WWW: The Hotboyz 1JZ Powered S-Chassis

I don’t know much about writing features. What I do know is everybody seems to have car friends they’ve known forever. Yet today’s post isn’t about a longtime friend; it’s about the type of guy who seems like he could have been my friend from way back. Truth be told, I’ve only hung out with Eric Zapata of Hotboyz a handful of times. But every time we see each other, he greets me with a hug and we immediately start to shoot the shit. There aren’t many people who would kill their Friday night waiting for me to show up at their shop.

As I was saying, it was late one Friday evening when we rolled into the home of the Stampede, Calgary. We skipped a fancy dining experience and filled up on fast and easy junk food so we could spend the rest of the night hanging out with Eric.

We eventually showed up at Eric’s shop, which also happens to be the unofficial birth place of Hotboyz. It’s been almost two years since Jordan and myself pulled into that lot on our way to Penticton for the Drift Union Invitational. That was the first time I met Eric and I remember thinking, “Man, this guy’s got style.

Eric’s car was multi-coloured. If you’re familiar with the internet and those who are popular on it, then you’ll know Eric’s car is usually tan and soon will be again. But even without the proper colour scheme, there’s one thing that doesn’t change: Eric’s still got style.

Not everyone could pull off this look, and understandably so. You really have to own it and that’s exactly what Eric does. Somewhere between the Team Julius, Dmax and Origin parts, you’ll notice the Work Emitz. These are Eric’s daily wheels and they measure in at 18×10 -13 up front and 18×13 -4 in the rear. In order to fit these, Eric rocks Dmax 20mm front fenders and Origin Type 2 rear over fenders. Eric’s drift spares consist of some Rays Gramlight 57s pro 18×9 -20 and also some ABC Balken 18×12 0.

There are some cars you know a person was meant to drive. Sure, they can drive other cars, but deep down they will always be this certain type of car guy. For example, I always thought I was an S-Chassis guy but I was easily swayed to Toyota. In fact, this was one of the few cars that helped derail my Nissan loyalty. After seeing this S-Chassis, I knew I might as well just give up because when this thing is all tan and sliding around corners, few things are as cool as that. Also, hearing the 1JZ that powers it made me realize that I needed an inline 6.

Watching Eric cruise the streets of Calgary was a treat in itself. There’s something you can’t quite put your finger on, but when you see it you know it’s something special.

Soon this car will be all one colour and re-united with the other 2/3 of Hotboyz. I mentioned earlier the unofficial birth place of Hotboyz was Eric’s shop. But, if I’m being completely honest with you, the official birth place of Hotboyz was on the front lawn of some random Hotel in Kelowna in the wee drunken hours of the morning. This was only a few hours after Jordan Hall and myself met up with Jack Connelly and Eric at his shop to convoy to Penticton. It is this hospitality that reassures me that Eric is always down to help out whenever, even if it means wasting a Friday night with a few small-time prairies boys so they can snap some pictures.