The Big Family Grandis - Juiceboxforyou

I spotted this funky thing around town about a year ago. It wasn’t until we were out having a few beers one night did I realise an old friend of mine had actually bought this as a family machine. Richie was one of the OG heads in the Waterford car scene back in the day and always had something cool, from built Vaxhaul Novas to Silvia’s and Legacy’s, he’s had his fair share of cool cars.

As time went by, adult life caught up to Richie and he ended up having a bunch of kids, this, unfortunately, put him in a situation where he had to sell any impractical car and try and buy something sensible to haul the family around…

As you can tell from the images, this is not exactly the most practical machine. On paper, it sounds great and I’m sure Richie’s other half was excited to hear he was selling the Silvia to buy something with more seats, that was until she found out about this thing. What you are looking at here is Mitsubishi Grandis. Asides from all the cool stuff that somehow ends up here in Ireland, this Japanese import Grandis was imported a few years ago and came in full gangster VIP spec with tinted windows and a funky looking kit.

When he purchased the Grandis, the wheels were standard and the ride height was a little more usable but this didn’t last too long. Richie couldn’t help himself and went out to unlock the Grandis’s true potential. He lasted about a month outside of modifying cars, trying to slot into the normal life. It was only a matter of time before he was pimping out this “family wagon”.

It had a pretty cool kit when it landed from Japan and id assume this had cool wheels back in the motherland, this was already giving him the itch to add a few more touches. Richie ditched the standard wheels in favour of some Work Eurolines and painted the centre’s gunmetal. The car was lowered to an unusable height and before he knew it, he was right back where he started.

The Grandis is a rare enough machine in Ireland. These were actually sold out of the dealerships but I can’t remember the last time I encountered one on the streets. Richie’s version looks like something that would fit right in on a Tokyo street. Its this strange big black swooping shape and as Richie said, “it’s completely useless now”.

His little guy loves it! I couldn’t stop laughing when he was trying to explain how angry the misses was about him creating yet another impractical machine. It’s still a seven-seater so technically its ideal for family duties. This is what happens when you have a lot of kids but can’t help yourself from modifying!

I don’t know why but I love this thing. I wanted to grab a few snaps before it disappeared. When you see this on the street it attracts serious attention. I wish more of these VIP style vans made their way over here, an ideal answer to a growing family for any car enthusiast.

This van gives me hope, if I ever get into a situation where I have kids, you can be sure I’m going to buy a baller “minivan” Richie said the kids love it, and to be fair, everyone I know whos local and into cars loves it too. It’s a quirky looking machine.

This is a perfect example of someone who loves modifying cars so much, they can’t help themselves no matter what the situation. This whole car obsession seems like an incurable sickness.

The kids were getting bored so we wrapped up the shoot and I let Richie get back to family life. This Grandis is such a strange, funky, practical machine and I just thought I would share this little encounter with you. A die-hard car enthusiast doing whatever he can to stimulate the craving to modify something regardless of their situation.