Alvin Balahadia was raised in the original 213 area code in Artesia, Southeast Los Angeles. Allan Balahadia, his older brother, raced and modified import vehicles in the 1980s. This, of course, got him interested in import car culture. He didn't completely get it as a child, he simply knew it was amazing. Alvin immersed myself completely in the import car culture up until 1994. He purchased a 1995 Integra GSR that had been completely customized as a display vehicle. He entered it in 2000 in Redondo Beach's first Hot Import Days event. He also liked attending Import Showoff and Battle of the Imports.
Alvin attended college after high school and enlisted in the US Navy. He was based in Seattle, Guam, Pensacola, Whidbey Island, Norfolk, San Diego, Chicago, Guam, and Meridian. He continued to enjoy vehicles throughout his career. 2003 Subaru WRX, 2013 Kia K5, and 2014 Porsche Boxster were among the vehicles he had owned. Alvin went to Las Vegas after medically retiring in 2017 because California was too expensive. He is a 100% permanent and totally disabled veteran.
In 2018 he made the decision to re-enter the import car culture. The biggest error Alvin made during his initial experience in the 1990s was blending in. This time, he made the decision to stand out. So he went with a 2014 Porsche Boxster. Alvin had to contact local businesses who built his parts specifically for his one-of-a-kind Porsche Boxster 981 or had parts fabricated to suit it because he had never seen another Porsche Boxster 981 customized before.
Alvin used the side markers, taillights, and engine components from the Porsche Cayman 981 being the only components that fit. After that, he added some of his own original concepts as well as ideas from the 1990s to his build, and the rest is history.
We had the opportunity to chat with Alvin Balahadia to get a build breakdown of his 2014 Porsche Boxster at our Tuning 365 Show @ Formula DRIFT: Long Beach.
For more information on PASMAG's Tuning 365 Show, visit https://tuning365.events.
For more information on Formula DRIFT, visit https://formulad.com.
As seen on PASMAG's Tuning 365 TV Show (Season 3 Episode 2) on REV TV
Additional footage from Mikey Dang (photo_md)
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