Feature Car Feature Car of the Month - November 2010 (Ben Seabrook)

[hvr6 88]

It is with great pleasure that I announce the honour of the November 2010 ‘feature car of the month’. This retrospective feature goes to Ben Seabrooks ‘Baby Blue Beauty’…. RIP. Moment of silence please….
It was a sad day and a bit of a shock when Ben, also known to some OC members as BGB, Mr Giggles, Mr Scenebrook, ‘The Guru’ (call him what you like – he doesn’t care! ;-) or has perhaps become immune due to spending too much time on here!) told us he was breaking the car (please apply direct for parts required…OBD1).
Considering his ‘vision’ and future plans for the car and given the hard work he had already put in, this seemed a difficult decision to make, but having recently set up a carpentry business (a bit like Jesus…) funds were needed elsewhere to develop his already successful career.

When I first met Ben I wasn’t sure we would get on at all, straight away noticing the dirt on his paintwork and interesting modifications on his previous Dragon Green VR (see below pictures) I was perplexed with his commitment to the ‘Scene’ery, but I was proved very very wrong. I’m sure you’ll agree we have all witnessed him blossom over the last few years and watched him nurture his love of cleaning, polishing and multiple bucket actions and it is safe to say the OCD clan have taken him into their welcoming bosoms…

Joking aside, without shadow of a doubt and I’m sure those who have met him will agree, Ben is one of the nicest people in the OC that I have met. He is always welcoming, willing to help anyone and answer their questions, however repetitive (note 10,000 plus posts!) and this feature is a tribute to his past efforts in developing and modifying his Blue VR and goes towards thanking him for his hard work as events main man over the last couple of seasons. Tony and I are only just finding out what a huge task this was and we are sharing the job!

Anyway enough of me rabbiting on about our Scene Queen and onto what you’ve all been waiting for, the details and mods! As Ben says “the inspiration for the car was relatively simple basically everyone I showed the pic of the car too said "it's horrible" so I thought I would try and prove them wrong !! I like a challenge and knew the car had potential so decided to give it a go.â€

Ben was exactly right, the response on the forum wasn’t exactly encouraging but the banter and abuse did nothing to stop him “I knew I would take loads of stick for it but that was part of the fun involved tbh and the looks it got were amazing, even if they were good or bad I loved the fact it turned heads†Other OC members soon warmed to the car that demanded your attention “after driving into the carpark at the Ring Nige turned to me and said ‘’everyone stopped and looked at it’’ and then on the way home Tony turned to me and said "you do get loads of looks in this don't ya, two fit birds just looked and smiled!" something that Tony had never experienced in his own vehicle, they would be too busy covering their ears for a start!

It’s to Ben’s credit that further improvements were made (let’s be honest it could only get better!) and in that true spirit that car enthusiasts share and others just don’t get, “the point of modifying cars is to have some fun and I think I achieved that with this, too many people get caught up in winning trophies or pleasing other people etc and that totally misses the point for me!†he ended up with the following list of mods, my personal favourite being the interior and roof lining:

Modifications:

stage 1 Z-Engineering charger
schimmel 263 cams
2.9 gas flowed head
6 branch manifold
milltek de-cat
chav special rearbox
Stealth re-map
vibratechnics fast road engine mounts
front wishbones fully polybushed
samco hoses
polished rocker cover
polished throttle body
hidden washer bottle
Tony special fan switch
stainless exhaust
mk4 style headlights
crystal fogs & indicators
crystal rear lights
fully smoothed tailgate
custom smoother rear bumper
vento leather
custom white smoothed dash
momo 280mm steering wheel
custom headliner and ABC pillars
mk4 gear knob
custom parcel shelf with hidden speakers
FK coilovers
brembo discs and pagid pads
works equip split rims with colour coded centers
awesome sticker

As you can see as well as improving the looks of the car, Ben had the need for speed and with the addition of the colour-coordinated charger he gave Baby Blue Beauty those extra horses “I also wanted it to drive well and have some ‘go’ and again was happy with my results on this side too, after Vince mapped the car it drove so well and was just as reliable as before the charger went on!!†This is a good exemplar case for those of you trying to convince your WAG’s that a forced induction VR is a practical car for the family!!!

Ben has given the club a lot of his spare time organising VR6OC club stands at shows all over the country and has been a regular at most, even picking up a trophy at last years ‘Billing Mega Meet’, and for him choosing a favourite one is understandably quite difficult; “tricky I like so many for different reasons - Inters because it's relaxed, compact a good diversity of cars and the camping is awesome, BugJam for the partying the insane water cooled drag cars, the music and the ambience but for everything it has to be the Ring trip - a completley epic experience it has everything and is petrol head heaven to get bored of looking at GT3RS's and Nissan GTR's you know you are somewhere unique, the campsite is amazing and the memories of people, cars, laps and general laughter will stay with me foreverâ€

Ben has also answered the following questions so you can all learn a little bit more about the man himself...

The person behind the car.

Name: Ben Seabrook
Forum user name: Ben Seabrook
Age: 18
Occupation: Carpenter
Location: Suffolk
Hobbies: the usual mates, pubs, cars, sitting in fields chatting rubbish and looking at cars, the Nurburgring
Likes: mates, loyalty, life
Dislikes: fakery, ego, middle lane hoggers

Car questions

First car?: Vauxhall Astra mk3
Current car?: Vauxhall Combo Van
Dream car?: Merc SL65 AMG black in satin black
Other cars owned?: VW Golf MK1 Convertible, VW MK3 Gti, 2 x VW Mk3 VR6's
What got you into Dubs?: I look awesome in a convertible and it was cheap !!
Best feature on your car?: The huge load carrying space and the ground clearance
Future modifications?: A new roofrack and maybe a trailor
Favourite other member's car?: very tricky but I would say either Helen's mulberry beauty or bungy's 4mo

General Stuff

1. Blonde or Brunette? Blonde
2. Takeaway or home cooked? Home cooked
3. Tea or Coffee? proper coffee
4. Euro look or USA look? neither I prefer the chav corsa wannabe look
5. Soap or Documentary? Documentary
6. Mates or Dates? Mates
7. Pubs or Clubs? Pubs
8. Sun seeker or Thrill seeker? Thrill seeker
9. Lager or Spirits? spirits although no more rum ( sorry Ollie :-( )
10. Dogs or Cats?: Dogs
11. Night out or Couch potato? happy with both
12. All Go or All Show? I want both !! but if pushed all go
13. Winter or Summer? Summer = show season
14. Tattoos or Piercings? Tattoos
15. Football or Rugby? Both :-)

The final thought before you browse the photos…. I really did have to persuade him into agreeing that his car to be the feature (and resort to blackmail if I’m honest) he is actually a really modest guy and he agreed on one condition that he was allowed to give you all a message, he wanted me to quote “the people involved are fantastic, I have met so many people through this club whom I now consider to be great friends. The shows are fantastic fun the atmosphere is great, everyone is chilled friendly and welcoming (no aggressive hoodies here !!) and I would urge anyone who hasn’t been yet to attend one next year and see the true heart of this club A more friendly helpful bunch you couldn’t wish to meetâ€
I hope that’s some real encouragement to the newcomers and lurkers, please do come to the shows as part of the VR6 Owners Club next year. Tony and I really hope as many of you can all attend the Summer Mega Meet, let’s make 2011 a great show season, there are some fantastic new cars in the club and some really interesting projects going on, I’m really looking forward to featuring them as part of this forum section….











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