Karma Bites Back
Art, On every level
What your looking at here, Is an artist's vision displayed onto wheels. Something so striking that you cant help but look twice. A story of trial and error. A way to bring different communities in. A Karma Widebody, Hand painted, Custom FRS. Yea its alot i know. Lets take a closer look....
So lets start with the obvious, what made you want to hand paint the car?
- When I originally bought my car (4 years ago) it came plasti-dipped baby blue. I started to get bored with how the car looked and I couldn’t afford to wrap the car being a full time college student. It clicked in my head that I could use my artistic abilities to create a new look on my car with no consequences since plasti-dip is removable. I didn't know what mediums to use, what would stick, what would last, what would damage, what wouldn’t. So, I tested out different mediums, with little failures, I found what worked and how to make my art last. From there I painted the whole car. Once I was finally able to afford to wrap my car solely because I learned how to wrap, all I had to do was pay for material and do the labor. Removing the plasti-dip was one of the worst experiences I could ever go through and I would never plasti dip or recommend anyone do so ever! After I wrapped the car I kept what made my car unique and known as my car, I painted new themes from then on, all representing me in some way. I learned to love the fact that my art on my car gave non-car people a reason to love, appreciate, and learn about my car and what went into it.
When did you get this car and why did you choose it?
- I bought my car in January of 2019. I didn’t know much about modifying cars, but I knew there was a world to unlock. I started looking at cars on the roads and trying to hone in on a car that was within my price range, but also fit my taste for sleek looking cars. I came across the Scion FRS and fell in love with how it looked. It looked so sporty, so sleek, and so aggressive. I remember looking up the price of the car and going “THAT'S IT?!” I couldn’t believe such a good looking car could be so affordable. After I finally found the one and picked it up, I started looking up aftermarket parts and my eyes lit up realizing I hit the jackpot of all beginner projects cars, the market to modify were endless.
Mod List
Exterior:
✨Satin Black wrapped and hand painted design
✨KARMA wide body kit 1 of 30 in the world
front bumper
Rear bumper
Side skirts
Front fenders
Rear fenders
Duckbill
✨inno roofbox
✨Custom 1 of 1 brackets and laser cut playboy bunny design
✨Custom 1 of 1 headlights with laser etched cherry blossoms and bunny logos chasing lights
✨Morakot Racing oem plus chasing taillights
✨Luminous Pink Tints with reflective tint designs
Interior:
✨Custom 1 of 1 upholstery seats
✨Custom upholstery floor mats
✨Custom upholstered headliner diamond stitched with starlights
✨Custom resin shift knob
✨Custom painted dash and center console
✨Wooden trunk floor
✨NRG Harnesses silver
✨Harness bar
Suspension and Wheels:
✨GMR 3piece VSS-8 18x10.5 -26 -33
✨Airlift performance suspension
✨Broadway top hats
✨Racerxtire rods
✨Megan racing trailer arms
✨godspeed toe arms
✨racerx RUCA
Performance:
✨Artic Air intake
✨Tomei UEL headers
✨HKS front pipe
✨Custom playboy bunny exhaust tip
✨OFT tune
This widebody is absolutely wild, Can you tell me more about it?
- Thank you!! You have no idea, this body kit was a dream I made happen. 4 years ago if you asked me if I thought I would have a car that looks the way it does today, I would have said there's no way I could do that. KARMA is the name of the bodykit, 4 years ago this body kit did not exist, it was only just a concept. I remember seeing the concept render drawn up and I was “WOW’d” to the point that with little to no money in my bank I messaged the page and asked how one could purchase this body kit, I remember getting a response saying the kit was only just a concept and in the process of being created. Two years later, it got released and I made it a goal of mine to get it one day. In 2021 I applied for the body kit and got accepted to represent the KARMA family and had kit number 30 in the world shipped to me all the way from indonesia. I spent the winter putting the widebody kit on myself with guidance from a friend. I’ve never installed a widebody kit before, but that wasn’t going to stop me from doing it on my own. This was one of the hardest projects I’ve ever taken on and one of the hardest methods of installing a body kit, but I did it and it was worth every tear I shed doing the process.
What's in store next for this or just projects in general for you?
- Next up in my interior, it is currently all done up, but it was done for my last set up and I never got around to changing it, my goal was to finish my exterior and then move on to my interior, this winter I will be fully redoing my interior and it will be anything, but ordinary and I am excited to make my concept come to life! After the FRS is done I plan on moving on to the drift world and learning the ins and outs of drifting.
Anyone you wanna shout out?
- As odd as this is I want to shout- out my car, it opened up a different life I didn’t know I had in store for me. I was in Veterinary school, but left after my first year when I realized I was happier in the car scene. I met so many amazing people, I found my love, talent, and skill for working on cars all which led me to opening up my own automotive customization shop in New Jersey called Araiguma Garage! Putting smiles on peoples faces to do things for people with a vision, but don’t have the ability to make come to life. I also met my partner because of my car, I will never forget the day he came up to me when I was painting on my blue plasti-dipped car at a car show in New Jersey, we both happen to have the same car, year/make/model, 3 years later here we are together both with our own businesses that go hand in hand with the same cars we met with, but evolved so heavily.
Well i hope y'all enjoyed Feature #2
Another fantastic not just car, but story with it. So much time,effort and life changing events came through this build. Its a beautiful thing to hear and i hope it inspires at least one of you to keep pushing, Go for that out of reach goal. Show everyone your vision. Bring your dream to life..
Make sure to follow our Instagrams
Feature - @xsonzax
Shop - @araiguma.garage
Shooter - @royal.menace