Ok so the project name sucks, but with good reason! I own a web design company called Supreme Web Solutions and wanted to do something for advertising purposes. We already have a 02 plate WRX STi PPP with branding for another company on it and it seems to work. I had looked into advertising locally and nationwide on busses / billboards / mail shots / taxis and decided that none of them seemed that fun. So thats how it started, bit of a stretch I know but any excuse to spend money on more toys gets my vote. The plan is to build a practicle(ish) car with a few toys, a bit of power and some great graphics. I started this thread to document my progress and to help answer some of my many questions. Here goes.
I wanted a classic Impreza as I like the look and we already have a newage. I hunted through the scot ads, checked forums and even looked at ebay. I had almost given up as most of the cars I had gone to see had already been modified/thrashed and/or had underbody rust issues when I got an email from a friend who knew I was looking for a classic Impreza. Someone at her work was selling a classic, I gave him a ring and went round for a visit. I could not resist, no rust, no modifications and a not bad price. So here it is as it looked the day I bought it.
I drove the car for a month the way it was to get a feel for how it drives and to plan out what I wanted to do. I was quite impressed.
Being in the I.T industry I decided that I wanted to do something a bit different and add a computer to the car, its been done before but wait till you see what I have planned!
I added a 9" touch screen to the dash with a custom made bracket. I had tried the screen in a few other locations but my final location seemed to work best. The actual P.C at present is under the passanger seat but will eventually be placed in the boot. Its intel based and fits nicely into a micro ATX case. I initially added a wireless card so that the computer could backup to my server when I was near work or my home network but have since changed this and have added a Netgear prosafe 12v router with a 100m range. The router is permanantly on and broadcasts a hidden wifi signal. This is in turn connected to the pc and a custom made and programmed microprocessor. The microprocessor once testing and development is completed will unlock and start the car via my iPhone. The computer will read, log and display live engine data as well as access the internet and handle my music.
Next up came the windows, my good friend Scott owns a window tinting company and as I was doing a new website for him decided to get the windows done while I was visiting. This stops glare on the P.C screen, stops thiefing chavs seeing what I have inside and looks quite mean! Notice my car being tinted on his website http://www.srautotints.co.uk/.