This car was bought as a run around, the owner of this pretty immaculate looking mk3 Vento had family in mind. Owning a MK2 Rallye, the Vento would become the more practical day to day car. As most of you out there will agree, nothing ever stays standard for too long and before Noel knew it he was in talks of getting some rust removed from the car….

The car was handed over to none other than Davy Pickard, someone who knows only how to do things the right way, before Noel knew it the car had no roof and Davy cut and replaced every last millimetre of rust or imperfections. Suddenly the daily had become a mini project. Noel decided to attack the car with a full leather interior from a VR6, electric windows, US centre console with arm rest and a US rear tub.

With the popularity of these Vento/Jettas rising in Ireland, its always nice to see someone who has done something right, this is an awesome little Daily. A perfect example of how things just cant be left standard, although the original intention was just to drive it. The MK3 sits on a set of Merc S-Class alloys and makes a very tidy aesthetically pleasing day to day beast.

If there is one thing I have learned over the years is that Ireland has such a deep rooted car following. In your family or group of friends someone has an interest in cars whether it be an uncle brother or friend, who has either had something over the years or still has a piece of metal with four wheels they hold close to their hearts. The thing about the Irish car scene is most of the time it is hidden, any car action you come across is usually surface level car enthusiasts who drive the streets at night and park up at McDonalds, do a couple of laps of the city and head home.

I always enjoy being able to scratch under the surface, it’s a hard thing to do as many car enthusiasts don’t share their cars with others, don’t do laps of the streets at night or post them on the internet that often. They are regular Fathers and Uncles or Brothers who keep to themselves but have such a ridiculous love for anything on four wheels.

I had heard about Kevin’s insanely immaculate 1990 spec RS, this is ridiculously clean; it looked like we took it for a test drive from the dealership just to do the shoot. I’ve always found it hard to tap into these stories with Juicebox and any chance I get I try and take it. Kevin’s car is a prime example of someone who just loves cars, and puts everything into achieving a final result.

He bought the car in November 2008 after parting ways with a phase one Renault 5 GT Turbo, flew from Waterford airport to London Luton with a serious bag of cash accompanied by a friend. The guys met up with the owner who had the car in a shuttle freshly waxed and the car only had 8,200 miles on the clock!

The owner was devastated that the guys were going to drive the car back to Ireland, and was almost reluctant to sell as they guys were planning a nice trip around London for the night, getting up to all kinds of trouble almost being arrested outside Buckingham palace after an unofficial photoshoot!

The interior in this car is not only immaculate but the Recaro package that came in these cars is amazing.

Kevin has managed to get it out to a few shows over the years. The car has one best in class more than four times with a couple of other awards to add to the collection also. Being such a popular car in the 90′s before the Japanese car culture explosion, finding such an unmolested example like this would be quite a challenge.

Under the bonnet I couldn’t understand how it is kept so clean, especially here in Ireland. The car is treated like a baby but still gets used and enjoyed. Who wouldn’t want to enjoy the 1598cc cvh engine and Garrett t3 turbo out of the box, accompanied by a standard LSD. These were such a great little car back in the day.

The car underwent another final restoration in 2011, any imperfections on the paintjob and inside and outside the car were given the once over again. With the help of perfectionist Davy Pickard they guys returned the outside of the car to immaculate show room condition. Most of you will know just how hard it is to keep black clean… Up close this car has not a single imperfection on the black finish, it’s actually better than factory.

A couple of months after the car was safe back in Ireland, Kevin got a call saying he had missed a court date for speeding in a Built up area at 114mph… Since owning it Kevin has racked up a very enjoyable 6800 miles with good memories. The car is very rarely driven in the last year or so because of the final restoration and to over salting of our roads and all the other horror that comes with maintaining black paint. Ireland is filled with stories like Kevin’s, very enjoyable stories of true car enthusiasts that are not as easy to spot as that guy with a Nürburgring sticker on his Audi.

So it’s the third birthday of Juicebox… a website we created back around three years ago with a mission to showcase the Irish car scene to the rest of the world, to show them all the good things that are hidden away down country back roads in sheds and barns and other places you would never expect to find rare metal on four wheels.

