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By: Kyle Darbyson Posted: 3:00 AM CDT Thursday, May. 26, 2022
KYLE DARBYSON/THE BRANDON SUN
Devin BourdeauDhui poses for a photo next to his 2000 Acura Integra on Wednesday afternoon outside his home. The 35-year-old auto body technician first acquired this compact car when he was a teenager and has been modifying it ever since.
While the transition from youth to adulthood is full of changes, the one constant in Devin BourdeauDhui’s life has been his 2000 Acura Integra.
While the transition from youth to adulthood is full of changes, the one constant in Devin BourdeauDhui’s life has been his 2000 Acura Integra.
The 35-year-old auto body technician told the Sun earlier this week that he picked-up the used compact car in his teenage years, having been drawn to that style of vehicle through the popular "Need for Speed" video game series.
He later found out that Honda’s Acura line had quite the pedigree, with the Integra Type R breaking major racing records in the 1990s.
"So I wanted to see how fast I can make mine," BourdeauDhui said on Wednesday.
Despite having zero auto body experience when he first acquired the Integra, BourdeauDhui almost immediately went to work modifying it, purchasing a new set of rims and taillights to start.
KYLE DARBYSON/THE BRANDON SUN
BourdeauDhui gets behind the wheel of his 2000 Acura Integra on Wednesday afternoon just outside of Brandon.
The project encouraged BourdeauDhui to find work in the automotive industry, where he would learn the finer details of the trade through former Uncanny Customs owner Dave LeSack.
"He helped me fit and modify the car for a body kit," he said. "And with me helping him work at his shop, he helped me airbrush and paint it. It was a two-toned, ripped colour back in the day."
BourdeauDhui eventually got his Integra to the point where he felt comfortable enough presenting it at major car shows, managing to win a best in class award at the 2009 World of Wheels convention in Winnipeg.
However, a major traffic accident roughly a year after that forced BourdeauDhui to go back to the drawing board, although he used it as an opportunity to give the Integra a new green paint job and some big upgrades under the hood.
"When I decided to rebuild it, I decided to swap in a 3.2-litre V6 [engine] out of an Acura CL, with a six-speed manual transmission … and ever since then it hasn’t stopped, basically," he said.
Throughout the last decade, BourdeauDhui’s work on the Integra has paralleled his own personal and professional development.
BourdeauDhui and his wife Jennifer pose for a wedding photo in the summer of 2020, with the 2000 Acura Integra taking up part of the background.
Not only does he currently serve as a Red Seal journeyman auto body technician at Forman Collision in Brandon, but BourdeauDhui has also started a family of his own, which consists of his wife and two daughters.
To hammer home this personal connection, BourdeauDhui even featured the Integra in the background of some of his wedding photos.
"Because it is and will always be a big part of my life," he said.
With car shows returning in full force due to loosened COVID-19 restrictions, BourdeauDhui is currently hard at work trying to get his Integra back in prime shape.
This means replacing parts of the body and turbo charging the engine in the hope that the car can reach 600 horsepower.
"I would love to make it all-wheel-drive if that was doable," he said. "But … I haven’t done enough research on it."
A closer look at BourdeauDhui’s 2000 Acura Integra, circa 2010.
In terms of what the future holds, BourdeauDhui has ambitions of starting a custom shop of his own, since his reputation for conducting expert auto body repair has been steadily growing in the local car community.
But in the meantime, he will continue to put the 2000 Integra front and centre, while also making room for side projects like a 1993 Honda Del Sol restoration alongside his daughter Taliya.
"My daughter really loves cars," BourdeauDhui said.
"I have a car rotisserie that I’m going to put it on and do all the rust. I also have a spare V6 that we’re going to put into it. "
The Honda Motor Company manufactured the Acura Integra between 1985 and 2006, and is in the middle of reintroducing the line to North American markets.
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