Progression, every culture depends on it. Industries, companies, magazines, websites, pretty much everything thrives on progression. We’re constantly wanting the newest and latest technology, or the newest trend in fashion or what have you. Progression is generally a good thing as it means moving forward. The car culture certainly thrives on progression and publications like S:N are always striving to bring the masses the latest news and features on what’s new and hot. When it comes to the US-VIP culture, there is lots of progression going on. As VIP-style becomes increasingly popular the US scene is working hard to progress its own take on the art of luxury-sedan customization.
Patrick Ho’s Inifniti M35 is a great example of the direction the US is taking VIP-style. While Japan and Thailand seem to be getting more and more aggressive with their styling, the US is keeping things more clean and subtle. While the in-yer-face stuff and ridiculous camber is cool, keeping it clean also has its own appeal. Patrick’s M35 is a great, overall package all while nailing the classic, VIP look; strong presence, stupendously low, and very wide.
Like a lot of heavy-hitting Nor-Cal VIP cars, this Y50 comes out of Diamond Autobody. If you keep up on our Instagram and news feed, you’ll see we’ve posted plenty of behind the scenes pics of Diamond Autobody’s shop, and it’s kind of like a who’s-who of the Nor-Cal scene up there. With cars like this being an example of their work, it’s not hard to see why the shop is packed with multiple, top-quality builds, and they certainly nail the styling every time.
Patrick’s build really started around the fenders. After his G35 was written off in a traffic accident, he knew he wanted to do a VIP build, and the M35 fit the bill for his plans. In his quest to make some wide hips for his new car, Patrick had a meeting with the crew at Diamond to come up with a plan for the fenders and quarters. “I didn’t want anything too crazy but also wanted it to be noticeable. The next issue was figuring out how wide I wanted to go.”
Once everything was figured out and the numbers crunched, Patrick left the car with Diamond Autobody to do what they do best. The resulting fenders are definitely a nice piece. While they don’t have any crazy vents like we’re used to seeing in Japan and Thailand, the fenders still stand out while not being too distracting. Patrick wanted everything to flow and Diamond certainly delivered. The bumpers of the Aimgain Generation kit were flared nicely to blend with the fenders, and even the rear doors were flared slightly to match the quarter-panels. After the body work was completed, the entire car was shot in a custom, “Diamond Special,” 3-stage pearl white, sans the roof which was shot in a contrasting gunmetal color that works surprisingly well.
Stuffed underneath the new fenders are a couple of sets of AMEs latest and greatest wheel designs. Part of the calculations for figuring out how wide Patrick wanted to go was influenced by the fact that he wanted to stuff some wide wheels underneath his car. One thing that has definitely stayed consistent in the VIP culture regardless of where you are is that you need to run some silly wheels to part of that upper-echelon. Patrick’s M35 is certainly part of that club because 275s aren’t a tire you see stretched all that much. On the driver-side are a pair of 20×10.5 -15 and 20×12 -25 AME FX wheels, and on the passenger are a pair of AME LX wheels in the same specs.
Helping set the car on the ground and tucking those wheel lips nicely up against the fenders is a custom air-suspension setup. While Japan is crazy with their static setups, air is still the popular choice in the US. The kit is centered around a K-Sport Airtech setup with a wireless remote. The trunk setup features twin compressors and a single air-tank, but Patrick tells us that plans are in the works for a more visually pleasing trunk setup, and a switch to Accuair’s popular e-level management system. Regardless, the car looks great aired out with just a bit of negative camber to get the wheels tucked up nicely with the fenders.
Really, it’s kind of refreshing to see a VIP car not rocking tons of negative camber. While I certainly love negative camber, it’s definitely a product of the newer generation of VIP-tuning. The US VIP culture has been a bit slow on catching on with that, but like I said earlier, most of the US people keep it more on the subtle side.
That’s definitely not saying this car doesn’t have presence though. The pictures here are proof enough that this car grabs your attention, and looks right tough sitting and posing for the bossman, Elvis Skender, to snap away. While this car may have a shorter spec-list than you’re used to, Patrick here is just getting started, and these upgrades were done in a little under a year. To go from stock to this in that short of time-frame is no small feat, but Patrick and the crew at Diamond Autobody certainly knocked it out of the park.
The good news is though, the car is still progressing. Like the US-VIP scene, Patrick is pushing his car further with an interior makeover planned as well as some lighting tricks and the aforementioned changes to the air suspension. Without guys like Patrick, and shops like Diamond Autobody, the US would be falling behind our friends across the pacific. While the US isn’t following directly in Japan’s and Thailand’s footsteps, we’re progressing in our own way, and ultimately creating our own, US VIP-style. Definitely stay tuned for more. I guarantee this isn’t the last you’ll see from Diamond Autobody.
Wheels/Suspension:
AME LX 20×10.5 -15 F 20×12 -25 R on passenger side
AME FX 20×10.5 -15 F 20×12 -25 R on driver side
Toyo Tires 245/35/20 F 275/30/20 R
K-sport Airtech Pro Plus air suspension FBSS w/ wireless remote
Mcgard spline gard gold lug nuts
Exterior:
Custom metal fender flares by Diamond Autobody
Custom 3-stage “Diamond Special” pearl paint with gunmetal roof and accents
Aimgain Generation 4 piece body kit (FB, SS, RB, lip spoiler) with fog lights
Aimgain trunk emblem
JDM Nissan FUGA window visor
Interior:
Custom suede wrapped false-floor in trunk
Polished air tank
Engine:
Element 114 catback exhaust