When most people think about North American car scene, images of car shows at the Queen Mary, meets at In-N-Out, and track events at Willow Springs may initially come to mind. Seldom will Canadian-built cars function as the first thought as defining factors in current styles and trends. The reason, however, that the Great White North tends to fade into the background is not as a result of incompetence, but their ability and modesty to help keep secrets. To allow the cat out of the bag, so to speak, Canada has greater than a few incredibly well-engineered cars, which are neither documented in forum build threads nor attend car shows but they are easily on par with many SoCal builds built simply to the enjoyment of ownership. Vincent Ong’s S2000 is a great demonstration of what Canada has to offer, proving that world-class Honda builds are definitely not restricted to america and Japan.
Vincent was originally born in the Philippines to a group of car enthusiasts. He fondly recalls being given toy cars and Tonka trucks to play with as a child. His father owned a bakery, but additionally had a garage where he kept his many cars; it was there that Vincent realized his passion for anything and everything automotive. To mention that Vincent has oil in his blood is more than just a poetic way of describing his passion; it’s actually quite literal. When Vincent was just five-years old he was helping his father change a wheel when his hand slipped off of the tire iron and launched a sizable gash in his index finger. For this day the oil that was on the end of the tool is still embedded within his skin, even though cut eventually healed with little scarring.a long period of living inCanada and Ontario, the Ong family moved back to the Philippines. This relocation, however, was a short stint. Upon realizing the pollution’s impact on their health, the Ongs decided to check out British Columbia, Canada, where they have been calling home since.
A few years later, Vincent was finally of sufficient age to start driving and choose a vehicle of their own. Surprisingly, he chose to accept a hand-me-down ’89 Camry. It was beautiful, he says, joking about its condition but without a trace of regret, fondly recalling how much oil it leaked. Vincent says a refill was necessary every single day when leaving for school. Still, Vincent understood the value of doing well in education for the sake of his future career–and driving a Camry to high school was a small price to cover in order to build his dream car: the Honda S2000. Vincent’s first exposure to the S2000 was when his brother-in-law purchased one the first year they were available for sale. From the moment Vincent rode in the car, he knew he were required to have one.
Vincent began purchasing parts for his future car prior to ownership, such as a titanium exhaust and a Spoon S-Tai front bumper. Vincent endured, finally finding an ’07 model with only 5,000 kilometers in the clock, though waiting for the ideal car to get available for sale can be quite a frustrating experience. The bumper and exhaust were immediately installed, and Vincent took his car over to the track. After the first session, he knew he was hooked, and although he found the S2000 to be very capable on the track in stock form, he knew the car was far from complete, especially in the aesthetics department. If you’re having a good time in a car, you might as well look great doing it that we wholeheartedly agree, vincent explained that .the very first track day, BC Racing coilovers, RE11s and RPF1s, were ordered and installed. He is the first to admit that he is anything but mechanically inclined, though vincent is adamant about doing all the work to his car himself. Everything Vincent has done to this car has been his first time using the specific task, from changing oil to repairing fiberglass and even the supercharger install. Vincent operates under the pretense that basically if i can follow instructions, I could put a car together. The Spoon fenders about this car were actually a damaged set that he found took and used the opportunity to discover ways to work with fiberglass. Of course, virtually nothing ever went smoothly. He gained the event that now allows him to help other folks with their cars, which he quickly points out is as rewarding as feeling the difference the parts make when driving the car, even though he confesses that many parts took him triple enough time it should normally take to install.
The aforementioned Spoon bumper and RPF1s are no longer about the car (since you may have noticed). After several years of ownership, Volk Racing TE37s and a Voltex Circuit front bumper replaced them. Vincent admits that although he had his eyes on the Voltex and Volks bumper for a while, he chose to enjoy the Enkei and Spoon counterparts provided that he could. It’s for the reason that same mind-set that he chooses to really enjoy the affect each part has on his car one by one, never purchasing and installing multiple parts at once. Vincent credits his parents for raising him well: When you are getting stuff and clothes, you enjoy them as long as you can. I can believe that this practice really helps make the most of owning and modifying a car–especially when combined with the make everything yourself rule that Vincent has set for his time he shares with his car.
Living where snow and salt is a yearly occurrence, Vincent also owns an ’07 Civic for that winter months. It’s the polar opposite of his S2000, nicknamed the Snow Bunny because it’s cute and white. Developing a second car allows him to perform all the major modifications to the S2000 while it’s safely in the garage, so he uses this downtime to plan a project every winter. The quality of work Vincent puts into his car is unreal; the level of patience he has is extraordinary, never settling for good enough or second best. An excellent example of this resolve will be the original exhaust manifold which is still on the car in the end these years; (he is waiting for a certain discontinued ASM header to pop up for sale). We are able to say without a doubt in our minds that there are only a few people who put such deliberate thought into how they can enjoy their car as much as possible. From the short time we spent with photographing, talking and Vincent about his car, the attention to detail he puts into his car was obvious from the other areas of his life, his daily grind like a civil engineer designing highways (perhaps this is the reason Canada has such nice roads! ), and his passion for culinary arts. It will likely be a operate in progress up until the day he no longer owns it, that you can probably guess from Vincent’s attitude if it come to his car. Until that day, we shall definitely look ahead to see what he does with it next.
