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If there is one build we have been waiting for to be complete its this one, now finally we can talk all about this epic Build that our good friend Chris Phan has put together, especially now it’s been out an about for a while,

it’s time to play catch up and talk about this amazing build. To say the final reveal blew us away is an understatement, this GTR makes a serious statement for a road going GT3 Street builds and Chris has executed the plans for his build to absolute perfection, every time we seen this beauty on our daily media feeds we still have to convince ourselves this car is not a Nismo GTR GT3 that races in the Blancpain series, it’s a street build that resides in California.

 
 

It was around November, December 2019 when Chris first got in touch with us regarding his plans to update his utterly amazing Purple Varis kitted GTR, at first we thought he wasn’t serious as his GTR in that Varis disguise was absolute perfection, but I guess the lure of a wide body had bitten deep and I know from our early chats that he looked at the all new Silhouette LB Works kit was a serious thought and potentially the route he was looking to take, but we are happy to say Chris seen the light and as most wide body GTR builds stateside are either Rocket Bunny or Liberty Walk, which just makes your GTR look like every other GTR wide body in the states and Chris didn’t want to be the usual sheep and wanted something a little more unique, and let’s face it doesn’t get any more unique than a GT3 street build, as Chris said…it’s the pinnacle GTR.

With the kit manufactured and shipped off it wasn’t long before Chris took delivery and got on to planning the build, which came with a few headaches, we lived and breathed this build with him through the highs and lows and there were a few lows, but as with any wide body project you will always have moments of desperation, especially when you rely on others that are involved with the build process, good custom body shops are extremely hard to come by, but with the bodywork fitted and painted it was time to choose the livery and wheels of choice.

 
 

For the wheels Chris wanted the race look 6 spoke design, if they made them wide enough there would of only been one choice and that would be the Volk racing TE37, but unfortunately without all of the race spec suspension a 1 piece wheel just isn’t going to cut it on this conversion, so the LD97 wheels were chosen to be more specific the LDT6 with the added centre lock conversion for more aesthetic race look, and we must say they look absolutely incredible in the chosen gold colour that were actually repainted by BulletProof Coating, as the LD97 factory gold wasn’t quite to Chris’s liking, being a perfectionist and knowing every detail in a build is important and we think it shows with this GT3 Street build.

With the bodywork completed, next up was the Livery and this is where Chris threw us a curved ball as we always thought the GTR was going to stay white with the factory launch red, white and black GT3 livery, but Chris had other ideas and we are glad he did as the livery is next level, pulled off by the talented guys over at acd customsllc and they absolutely smashed it right out the park, this livery is just immense that has brought the vision and Photoshop creation to life, it really is a statement wrap and completes the overall build, it really does scream race car.

For now, the build is complete and Chris will not enjoy the car and hit the scene with various shows around California, but as with all project cars are they really ever done, im sure Chris will be titivating this GTR for months to come and we can’t really blame him, its one very special project that will look at home of the track as it will on the road, it’s a build we are immensely proud to be involved with and glad to have a guy like Chris in the VAD family.

 



We have built and collaborated with some pretty epic GTR’s over the last few years with our close friend Jan and his VAD CarbonZilla a real favorite, but this GTR also holds a very special place in our heart, as it was the very first GTR to wear our GT3 wide body aero pack for the street, we also connected with the owner at the time Bryce Jenkins and we are still good friends to this day.


For reasons we will not get in to, it never really got the exposure we were hoping for, even after the incredible photo and video shoot Brandon did from Woyshnis Media it still never quite hit the sweet spot, that was possibly due to the fact that as soon as the car was finished Bryce got stationed over in Afghanistan, so he never got the chance to enjoy or promote his GTR GT3 creation as he was away for the best part of 12 months, so it lost an incredible amount of exposure in that time period, but whilst Bryce was away it was put in the hands of Destin from Dapper Dips who transformed the car from white to the incredibly stunning Black rose metallic the GTR is current caressed with, and from what Destin has told us Pictures do not do the paint colour or finish any justice.