Every once in a while I have to stand back and take it all in. Where we are with this and the friends that surround me, it can be taken for granted all too easy. The shed for example, the place where you can be immature but it’s ok, the complete nonsense that can happen but no one judges…

Being surrounded by some of the best Japanese metal in Ireland, flavoured with the sense of humour of an eight year old, it’s nice to be surrounded by people who don’t take themselves too serious. The same dick and fart jokes are still funny, and that’s a good thing.

People have a tendency to take things too serious in life and the car scene, when at the end of the day it’s all just another outlet outside of the mundane nine to five grind or whatever you do to pay the bills to get by. Cars are form of escapism, and for the people who enjoy it it’s one of the best kinds.

The friendships that build, the people you encounter, the characters that come and go… its all part of it. Since day one that has always intrigued me, two very different people can become good friends through the connection with chunk of metal.

That love for an inanimate object that is so real… so pure….

It’s a feeling that many people outside that world just can’t understand, something that has brought together the best of friends.

Three years on and things have changed but stayed the same, the same friends with the addition of some new people. The Irish car scene is shrinking, there is no denying it, but it’s nice, being a part of the scene much closer than I was a few years ago is a nice thing, you get a first-hand look at what’s happening. Fuel prices have made turned the streets to the sound of booo…

It may not be this way forever, people have left to find work in other countries, or ducked their heads down for a few years, but at the minute the proper car scene appears to heavily made up of real enthusiast. The scene is shrinking and so are the cars. It’s a real shame that cars are being broke left right and centre but things move forward nonetheless.

The front of Dayos old AE86, which has been stripped and the parts have passed on to others, this car was actually killed so it was broke for real reasons. I remember the night we crashed in this car, and its mad to see it sit as more or less a front cut.. Cars that were once alive and kicking are returned to lifeless pieces of metal, it’s the way things go, and these inanimate objects are as temporary as their owners, something we tend to forget.

Over the three years I have seen people put so much into their cars, there is nothing more satisfying to see than someone put their heart and soul into a build. The website has helped me meet some of the most die hard of car enthusiasts and I’m very grateful. I’ve always found it amazing how someone can lust over a piece of shaped metal, myself being guilty as charged.

Obsessing over shaped panels… those shapes which make you fall in love or hate a specific car or model. As the night progressed and the nonsense continued, I realised it was the third birthday of the site, and was very grateful to see how far it had come. What we set out to do, it has worked on many levels, and was received very well and that’s a nice feeling.

As we sat down in a cinema which is built out of Evo five Recaro seats I had to laugh, watching fast and the furious for the one thousandth time in a shed filled with some of the best cars in the country, and knowing the entire film word for word, it never gets old. This is what it’s all about.

I’m sure many of you have the same sort of have nonsense rambling story, there is nothing better than being surrounded by good people, nice cars and good times, if it’s what you truly gets you excited, when it works it’s the best thing to have.

The website has been a bonus and an extension of that. Three years of good times! I’m very grateful for them, the people we have met and the cars that we have shot. Hopefully we can keep bringing you the good stuff and thanks for being apart of it.

One of the sheds residents, the KE55 came out for some air today. You sometimes forget its beauty, living mostly for the cold months under covers.

It’s always nice to get emails about possible features, especially something along the lines of this Subtle Eunos Roadster and other less played with chassis in this country. Once I had seen a few pictures of this coming together over at Team Chihuahua I knew we needed to organise a shoot.

I love how a set of wheels, the right colours and an acquired ride height can set of the overall look of a car, this Roadster is actually sitting on the ground!… it’s insane, the ride height is incredibly low for Ireland and the owner managed to make the Journey which was 2 or more hours away.

The car itself is a 1999 Mazda mx5 RS or Eunos Roadster RS, the best MX5 available at the time of production. The roadster has been given very subtle exterior mods; if you look closely you will see the RX8 spoiler which has been crafted into the boot lid, Kieran brought Brendan from Team chihuahua along to carry out cars overall image.

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The bumpers have been smoothened also; reflectors, front number plate holder and rear keyhole have all been deleted.

The Roadster underwent some extensive arch work to make it go that bit lower. Mk1 MX5 arches were cut and riveted on pushing the overall appearance out while the standard bonnet was chopped and fitted with an s15 front bonnet skin.

