The Tein ’06 Civic. Acquired by Tein for the purpose of showcasing the company’s abilities for taking one of the most sought after examples of sportcompact vehicles, and transforming it into a platform on which to display the newest examples of product set to debut over the next year. Along with offerings from some of the most relevant auto manufacturers in our industry, the Tein Civic perfectly exemplifies what it means to be a “purpose-built company car”. The vehicle debuted in Las Vegas, at the past SEMA show, in late 2005, equipped with a plethora of Tein products, all wrapped in a custom-fabricated exterior that made it nearly indistinguishable from the yet-to-be-released moniker altogether.
As it sat then, the Civic demonstrated not only the prowess of El Monte, CA’s premier bodyshop AutoWerks, who added additional inches to all corners of the stock SI, but how well the car’s new design impressed the long-standing aftermarket performance part manufacturers who have all but ignored the model over the past 5 years. In just a few weeks’ time, Tein equipped the new Civic with a one-off intercooled turbo kit, full race suspension, and a multitude of functional interior and exterior mods, all sealed in signature Tein graphics. Much of a departure from their traditional line of work, Tein fabbed a GT2835 turbo kit, complete with one-off intercooler, downpipe, and plumbing, governed by a prototype tune of AEM engine management, for this particular car only. The kit is fully functional, unlike those found on many company-built show cars, and while we can’t vouch for its highway-speed performance, we know for a fact that the car does a pretty good job of spinning the 19×10″ Enkei RPF1 Type RC wheels, and roasting the Falken FK-451 rubbers in the better half of the first and second gear powerbands. The car being a Civic, and Tein being a suspension company, designers in charge of the build made sure to equip the Civic with what they considered to be their best street/race set-up, and applied new Mono-Flex coilovers w/EDFC control unit to each corner.
Moving inside the custom-wrapped red interior, Bride Ergo II seats were added for JDM-inspired Type-R flair, and to offset the traditional Tein colorscheme. A MoMo steering wheel improves response, while Defi gauges provide re-assuring feedback of engine vitals to the driver. I.C.E. was contributed exclusively by Rockford Fosgate and custom-enclosed in house by Tein technicians, providing even further proof of the company’s prowess in all-inclusive builds. A full documentation of modifications added can be found on the Performance Auto & Sound website, via the like: http://www.pasmag.com/article.asp?ID=266
While most company cars share a common fate in either A.) being sold by the owner, or B.) being disassembled and sold for parts by the owner, this Civic may have met a fate that is either one of the two, or something slightly more complicated. In July, 2006, this car was stolen, and has yet to be recovered. While the debates continue to this day as to whether the theft of the car was the product of a carefully orchestrated “inside” or “outside” job, one point seems to be unarguably true: a car with as big and well known a profile as this almost certainly could not be re-sold in its entirety. We suspect the busting-up of the Tein Civic SI began minutes after it’s theft, and the selling of its parts shortly there-after…something to keep in mind when considering the credibility of the seller of that dirt-cheap prototype turbo kit or full suspension you thought you just scammed on ThePartsTrader for your new Civic 😉
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