Bisimoto boss impresses Jay Leno with 1,000-horsepower Civic wagon
Bishi Ezerioha, CEO and founder of Bishimoto Engineering, has been described as "a man who loves the unloved," and for good reason. At his tuning store in Ontario, California, he once tuned a Honda Odyssey to 1,000 horsepower.
And now he has done the same thing with another Honda, a 1990 Civic Wagon. The car was featured in the latest episode of Jay Leno's Garage and is as wildly finished as one would expect from Bisimoto's hero project.
The engine is a 2.4-liter inline-4 fitted with a massive turbocharger that produces nearly 1,000 horsepower, or 772 at four wheels. It is also equipped with a Quaife five-speed sequential transmission.
All of this in a package weighing just 2,650 lbs.
One interesting element not usually found in tuned Civics, or almost any car for that matter, is the fan mounted on the rear wheels. This helps create downforce by literally sucking air out from under the car. This is the same type of technology that McLaren F1 designer Gordon Murray will be using in his upcoming T50 supercar.
Come on, click play now. The sight of Leno driving around in a tuned, hooded Civic is just priceless.