If you were to compile a list of some of the best, utterly timeless, Civic builds of all-time, Fred Chapman’s EK from 2007 would definitely be on it. Fred, one of the original members of ATS Garage, has long been a contributor to many of the incredible projects that ATS has produced over the years. If you don’t know Fred, you’d probably recognize him more as “ATS FCB” or simply FCB (Fred Chapman Built). He is considered to be a “build manager” among his ATS peers and they often look to him for help and for advice when putting their builds together. After seeing his handiwork on many other builds, it was interesting to see what he would come up with when it came time for him to build his own build together. Back in 2007, the nation got a first hand look at his own personal masterpiece in an issue of HCI Magazine…

Fred’s build was just one of those cars that really made a huge impact on the Honda community in the mid-2000s. Its level of detail was top tier and even if you weren’t into Hondas, you’d appreciate his labor of love. I personally think that this car was gone far too soon as it would still be a very relevant build now as we approach 2014. The interesting thing to consider is the style and execution of the entire car, particularly in the engine bay, is essentially what you would see in both ATS Anh’s Integra Type R, as well as Chris Sakai’s EK, both builds that are considered to be at the forefront of the Honda community right now. Fred was a major contributor in both those builds so you really see his style translate over even as time progresses. It should also be added that this wasn’t even the final stage of the build, as some of you will remember the custom center exit exhaust he added some time after this feature came out…

Chapman’s EK is still one of my all-time favorites and I honestly appreciated the car a whole lot more years later when I started going over Anh’s Integra Type R. You see his maturation as time goes on but you don’t really see a significant shift in his method and execution. Either he was ahead of his time or everyone else was just slow. You gotta keep in mind that these were captured in 2007. At a glance, and without any understanding of time, you’d think that these were taken just yesterday or some time in the recent past because of how germane it is to the current state of the Honda community. It’s great to have these photos to look back on because we’d probably not even realize that these builds were around. Honestly, with the way the Internet is and how quickly we just skim over things, I can post one thing and then post it again two weeks later and it’ll seem like new content. People just absent-mindedly glance and move along without reading or developing any sort of understanding. Chapman’s Civic was featured in multiple magazines as well as online and many enthusiasts today might not have ever even heard of it until today. My hope is that THE ARCHIVES will help to serve as a bit of a time capsule that we can always look back on to appreciate the people and the cars that helped shape the present and future of the community….

Gene Tjin is once again the man to thank for these photos. If not for him, THE ARCHIVES just wouldn’t be possible. Fred Chapman’s Civic came and went and hopefully one day he will put this thing back together. It just rots outside as a parted-out shell in the driveway of some house in Northern California. Fred had other priorities to deal with so he parted the car and retained the shell hoping to one day bring it back to its glory days. If that ever happens is not yet determined. Today, we can go back to ’07 and see this ATS Garage masterpiece in its prime state… If you want to look at any of the other posts from THE ARCHIVES, simply search “The Archives Stickydiljoe” or “The Archives Chronicles” on any search engine and all the posts should pop-up. I’ve made them easy to find so you should not have any issues finding them. If you understand how “tags” work, you can always just click on “the archives” tag at the end of this post and it’ll pull up all related articles…

Thanks for looking and click on any of the images to see higher-resolution versions. Please don’t alter them in any way if you choose to repost them somewhere. These are exclusive to Stickydiljoe.com and I’d prefer to keep them that way, especially since you won’t see these photos anywhere else as I plucked them from Gene’s private CD collection….

PHOTOS BY GENE TJIN FOR HCI MAGAZINE IN 2007; POST-PROCESSING BY STICKYDILJOE IN 2013

That’s a wrap for today, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!!…