Story by Reynald Fries
Photography by Andrew Link
At the age of 19, Vivek Baid of California was fresh out of high school and in serious need of a daily driver. While looking for a dependable ride with style, he stumbled upon a used Twilight Blue Infiniti G35 with 50,000 miles, copped it from a private seller and brought it home to show his friends.
Vivek was psyched to have a car he could call his own, especially because this one ran smoothly and, conveniently, had four doors. “I bought it as a daily driver and had no plans to modify it at all,” he reminisces, laughing about how quickly things can change. “I wasn’t into tuning or anything like that before.” At the time, Vivek was an athlete, spending almost all of his time bodybuilding at the gym or playing soccer, so it wasn’t until he showed his boys the G35 that they inspired him to check out custom rides online.
With help from his close friends, Vivek started making small changes to his Infiniti, like painting the wheels and grille, and tinting the windows. About six months after copping the whip and a few more upgrades, a local car club, Team Outcast, recruited Vivek—which is when his love for custom cars really blossomed. Even though it was a newfound hobby, Vivek went hard. “Whatever I do, I really put a lot of effort into it,” he emphasizes.
With a circle of supportive friends and Team Outcast involved, Vivek had more connections in the scene than he’d ever anticipated, so he turned the G35 into what you see on these pages. Initially he had it painted Porsche Brown, but soon needed it updated to matte white. Today, more than five years later, the G35 is painted candy red, slammed on Universal Air suspension with everything shaved, and loaded with JL Audio sound inside.
Infinite Auto Design of Huntington Beach, California, did most of the work on Vivek’s daily-turned-show car; they even designed the one-off forged wheels. But the real work came in fitting the wheels under the car, using Ichiba camber kits to get them tucked in just right. The deceiving front bumper came from a G37, and the fenders were extended on both sides, making this Infiniti what Vivek calls a “mini wide body.”
Popping the hood is like Jules Winnfield and Vincent Vega opening Marsellus Wallace’s briefcase in Pulp Fiction. Everything—and we mean everything—glows and shimmers with polished chrome. Hidden deeper down are 24-karat-gold-plated coil pack covers. It’s serious business under the hood, thanks to Vivek’s newly launched chrome and polish shop for engine-bay accessories, Baid Polish. It’s not only good looks, though: With a polished Vortech V-3 supercharger and a MotorDyne exhaust system, it pushes 377 horsepower with 313 lb.-ft. of torque.
Vivek’s life took a pretty serious turn when he bought his Infiniti, going from bodybuilding to customizing cars (and his car going from a daily to a show car). He credits his community for the current state of his ride. During the come-up, Vivek was affected by the lack of chroming shops, inspiring him to start Baid Polish, which offers quick and inexpensive chroming or polishing. It’s Vivek’s way of giving back to those who helped him along his journey. And that journey is far from over, as this candy sedan is back at Infinite Auto undergoing another round of mods for 2014.
Spec The Technique:
Year/Make/Model: 2004 Infiniti G35
Performance: 24-karat-gold-plated coil pack covers; NISMO thermostat, oil cap, radiator cap; NGK Iridium 2-Step Colder spark plugs; DeatschWerks 600cc fuel injectors; full wire tuck; Koyo radiator; Forged Racing fan shroud, fans; NRG Innovations hood dampers, oil catch can; Vortech V-3 Si supercharger, intake, 3.12 pulley; Walbro fuel pump; Weapon-R overflow tank; Kinetix Racing SSV plenum; Osiris tuner; DC Sports headers; MotorDyne Engineering cat-back exhaust; Alliance big brake kit; Berk Technology high-flow catalytic converter; Vibrant Racing intercooler, powder coated candy gold; 3.5 gears; valve body upgrade; everything polished and chromed by Baid Polish
Suspension: Universal Air Suspension system; front sport shocks; rear Tokico D-Spec shocks; front and rear ICHIBA camber kits; front and rear GTSPEC tie bars; SPL endlinks; Eibach sway bars
Exterior: Custom-red Dupont paint by Infinite Auto Design; everything shaved; NisRookie side skirts, puddle lights; molded STILLEN rear lip; flat-black valance; custom flared fenders, quad projector headlight retrofit; Infiniti Q45 projector headlights; Morimoto projectors; custom G37 front bumper; transparent candy-red VIS Racing trunk, AMS hood; 05-06 JDM taillights, reverse lights; mini widebody
Interior: Everything wrapped in Katzkin leather; diamond stitching; suede headliner, pillars, visors; Momo shift knob; Nardi steering wheel; AEM air/fuel ratio gauge; Dakota Digital gauges; Sparco Torino seats; NRG Innovations chrome harness bar, four-point seat belt harnesses; all-custom interior by Infinite Auto Design
Ice: Pioneer head unit; 7-inch LCD monitors molded into headliner, 7.5-inch monitors in trunk lid; two 12-inch JL Audio W3 subwoofers, one 300/4v2 amplifier, one 300/2v2 amp, speakers; two Optima batteries
Wheels/Tires: 20-inch custom wheels by Infinite Auto Design; Accelera tires, 245/35/20 front, 275/30/20 rear
