to put something together that looked cool. I was really picky and took over 3 years to find the right body kit as well as components. With the help of my friend Solo, we looked towards modding the car to the VIP Style since the car platform itself is a VIP car. Stance, fitment and a certain style all came in to play on how the car was modified. I’m a pretty subtle person and my ride reflects it. I loved the silver color, and when I repainted the car I kept a silver base and added gold pearl. I also wanted something rare and original and being that my car has the only Mode Parfume GS on the west coast is pretty rare. The only other Mode Parfume GS in the United States is Texas.
Do you have any future plans or goals with the ride?
In the coming months I’ll be adding 110 A/C to the car. Next year I’ll be looking to re-do the interior since it is coming up on being 12 years old.
Did you do the work yourself or did anyone help you out?
I did a lot of the work myself later in the build, but I did have help from a great group of friends and shops. In the beginning Bruce Nomura taught me about modding the car and cut the custom air inlet into my engine bay. Soloman Lee helped me with procuring the UAS kit and Endless brakes as well as helping me search for the Mode Parfume body kit. My buddy Will Bunac helped me install the UAS kit. Together we call ourselves midnight auto since we work on the cars throughout the night non stop. When we worked on my car we pulled over 18 hours straight installing the Air system. Will has also helped me installed the headers and helped on a lot of little projects and is my go to person for any problems with the car, since he is a Lexus Master tech. Custom Car Alarms in Pleasant Hill, CA did the initial stereo install and also added my Stinger batteries, Stinger SPS60 Power Supply and did the custom suede work in my trunk. Carlin Chiu at Impact Performance along with Will were instrumental at customizing the door handles. We had to take the old handles apart and re-weld the new parts on. John at Exact Motorsports installed the TRD differential, torque convertor and high output alternator. Vincent Tran at Omegawerks did a great job on the custom clearbra which covers the entire front half of the car. Finally Preferred Auto Body and Custom in Fairfield who sprayed the entire car in silver with gold pearl.
Is there anyone you would like to give thanks to?
Soloman Lee, Will Bunac, Horacio, Reneri and Susana @ Preferred Auto Body and Custom, Joseph Lin @ Tire Outlet, Vincent Tran @ Omegawerks, Carlin Chiu @ Impact Performace, Jeff Cabacungan @ Photoshootmycar.com, Bruce Nomura @ Nomura Tuning and Design, Brian and all the guys @ Custom Car Alarms
DONT FORGET: Join the Auto Club Nation Social Automotive Community. 
