Article and Photos by Bryan Fross    There are not too many people out there that will take a Luxury car and start cutting into it. Paul Trainor from Las Flores, California did just that to his 2002 Lexus GS 430. Paul’s car has been through several changes since the car was purchased. A hopping contest at Hot Import Nights in San Diego ended up cracking the engine block, creasing both the rear quarter panels and the roof.  With only 5,000 miles on the car at that point, it was decided that the car was done hopping. The car was then repaired and the real buildup started with the completion set for the 2002 SEMA Show.

   With the already great looking exterior of a luxury sport coupe, the outside of the car did not need much. A Rod Millen body kit was installed at L-Speed and the car was re-painted by Jeff at A-Z tech. Adam Carpenter at Unique Customs installed a custom grille in the factory position and in the lower front spoiler.

   Paul’s car is laid out with a custom tube front end with an engine cage and relocated suspension arms. A custom tube setup with fabricated suspension arms was installed in the rear. Air bags were bolted in at all four corners. The car gets up by way of ½ inch SMC valves with ¾ inch airline and 6 Firestone compressors filling a 12-gallon air tank. All suspension was installed at Unique Customs and an air intake was also installed for better performance. It then lay’s out on 20 inch Alba Bertha wheels.

   The interior is the real treat of this vehicle with a massive audio/video system. A completely fabricated fiberglass dash and console were installed into the Lexus after the stock dash and gauges were removed. Digital gauges were wired up in the dash instead of the factory ones. There are 4 LCD monitors inside including a 15-inch monitor and two 7-inch Audiobahn monitors in the dash. A 5-inch Audiobahn LCD screen was fiber-glassed into the steering wheel. The top of the dash has two 3-way component sets in it with two 6-½ inch mid-bass speakers two 4-inch mid-range speakers and two 1-inch tweeters from Swiss Audio. There is also a Swiss Audio 6 ½ inch component set in the front doors, rear doors and rear deck. The bass comes from eight Swiss Audio 10-inch SPL subwoofers and four 2000 watt Swiss Audio digital amplifiers with 2 being motorized out of the sides of the trunk, and 2 motorized on the back wall of the trunk. There are two 4-channel amplifiers, a 600-watt and 300-watt, both motorized to come out of the trunk.  Two Audiobahn 5-inch LCD monitors were installed in the trunk. To keep from losing power, six Swiss Audio 1-farad digital capacitors and two yellow top optima batteries are used. The stereo work was all completed by Jordan “The Sheik” and Robbie “Bunny Man” Luther at Luther Sound Design. All panels were then color matched by The Sheik at Luther Sound Design. The front and rear seats were custom upholstered in Italian leather to finish the job.

   Paul wanted to say that his car would not have been possible without Jordan and Robbie at Luther Sound Design for their 18-hour days and “we don’t care” ideas in building his ride. He gives special thanks to John Lombard at Swiss Audio for the sponsorship. He would also like to thank Jason Cade and Wes Cade from Something Kustom for all of their support in the buildup and Summer Romero for making his car look even better at the photo shoot.
Model: Summer Romero

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