The Seattle Skyline
In 2004, World One Performance finally opened its own shop here in Seattle. With a new shop, Garret now had to hire new employees. He asked me if I knew anyone who had experience working behind an import shop counter, and my answer was simple: Alex Cheang.
I went to middle school and high school with Alex, and after I graduated from college, I learned that he was working behind the counter at the (in)famous Ultraspeed, and then moving on to Garage SPL, one of Seattle’s premier import tuner shops back in 2001. I credit him a great deal in helping me get into cars and Subarus, since he was always happy to hook up a friend. In any case, after Garage SPL closed down, he searched for a new home and as luck would have it, that new home became World One Performance.
Upon starting at World One, Alex brought in a totally different type of AWD vehicle: a 1990 Skyline R32 GT-R. This car was a factory mutant of sorts…with just a turboback exhaust, intake, and a raise in boost, he broke into 11s at the track with a 11.9 time. Other than the old-school BBS wheels, nothing much else was done to it. However, Garret and Alex had big plans.
Outfitted with a full Do-Luck body kit, hood, and spoiler, a color change to purple, full welded-in roll cage, Enkei wheels, StopTechs all around, gigantic HKS turbos and FMIC…the plan for this car was to make the ultimate Time Attack machine. The motor was also built from the ground up, easily pushing over 450 whp on the butt dyno with a simple tune to at least get the car running. Since then, the car’s motor was used for some Valvoline print ads, but since Alex left the company, the car was eventually sold to a private party and never seen again. Rumor has it that the car was tuned at AEM and made well over 600 whp at about 20 psi, but the final numbers and fate of the car are unknown.
