Wise-Guy

John Velez lives in Little Ferry, New Jersey, and we like to think of him as a bit of a wise guy. Calm down, we’re not talking black Town Cars, chrome suits, and cement overshoes here. John Velez is a wise guy because he was hip to our MAX style before we were.

John and a few of his “associates” founded Slam’n Imports in 1990. Slam’n is currently comprised of 12 people, and this is mostly due to the stringent membership requirements. The club’s focus is on late-model European and Asian sport and luxury sedans with an emphasis on style, performance, and mad mobiletronics installations. Just a few examples include a couple of Brabus-tuned M-Bs in the form of a CLK and E430, an AC Schnitzer 5-Series, a pair of Infinitis (one J30 and one G20), and a Wings West A3 Golf. For further proof, check out the October ’99 issue of MAX for the feature on Joel Medina’s tight ’97 Accord.

As the club president John has to represent, he does so in a big way with this ’98 GS 400. John has owned some great cars like an ’85 RX-7, ’89 and ’91 Legend Coupes, and a ’93 GS 300. But when Lexus introduced the redesigned GS in 1998, John knew he had to have one. Right after buying the GS, John set to work on improving it. John worked with Daytona Auto Accessories and Motorsport 46 in New Jersey to acquire some products that stood out from the more popular (Read: played out.—MAX) aftermarket goods on the shelves.

John found a very rare Japanese body kit from Wise Sports and a set of 20-inch AMEs with P Zero rubber. The suspension was assisted with Intrax springs and an RMM strut tower brace. RMM also provided a carbon-fiber engine cover. Mobile Innovation installed two Phoenix Gold XS2500 two-channel amps, one 10-inch Kicker Solarbaric subwoofer and door-mounted separates. The crew at Mobile Innovation performs all the work for Slam’n and with good reason—their installations are solid and the sound quality is superb.

John didn’t have the opportunity to complete the GS because after these photos were taken, hurricane Floyd sent his car on a long drive down a short pier. Don’t shed a tear for him though because before the interior on the ’98 could dry, John ran out and bought a 2000 GS 400, and he wants to make it even wilder than the ’98. We plan on featuring John’s new GS and some of the other Slam’n rides, not only because they know our flavor, but also because we don’t want to wake up with Mr. Ed’s head next to us in the morning.