SP Rides: A Constant Canvas
BY MICHAEL KITCHENS
Name: London Fee
Age: 30
Occupation: Car painter, carpenter
Hobbies: Playing music, surfing
Year, Make, Model: 1991 Toyota MR2
Color: Fully hand-airbrushed and -dipped graphics by London Fee and Dip Hawaii; hand-layered 3-D textured design
Engine: 5FSE, K&N intake, OBX Racing headers, dual cat back exhaust, advanced timing at15 degrees
Exterior: Aeroware front lip, Greddy GRacer side skirts, smoked front parking lights, Creed LED front pop-up headlights, black tinted and dipped rear tail lights with all LED lighting, HID fog lights, rolled and shaved front and rear fenders, shaved roof antenna, custom rear Dip Hawaii hand cut logo
Interior: Kenwood head unit, Kenwood two channel 400w amp, Sony Xplod speakers and tweeters, 10-inch Kicker sub, custom sticker bombed accents, racing steering wheel, dipped holographic weighted shift knob, blue LED gauges, dome lighting, tinted windows
Suspension: Tein coilovers
Wheels: Staggered 17-inch ASA rims, driver side dipped rims (DYC Intense Teal), Pass side dipped rims (KP pigments Polaris Yellow)
Shout-outs: The Spray Source, Dip Hawaii, Wacktoy
Cars can be considered works of art in many ways and even more so when one is an actual canvas for painting. London Fee of Dip Hawaii is known for his visually stimulating airbrush car art that have been featured several times in previous editions of Street Pulse. With his passion and background, it would only be natural that his own personal ride act as a canvas to display his talents.
Five years ago, Fee became one of the first people to airbrush dipped cars — essentially, layering a car’s existing paint with a protective, rubberized coating — in conjunction with the application of the Plasti Dip product. At the time, there were only a handful of professional installers throughout the world. The combination of Plasti Dip and art has helped Fee make a name for himself in the “dipped world,” in just a short period of time.
Dipping has been discussed before here in Street Pulse. It provides serious protection and in a short period of time it has developed into its own industry, comparative to automotive paintwork. What makes it special is that if you get tired of it or it gets damaged, one can simply pull it right off to reveal the original paint below.
About a year ago, Fee sold off one of his spare trucks and used it to purchase a 1991 Toyota MR2 to use as his own personal advertisement. The MR2 is simply timeless and its body-style screams modern sports car in a tiny package. The vehicle was in great shape overall, but of course, the body was shot and needed several months of sanding and repair.
The visuals are what this car is all about. London tends to paint each side of his projects with a different look while constantly changing them after becoming bored. Initially, the entire vehicle was dipped in Satin Black holographic with pearls from Didspade added. After this, he airbrushed the entire driver’s side with his crazy art style and graphics. The experimental passenger side was going for an engraved chrome look. The complicated process included three layers of hand-layered 3-D texture design and then coating all of it in metal chrome; everything used was from HALO EFX Coatings.
The Toyota MR2 is an extremely light go-kart — the NA version only weighs 2,599 pounds bone-stock. It has been modified for increased performance with the inclusion of a K&N cold air intake, OBX Racing Headers, and a mean-sounding dual cat back exhaust. London advanced the timing to 15 degrees so that he could get a little more pep out of the engine off the line. The suspension includes Tein coilovers matched with staggered 17-inch ASA wheels that have been dipped in DYC Intense Teal on one side and KP pigments Polaris Yellow on the other.
The interior is a soundscape thanks to the inclusion of a full audio package of Kenwood and Kicker components including a 10-inch Kicker sub. Custom sticker bombed accents are spread throughout the interior such as on the racing steering wheel while a dipped holographic weighted shift knob looks pretty dope. Blue LED gauges and lighting look cool for cruising at night.
For London, it has been an incredible journey to take his art and mix it with the custom car scene here in Hawaii. Whether temporary or permanent, it has been an awesome and intimately personal ride he’s had the privilege to enjoy thanks to the ability to dip.