 
 

Destin finished the car the back end of 2018 and by the time Bryce had returned home the GTR was sold, it resurfaced again briefly when Dylan owned the car, but it had very little if any social media presence or exposure, although Dylan did link up with Mark Vecellio on a photoshoot that produced some pretty amazing pictures, but unfortunately this beautiful GTR just hasn’t been seen since its completion ...well that was until Edward Andrade got his hands on it, and to say this guy is on it is an understatement.


Over the last few months since it’s been in Edwards hands the car has had a lot more exposure and we have the feeling it only going to get better as Edward puts his own mark on this GTR and we must say it’s great to see the car on our media feeds which seems to be on a daily basis and after taking to Edward he is already looking at upgrading certain areas of the car, with the first upgrade looking like it will be in the form of a rear wing set up, a set up like what Bryce wanted but unfortunately never got around to it and it desperately needs one.

Over the last week we have seen some pretty epic photos of Edward’s beauty filtering through our Instagram feed and with some investigation we found the extremely silky lens skills belonged to Kevin from Luxecapture, who wasted no time in sharing his amazing work.


 

Now we have seen some pretty good photography over the years so it takes something very special to get our attention and Luxecapture did exactly that, with some incredible pictures from all the angles that capture every part that has been fitted to the car and that’s the reason we like this images so much, Kevin has shot the car but the parts pop, for example the rear diffuser and the end I have never really seen on any other picture taken of this car, but with Kevin’s photography you notice those parts and it’s all those little details that create the perfect picture, his collection of photos of the Ichiban GT3 are the best we have seen to date, they are simply breathtaking.


With the rear wing decided on it would be fantastic to see the vented GT3 Vented hood on the up and coming modifications as this is another detail that would complete the ultimate street GT3 GTR, along with the double canard set up that is no longer on the front end, all being well they should find their way back onto the car for that ultimate race car look.


Keep putting in the work Edward, as we are certainly happy to have you onboard in the VAD family and if the final pieces of the GT3 conversion make their way onto the build, we hope Luxecapture is on hand.


GTR Owner @drean_zilla // Photographer @luxecapture web: https://luxecapture.wixsite.com/automotive



Updated: Jan 29, 2021

This GTR build has been in the planning stages for quite a while, with March 2020 pencilled in for completion and getting the kit packed up and shipped, but 2020 has pretty much been written off for most forms of motorsport, so the chance to get to see the guys at Concepts Garage put this build together for the time attack has unfortunately been put off until 2021 season which is a shame as this was a build that really got us excited, with every part ordered this is going to be a pretty special GTR.


There is no doubting that the GT3 race version of the GTR is the pinnacle look for the GTR, every aftermarket wide body GTR pretty much takes the styling cues from the GT3, you only have to look at the latest Liberty walk creation to see they have borrowed heavily from the GT500 look, which is a very aggressive style, which you’re either going to like or loath … for us the GT3 style will always be at the very top of the styling tree.


So what carbon parts do we have heading down under to the boys at Concept Garage, lets look at what is included in the track pack as the parts list is extensive and consists of:

 
 

Front bumper, front bumper canards, front splitter (complete front floor) front vented fenders, side skirts, rear quarter panels, rear bumpers (lights) rear bumper lower (exhaust) rear diffuser with strakes, rear boot lid, rear wing assembly, carbon replacement roof, front vented bonnet, super lightweight carbon doors.


The parts will be crated up and shipped out next week for the five-week journey across the sea to Sydney as there is no huge rush to get this build started … that’s to the pandemic they have all the time they need to make this GTR race ready for the 2021-time attack weekend.


A special thank you and shout out to our good friend Michael Zomaya from the Lowdown, as without him this would not be happening, appreciate your support as always, we will bring you more on this build as it happens at concept garage, we just have to try and contain the excitement.


 
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Unit 5
James Road
Tyseley
Birmingham
B11 2BA
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