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Kuby, 24, was just looking for a reliable daily driver when
he purchased the Sunfire in 1997. Three years later, and under
the influence of his friends, Kuby started to sing the modification
mantra. "I, honestly, when I first bought the car I had
no ambitions of doing up a car," he recalled. "I
just bought it and started hanging out with people who did,
so I started looking into it."
His first target was the trunk of the car. "The dumb
ass wing was the first thing," Kuby joked. "But
the car looked stupid without the wing, it looked like a giant
bubble."
The wing started a flight of fabrication that had its share
of turbulence.
The first difficulty was finding aftermarket parts that not
only looked good but also were designed for, or at the very
least adaptable to, the Sunfire body. "It was a little
annoying because when I first got started on the car there
were no body kits, no nothing for it."
The wallet served up a second roadblock.
Kuby had pieced together what he wanted to do to the vehicle
part by part. He had saved up the necessary money and tore
the car apart. But Kuby's reserves ran dry and his car was
left in pieces. It was off the road for two years.
Then came along partner Jenny Sych. "When I met him,
it had a body kit, it had rims and no paint. It was three
different colours," Sych recalled. "I could not
have done it without her," Kuby concluded. "Sure,
I started doing it before we got together but it really progressed
since she started helping me."
Between the two of them, Sych and Kuby worked five jobs (two
fulltime and three part-time) to raise funds. They also attacked
much of the modification work, everything short of the paint,
bodywork, exhaust and some of the stereo, in order to get
the Sunfire back on the road.
When it debuted at the Winnipeg World of Wheels earlier this
year, it became one of only a couple of customized Sunfires
in Manitoba garnering awards and accolades, even from skeptics.
"A lot of people say they don't like Sunfires in general,"
Kuby said. "But they see this and they go 'I don't like
Sunfires, but this is nice."
The debut of the car does not mark the end of the customization
journey. Kuby expressed plans for an air ride suspension and
a wider body kit with the overall goal of being able to tuck
20" rims. In addition, he would like to swap the engine
again. This time going to a supercharged engine from a Cobalt.
Lastly, would be to change the headlights and the taillights.
"Because that will be the only thing left that will be
stock," Kuby concluded.
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