I know I have been a bit slack of late with the imports, but I haven't had a lot of you import guys stepping up to the plate to be featured.  That was not the case for Josh Burley.  Now Josh makes his living as an accountant, and he has a passion for cars.  Usually I wouldn't think of a Mitsubishi Mirage as a car you would want to modify, but just have a look at the work of art that Josh has created out of his.

 

The work that has gone into this car is phenomenal, so I better get crackin.  Let's start with the body, and that orange paint.  It is a custom mix of Dupont Orange and Yellow pearl.  The car wasn't always that stunning orange.  It started out white, but Josh just wanted something that stood out a little more.  Mission accomplished I reckon.  It wasn't all peaches and cream getting the paint to look that good though.  On the first attempt the paint looked great, but after around a week it started losing it's shine, and when the guys attempted to buff it, the paint just fell off the car.  Turns out the painter forgot to add the hardener........OOPS.  After this drama, Josh decided to take the car to G & E Paintworks, where the current paint job was performed.  The side indicators, aerial, boot hatch and rear wiper have all been shaved.  A set of custom chrome 'M3' side mirrors with indicators replaced the old, and the headlights are '3D' Eyelids.  At the back is a set of Xracing tail light covers and a custom Jetspeed rear bar extension.  Fibremotive provided the 'Droid' side skirts and fibreglass 'Droid2' bonnet.  One thing is obvious, no expense has been spared on making this car look awesome.

Some people build a car for show only, and forget about the mods under the bonnet, but not Josh.  This car is a complete package, but like the paintwork, the engine had some troubles before getting to where it is now.  Josh originally bought a Mivec 1.6 litre twin cam engine package out of Sydney.  This was the engine Mirage Cup racing was using.  It stayed in the car for 8 months until one morning on the way to work, Josh was coming up to the Smith Street exit on the M1 at 110 km/h, when the engine light came on, the engine started to squeal and then seized completely.  Turns out the oil pump failed, leaving Josh with an engine bay full of Mivec paperweight.  Josh decided to upgrade to a 1.8 litre GSR spec engine that is not sold in Australia, but he did manage to find one and import it from New Zealand.  The engine is a 4G93T, 1834cc CM5A GSR twin cam turbo with a genuine 'Hybrid' front mount intercooler and custom intercooler piping.  Hybrid also provided the blow off valve.  There is a custom polished intake manifold cover and a Walbro in-tank fuel pump.  It has a K & N air filter and a Ralli-art oil cap.  The entire engine is detailed including the surrounding brackets and there is a custom heavy duty battery.  It is all kept cool by a Slimline thermo fan.  The gases get out through a 3 inch mandrel bent exhaust and a stainless steel cannon muffler.  The gearbox is a 4G92 'Cyborg' Mivec close ratio box with a custom 4-puk clutch and JUN lightened flywheel.

Underneath the car hasn't been left alone either.  There are Jumboz 3 inch lowered springs all round, and a K-Mac polished strut brace.  The brakes are totally custom.  Evo 4 RS twin spot front calipers with 276mm DBA rotors and Bendix high performance pads, and CE Lancer drums on the rear.  It all rolls on a set of 19 x 7.5 Gestalt Virouge 1 chrome wheels and 215/35/19 Nankang tyres.

Th entire interior has been retrimmed in custom orange vinyl.  The door trims and false floor are custom, as are the rear quarter panels and moulded rear seat.  The front seats are Autotechnica 'Monza' buckets. The instrument cluster has been transplanted from an Evo 5 and the steering wheel is all leather.  The gear knob and window winders are billet and the pedals are chrome.

The sound system is a Clarion touch screen head unit, with CD and windows media player playing through a 7 inch, fully motorised in-dash LCD screen.  There is a PS2 tucked away in the glovebox as well.  There are 2 pairs of Jaycar Kevlar 6.5 inch splits, 2 Schneider SPX-415 15 inch subs and a Schneider 4000-HC amplifier.  All wiring is heavy duty, there is a custom boot enclosure and a power inverter.  This car truly has everything.

Josh and his car have become well known around the car scene.  He has won numerous awards including Editor's choice at Gold Coast Autosalon 2005, and Mitsubishi Champion at Gold Coast Autosalon 2007, where it also made 174.6 bhp on the dyno.  He has a bag of trophies from Raceline events too - Top 4 Cylinder, Super Show Off and Best Paint from different Raceline events, as well as several from his own club.  Josh would like to thank Mon for her support and putting up with his tantrums, Dion Barnes for all his help, and all the guys from low4show for their help and tech suport.  So I asked Josh "How does an accountant end up being a car bloke?" - The answer was simple  "I was a car bloke long before I was an accountant" - Well whatever you do during the week Josh, you drive one of the nicest show cars around on the weekend mate....................