As part of our 20th anniversary retrospective, we're showcasing some of our favorite vehicles of the past two decades. You'll be able to vote on your favorite car later. Here's another stunner for which to choose from.
Finland's finest, Timo Rankonen, spared no amount of do-it-yourself know-how when building this Mazda 323. With only the help of his brother, Lauri, Rankonen pulled out all of the stops to create this competition-winning vehicle. And by "competition-winning," I mean competition crushing. This vehicle won Finland's FASCA (Finnish Auto Sound Competition Association) for six straight years. It also faired well in European National titles, taking home third place in 2000 and fourth in 2001 in the Pro 600-watt class.
For a fully customized interior, and to add in what the factory product lacked, Rankonen constructed an entirely new dash out of fiberglass. This allowed for a completely specific source unit location. A Momo steering wheel was reworked and fitted with levers for volume and track controls. As with F1 paddle shifters, the person behind the wheel can shift tracks or adjust volume with a small wrist action (no clutch necessary). Additional audio functions are controlled through sunken buttons within the steering wheel.
Proving himself to be obsessed with sound control, Rankonen installed processors that allow him to control the time alignment and crossover frequencies of each speaker on its own dedicated channel. The Pioneer ODR RS-P50 4-way active crossover traffics the signal from the amplifiers, each of which power a certain range of speakers. This combined with the channel dedication allows for the utmost control of each speakers sonic output. With such specification, it's not difficult to see how the fanatic Finn does so well in competitions.
Here are some of the other vehicles we've featured in our 20th anniversary retrospective:
Mercedes Benz 560 SEC
1995 Nissan 240SX