Inside things remain very calm and subtle. The car manages to have such an aggressive little stance but not look out of place, or overdone.

Kieran retained the timeless Leather Nardi extras like the wheel and shifter that come with the roadster.

Keeping things inside the Mazda family Kieran opted for a set of black leather RX8 heated leather seats, an addition that fits the roadster quite well.

Under the bonnet is the 1.8 RS engine that revs to 8k rather than the standard 7k. This engine boasts 147bhp out of the box, a lightened flywheel and torsion LSD.

This engine has been treated to an ARC full induction kit.

The wheel choice is a set of 15″ SSR Dori’s. Kieran used a set of 4×100 to 4×114.3. The combination of 86 designed wheel, arch and modern shapes of the MX5 manage to work like a charm.

The Barrels were reversed, sanded and refurbed and a set of 4×100 to 4×114.3 adapters helped to create the desired stance and PCD.

Other goodies to note which came standard on the RS model is the 6 speed close ratio box, front strut brace and under chassis bracing, Kieran is running a set of XYZ coilovers to achieve an adjustable ride height for different purposes. The RS also boasted bigger 255 brakes which Kieren has added EBC yellow stuff pads and braided hoses.

It’s subtle, aggressive and has very minimal touches that many people would over look are some the things I enjoy the most. Its insanely low static set-up is very impressive but the owner is well aware of this, having a collection of MX5′s he wanted to take this one down a different route. The respray in Toyota super white and very simple exterior against the purple of the meshes works in all the right ways.

Seeing this in the flesh would make anyone smile, that little front end Mazda made that looks like a face! It’s nice to see a roadster go down this route. Clean simple and well executed. What’s not to like?

Wheels/Tires/Suspension/Handling

XYZ drift spec Coilovers
15″ Ssr Dori Dori Wheels
4×100 > 4×114.3 adapters
RS Package strut brace
RS Package LSD
Braided hoses
EBC Yellow stuff pads

Exterior

Toyota super white
Mk1 Mx5 Arches
Smoothened boot lock, reflectors, front number plate and rear keyhole
S15 bonnet skin
Rx8 rear spoiler.

Engine

RS 1.8 engine
Lightened flywheel
ARC Full induction kit

Interior

Nardi Leather Package
Leather electric RX8 seats
Alpine Double Din TV/DVD Player

A game of Tag with the big boys!

Hyper Rev.148

Its a new season for drifting, a new name, new cars and new people. On Juicebox we are going to try and get more people on board, something that was the original plan but with more and more photographers popping up each event we would like to get some people together to help out on the website. This time we have the shutterspeed eye through the lens on the event, things should get interesting. On another note, Brian Egans car is amazing!

Lots of new cars on the scene, Wez is putting his newly built rocket bunny machine into work.. Looks good going sideways!

Mike Fitz was out in his FC, having some issues it should be back to normal next season.. Nice to see moe and more well designed drift cars, such a massive part of the sport that is overlooked by many.

Both of the Hankook Machines do look good side by side.

This doesn’t even look real! Id imagine a new car takes some time to get used to.

Jack Shanahan is making a name for himself pretty quickly 13 years of age he was up against the big boys all weekend earning himself 3rd in the semi pro.

James Deane is rocking the classic Falken Livery this year on an even wider version of the BN kit. This car will be a photographers wet dream this season.

Duaene MC Keever is another force to be reckoned with this year.

Both 180′s looking good! We cant emphasise enough how nice it is seeing good looking drift cars in photographs!

Ffrenchie was making it happen all weekend in the Low Brain s13, we will be documenting his stab at drifting this year so be sure to stay tuned.. after the weekend he put on quite a show with James Deane.

Ah the controversial part to the entire weekend, you have all seen the videos by now..

This picture is too good… what an unbelievable display of drifting by bother drivers.. something that will certainly bring the crowds back and kick-start the season. Be sure to check back for more goodness over the next few days.

Cheers to the guys at Shutterspeed for the shots.. hopefully you will be seeing more from them over the coming season.

Kilkenny lurk machine

Jacks run around is too good not to share!

Timeless classic…