2001 Mazda Protege MP3

Sometimes the freshest car audio installs are done by people who aren't car audio fanatics. They're into cars and want to do something cool with their vehicles; and they know a bit about car audio, but it's not their main focus or hobby perhaps. Turns out John Malozsak is just one such person.

John owns Ballistic Unlimited, a Huntington Beach, California-based company that specializes in shirts and apparel for the import car scene. When the time came for John to do a little self-promotion, he turned to Mazda Motors and they connected him to a 2001 Mazda Protege MP3. Mazda was seeking to get some added attention from the 20-30 year old buyer in the sport compact market. The new MP3 version of the Protege is the company's latest attempt to focus on those customers.

The Protege rolled off the line in Japan with black paint. However, that didn't last much longer than the boat ride over. Once the car was in Ballistic's hands, it made a trip to Body Pros in Costa Mesa, California. Here it received a prototype custom body kit as well as a rear spoiler.

Body Pros pulled the hood and sent it off to Sir Michael's Corporation for venting, louvers that is. When the hood returned, the car was ready for its new paint job. The orange pearl has to be seen to be appreciated. Making it jump even more is a top coat with glass beads. The beads really reflect the light and make the car awesome in sunlight. Body Pros even added a little candy to the headlights and taillights.

Up next was some bolt-on performance for the 1.8 liter four cylinder. Under the hood is a Monster Flow intake and air cleaner. Spark energy is conducted through Vitek plug wires while nearly anything metal was powder coated candy blue by Specialized Powder Coating. Finally, lurking under the car is a Bosal stainless steel cat-back exhaust.

Added visuals come from massive 18-inch Mak Force 18" x 7.25" rims with 225/35 FZ-4 Toyo tires surrounding them. Sinking them into the wheel wells are Intrax performance lowering springs. Wild graphics from Modern Image Signworks are also included (CA&E featured Modern Image's Eclipse Spyder in the July 2001 issue).

So now the part John is really good at is finished. The car looks awesome, but when you open the doors, it's all still stock Mazda. Something had to be done about that. A veteran of the show car circuit, he's seen his share of wild fabrications. Also, being friends with a car manufacturer can open some doors for you.