The story of this clean, white Prelude starts with one Justin Di Nisio, of Broomall, Pennsylvania. When he was merely a tyke at just 11 years old, his older brother’s friend rolled up in a car that not only caught Justin’s attention, but captured his imagination as well. Even at that young age, he’d fallen in love at first sight. He told everyone around him that one day he would own the same car. The thing was, he didn’t even know what kind of car he was drooling over. The vehicle had “R” emblems on it and some sort of body kit that prevented Justin from being able to identify it. Later on he discovered that under all of that fiberglass was, in fact, a Honda Prelude, and the object of his obsession finally had a name.
As soon as he turned 16, Justin began his search for his first car. Although he looked at all types of chassis, he knew deep down what he really wanted, and he finally found an automatic, silver ’98 Prelude. “At the time it was the only one that I could find, so I just bought it.” That impulse buy would end up being a source of great regret as those around him made fun of the fact that the vehicle was armed with a slush-box, so Justin pushed aside the itch to modify the car and set his sights on a manual model for his build. After just four months, the car was sold and a new search began. It was only a week after the sale of the original car that Justin found his current five-speed chassis.
Now in possession of a platform that fit all of his wants and needs, Justin jumped right in to modifying the car as he saw fit, and over the next couple of years, the modifications were made as quickly as the funds would permit. Although the vehicle purchased already had an AEM intake and an exhaust, Justin took the car straight home and installed an AEM V2 intake as well as a GReddy EVO2 exhaust that he had in his garage. Additional under-hood additions like a JDM Prelude Type S valve cover, carbon-fiber spark plug cover, and Samco radiator hoses were acquired and installed. A few subtle exterior mods including black housing headlights and a set of JDM foglights also made the cut. Money was tight at this point so Justin did what he could, when he could. “At that time, I just drove the car to and from school. Time just flew by.” Although unable to do what he wanted to with the car, Justin continued daydreaming of the modifications he would add when his circumstances changed. Little did he know that a quick trip with a friend would mark the beginning of a whole new chapter in his build.
A friend of Justin’s was selling an ECU, so Justin hopped in the car with him to meet up with the prospective buyer. During the chitchat that ensued, the buyer mentioned that he worked at shop that imported all types of JDM parts, including Prelude parts. Justin’s ears immediately perked up and he got the email address of Nick, the owner of EliteJDM. Not wasting any time, Justin quickly made contact. “I emailed him and he told me to come up and take a look around.” Accepting the invitation, Justin went over to the shop and inquired about a slew of JDM Prelude Type S parts that he wanted for his Prelude. Getting a deal that he couldn’t pass up, Justin purchased virtually the entire exterior of his chassis’ Japanese counterpart including the JDM Type S front bumper and lip, fenders, side skirts, rear bumper, and flush-mount spoiler, as well as window visors, power-folding sideview mirrors, and even front and rear badges.