GPW AP2 S2000: One Man's Comeback Ride
After dabbling with the dark side, this S2KI member came back and bought his dream Honda S2000.
Keep Coming Back
It's a story that many of us are familiar with: Man buys a car, quickly tires of it, then buys something totally different. But when you're talking about a car that folks are incredibly passionate about, like the S2000, the story rarely ends there. In most cases, including the story of S2KI member JacobFatz, the lure of Honda's sporty roadster is far too great to overcome for good.
Short Build
It all started back in 2014 when Jacob purchased a silver S2000 that he built up in this thread. But only a year later, he was selling all those aftermarket parts and the car in a sudden purge. He then began to search for something similar, yet totally different.
Join the conversation about this AP2 S2000 build right here in the S2Ki.com forum.
Rare and Pricey
"My original thought was that I wanted a Grand Prix White AP2 in near mint condition," the OP recalls. "I went back and forth on 04-05 or 06+ a few times and came to the conclusion that I wanted and 04-05 unless I found a GPW CR. Being that there were only 1,208 GPW 04/05 S2000s ever made for the United States, the search was getting pretty intense." Sure enough, he found a couple of cars for sale, but all came with price tags way above what he wanted to spend.
Join the conversation about this AP2 S2000 build right here in the S2Ki.com forum.
Dark Side
There was just one tiny problem at this point - having sold his old S2000, Jacob didn't have a car at all. After four weeks of searching for his unicorn, he simply had to give up. Thus, he went out and bought a 2002 Corvette Z06 that fulfilled his needs for a second, at least.
Join the conversation about this AP2 S2000 build right here in the S2Ki.com forum.
Short Relationship
"I absolutely LOVED the car - for about a week," Jacob said. "The power from the 5.7 LS6 was awesome. The 6-speed gearbox was alright. The handling was absolutely horrendous. I daily drove the car for about three months and pretty much had enough. I hated (I use hate in exchange of - I really really missed my S2000) it by the end of the first week of ownership. I started looking again."
Join the conversation about this AP2 S2000 build right here in the S2Ki.com forum.
The Score
This time around, Jacob was even more motivated to find the perfect car. But in the end, he didn't have to go far to find it. "Every single day I looked. S2ki classifieds, local Craigslist, AutoTrader, Cars for Sale, and Car Gurus. Sometimes twice a day. On December 22, 2015, I saw an ad posted here on S2ki. The ad was posted around 4pm on December 22, 2015 and I apprehensively called the seller around midnight. We talked for a little bit and by noon December 23, I was ready to buy a plane ticket to Maryland. Oh, right. I live in Charlotte, NC and the car was in Gaithersburg, MD. I decided to buy a plane ticket for the following Monday (12/28/15) to get the car."
Join the conversation about this AP2 S2000 build right here in the S2Ki.com forum.
Long Day
At least that was the plan before Jacob discovered from the seller that there was another interested party. So he canceled his flight, rented a car, and made the seven-hour drive to pick it up at 3 am. By Christmas Eve afternoon, he and his dream S2000 were finally home.
Join the conversation about this AP2 S2000 build right here in the S2Ki.com forum.
Straight and Stock
At first, Jacob simply drove and enjoyed his new ride, racking up 2,000 miles before having a professional perform paintless dent repair to get the body perfectly straight. The next step was to remove all the Club Racer additions and get this thing looking stock once again.
Join the conversation about this AP2 S2000 build right here in the S2Ki.com forum.
Stock, Not Stock
But when we say stock looking, we don't mean stock performing. Jacob has since performed a slew of modifications to his beloved S2000, touching everything from the suspension to the brakes and of course, the engine.
Join the conversation about this AP2 S2000 build right here in the S2Ki.com forum.
Pure Enthusiasm
It's been a long and winding road, but it looks like Jacob has finally found his idea of the perfect car. Sadly, he did discover that his old silver car was wrecked and for sale at an online salvage auction. But even that can't dampen his enthusiasm for this gorgeous white ride!
Join the conversation about this AP2 S2000 build right here in the S2Ki.com forum.