Morgan Jade's 1996 Civic Type R
First off, let's get the proverbial "elephant in the room" out of the way; this real deal, direct from the land of the rising sun, EK9 Civic Type R is owned, built, and driven by someone of the female persuasion.
Yes, a girl owns it. The community is so consumed lately with comparisons between the east and west coast, or real parts versus replica parts, that they've forgotten about the age-old gender debate. Either that's a good thing, or the hobby we all love is so male-dominated that it's not really a relevant argument to have. Debate or not, we should all be mature enough to realize that a nice build is a nice build, regardless of whose car it is.
A girl with a fully-built Honda is definitely few and far between, though. So the moment one surfaces on the internet or at a local car meet, all of a sudden every guy thinks they have a chance with her, and the awkward crushes ensue. "Post more pics of driver" is quoted more than once on internet discussion forums and "that's gotta be her man's car" is muttered throughout a crowd of enthusiasts at a public event. It's highly possible that women are probably scared away by these creeps before they even get a chance to wrench on their Hondas!
So how is it that a true Japanese EK9 CTR (completely road legal by the way, with papers) ends up on U.S. shores, with a female behind the wheel? "I fell in love with this car the second I laid eyes on it six years ago when my friend Loi Song picked it up," Morgan Jade says. "I was building a U.S.-spec EK at the time and the Civic Type R was everything I was building toward. I knew I had to have it! I begged him to sell it to me before he eventually gave in and gave it to me for a really good price."
Though she had purchased the Civic from her friend, it wasn't until six months later that she had her dream car in her possession. "I was living in NorCal at the time and I had to make time to travel. When I finally found the time to go pick it up, I received some unfortunate news that an old street racing friend of mine had passed away in a motorcycle accident. I was also pregnant at the time with my baby girl and even went into labor during his funeral! Traveling just wasn't going to happen so I had to call a buddy of mine to pick up the CTR for me."
It's not everyday that you hear about a Civic Type R owner giving birth. This is definitely a unique situation. Not as unique, but almost as interesting, is the K20Z1 that lies underneath the hood of this Championship White Type R. Honda purists may cry automotive blasphemy at the mere thought of ditching a B16B, but Morgan had her mind set.
"The goal was clear before the car ever came home-K20 or bust," Jade says confidently. "I had an RSX as a daily back in 2002 and I just really loved the K-series. Ever since then, it was all about the K-series for me." Luckily she had a formidable hand by her side when it came time to do the swap. Her friend Loi Song, of Sportcar Motion fame, was (and still is) well-known as being one of the premier builders of everything K-series.
Once she made the decision to move down to San Diego, her build went into motion. Loi and the Sportcar Motion crew helped her locate and assemble the K20Z1 that would eventually find its home inside Jade's CTR. Now the B16B that originally came in the EK9 was definitely no slouch, but the opportunity to be able to swap in a K was just too good to pass up. This motor in particular, would make any B-series lover reconsider. Stock valvetrain was replaced with the latest Skunk2 Pro Series pieces and stock compression is bumped up to 12.5:1 courtesy of CP Forged pistons. The block is further strengthened with a micro-polished and balanced crankshaft and ACL Race bearings. Along with basic bolt-ons like a Skunk2 Mega Power header, exhaust system, and RBC intake manifold, Morgan's engine was able to produce 278whp at Church Automotive.