MD25 SEMA 2025 Build

The MD25 build started as a car that I did not need. It was a car that came up on my plate that I figured, “Hey, maybe I can build this in the near future”. It was a car that we didn’t need and was put on the back burner. This was a $300 car was sitting in the front yard with mismatching bumpers and hood. We fixed up this car to be a car for my dad to drive but sat in the driveway for 3+ years.

Fast forward to 2025, we had sold our 2014 Varis STi and thought, what should we do? What’s the most logical thing to do? Let’s build our 1st SEMA car and not only that, start in June!

We had partnered up with ABW Motorsports to be able to get the 1st P25 widebody kit in America. We know we cannot afford an authentic Prodrive P25. We do not have $650,000 to buy 1 of 25 P25 cars. So we decided to build our own version. We started to l look at all the parts over time and get a donor car and make sense. We came up on a 2002 WRX wagon that came with many extra parts that made sense for this build. We then kept an eye on Facebook Marketplace for parts but then came up with the decision on purchasing an 05 STi transmission and parts ranging from Beaumont to San Diego, CA.

So much research and understanding how this was going to come together. We ran into issues such as trying to use a motor we bought that came from a crashed car but turned out was not salvageable. Finding out some parts are not compatible or Subaru no longer exists. Having our parts moved throughout the build that we can no longer find in a garage. Many struggles.

With many struggles, there were so many good moments throughout as we came in as a team and come to fruition Kanpai Motorworks. Ryan Cadiz, with the speed and expertise of all things fabrication, install, bodywork. Kandie Lien with logistics, interior and exterior design. Jadan Nguyen with the muscle and dedication to push this build. My dad being 83 years old and is able to pull and swap in a turbo motor with a new ACT Clutch. Dad would also work long days and nights on the body as much as he physically could. This build’s main focus was that the MD25 was built in a home garage and in 4 months! We wanted to show that any person with a regular 9-5 can do this. We had no big shop nor a paint booth. We did this as a team in a space that you would do laundry in.

Kanpai Motorworks was able to strip this car down to bare frame, weld and shave new inner fenders for the WRC arches and the doors to remove factory trim. It was a tough journey to get get support on this build. We had our partnerships in place from previous builds but once the major pieces started showing, we then started gaining traction. We never knew we could receive support from over 22 sponsors and additional help from friends and family to get this car from nothing to what you see here and to the SEMA 2025 show. We thank you all for believing in us to get the MD25 completed. SEMA 2025 is not where we stop. We have more plans for this car as this is only the 1st stage of the build. We do plan on racing this car with it’s current motor swap. We will take it in stages and build another motor on the side with more power. We will be adding more aero and suspension tuning to handle all that is thrown at the MD25. That is not all. We are planning another major build with a much different swap. Stay tuned for the next Kanpai Motorworks build!