GEO Storm Surge - on Boyd Coddington Wheels

Let me set the stage. It’s the early 2000’s… and I’m vacationing in Myrtle Beach with my family. Fresh off the heels of the original The Fast and the Furious movie, the ‘barely high school’ version of me is utterly infatuated with tuners. Thus – I’ve crammed my suitcase full of import car mags… all the hot titles of the day. I’m still too young to drive… but I’m already chomping at the bit & plotting it all out. The tuner car scene is larger than life to me at this point… and Myrtle Beach’s boardwalk is ground-zero for all sorts of kitted-out imports cruising the strip. Bass bumping… and underglow casting a florescent fog across the road as far as the eye can see.

But amongst the usual suspects – primarily Civics, Integras, Eclipses, Celicas and the like – there is an oddball that stands out to me. At first glance, I’m not even sure what it is. NX2000? MX-3? I wait… and here it comes: a yellow Geo Storm with neon green Streetglow sitting on ‘of the era’ Konig Tantrums. From that point on, I was hooked on the quirky little car. I think that particular Geo Storm helped ignite my passion for weird cars… an unhealthy obsession I still have to this day lol (see Josh’s 3000GT Spyder). And although I’ve never owned a Geo Storm, because of that moment, I continue to hold a deep affinity towards them.

Enter Jeffrey Biddle’s red 1993 Geo Storm…

I first came across this car some time ago on a little ol’ Facebook page called Radwood. Maybe you’ve heard of it lol? For those living under a rock, Radwood is a car organization catering to enthusiasts & cars of the 80’s & 90’s. You know… back when car manufactures actually made cool little (rad) cars. Nowadays, most cars come pre-spayed or neutered from the factory. But man, in the 80’s & 90’s… car companies were trying all sorts of cool stuff to engage young, active, energetic buyers.

Geo Strom backstory…

A sister car to the Isuzu Impulse/Piazza, the Geo Storm wasn’t your average domestic sport compact. Offered between the years of 1990 to 1993 in both two-door liftback and an uber-rare hatchback configurations, the Storm was essentially a Japanese tuner car that managed to slip under the radar… due to its less-than-desirable badging. The Storm was one of the first notable mainstream cars to feature future-forward 90s-esque window designs, low-profile headlights, and a big rear bumper/butt… that almost seems like a predecessor to the 2G Eclipse. Although it’s a shame that these cars never really took off in the aftermarket, they did hit hard with the youth… especially in factory shades of turquoise, purple, and yellow. And it *does* make it THAT much cooler to see one all done-up some 30+ years later.

Jeffrey’s Geo Storm is a perfect example of period-correct aftermarket styling…

It was essentially a barn find, complete with the 1995 inspection sticker still intact & only 55,000 miles on the clock. Jeffrey was looking for an “oddball car with a manual transmission, low miles, and an analog driving experience with minimal electronic assists.” When he stumbled on this Geo Storm, it checked all those rad-era boxes.

The Geo Storm’s stance…

This Geo Storm is hunkered down on a set of GC8 Impreza Raceland coilovers that have been modified to fit. And how about those wheels? Somehow – the cool thing about Geo Storms is that they can pull-off both tuner & mini-truck styling simultaneously. That being said – the wheels are a set of long-discontinued Boyd Coddington Gotcha II’s measuring 17”x7” with a 195/40/17 tire. Jeffrey added spacers front & rear to give the Storm a more modernized/flush fitment… while still keeping it period correct. Other noteworthy modifications include a K&N cone filter, open exhaust, a red painted valve cover, custom quad-row underglow, and a Hurst pistol grip shifter for extra style points. But where this car really shines is its extensive audio setup.

Remember when boomin’ stereo systems were all the rage?

I myself had a 10” subwoofer stuffed in the trunk of my ’88 Mazda RX-7 convertible back in high school. But Jeffrey, who’s been involved in the competition car audio scene since his teens, has spared no expense on his audio package. Starting with a Kenwood KDC-X304 headunit as the brains of the operation, Jeffrey then added CT Sounds Meso component speakers paired to a Pioneer GM-D8704 amp for clear mids & highs. For bass, a massive Directronix Dreamsicle 18-inch D1 subwoofer is paired to a Taramps Smart 3 Bass amplifier.

Providing the juice is an Optima Yellow Top AGM battery & an Autotech 240 amp alternator. Beyond that, the Geo Storm carries over 50ft of Temco 1/0 pure copper power cable, along with ILLCustoms/GP Car Audio wire management to tidy everything up. I would wager to say that an 18” subwoofer setup in a tiny little 90’s 2-door coupe probably sounds INSANE.

It’s so refreshing to see retro rad-era builds like this Geo Storm…

Sport-compact cars born from a heyday when cars & cruising were a pastime… not so serious… and part of the mainstream youth culture. It was a time when the tuner scene was less scientific… and driven more by style & energy than statistics. Part of what made the sport-compact scene gain such momentum was the fact that – it broke the rules & went outside of the lines. Now we’re virtually chained to the rules. So in a sea of opinionated sameness clogging up our social media feeds these days, seeing cars like this Geo Storm pop-up from time to time recaptures that energy. Stay rad my friends.