When most pro basketball players retire, they don’t walk into a Subaru dealership and ask for a job as a mechanic’s apprentice. They also don’t have a widebody Porsche 997 and BMW E30 Touring in their garage. Leo Lyons is different.

[CARISMA is an exploration of car culture through the eyes and stories of enthusiasts and their cars. See the full playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDIDtuUK538&list=PLHa6PXrV-yIjdroCPPYISm4OyNQOV6z4V ]

Getting paid to play basketball is a lifelong dream for many. For Leo, it was always a means to an end: cars. Specifically, German cars with JDM widebody kits. But it all makes sense when you look at his path in life, a tall kid growing up in Kansas City who was into cars and fashion, went undrafted out of college, and made a career playing basketball in Israel, Turkey, and finally Japan.

In Japan, something clicked when he discovered the country’s love for the widebody look. He was always very public about his love for cars, hoping doing so would plant seeds for later. Then a fan gave him the chance to visit RWB and hang out with Akira Nakai, an opportunity that changed his life as much as basketball.

“Seeing him work and being around him, and seeing how people revere him to this day has always motivated me to want to do exactly what he does. That’s opening up a shop where I can do everything I want to do. Meeting him showed me that there is a place for me in creating in a world like that.”

Over the years, basketball gave Leo the scratch to buy a Porsche 911, an Audi R8, a WRX STI, and a home in upstate New York with room to build that shop. He bought the Carrera S hoping to get an RWB kit installed, but when Covid slowed the process down, he went for a slantnose kit from Old and New and never looked back.

Next, with a daughter on the way, he bought the BMW E30 Touring after seeing it featured in a Larry Chen video. In that video, owner and builder Eric of Live to Offend says very clearly that the car isn’t and won’t ever be for sale. Leo got in touch with him through Larry and asked to be first in line if he ever changed his mind. Again planting seeds. A few months later, the wagon was in his garage.

As for the Subaru dealership—he doesn’t want his shop to be all about aesthetics, so he’s got to learn. But you can be sure the crazy widebody look is a part of his plans.

“Every time I collected Hot Wheels [growing up], I knew I was going to get that car, like I’m collecting this ’cause I’m going to get it one day. That’s kind of where my theme came from with the cars that I do buy, which is kind of more widebody than I probably should have. It’s because I want my cars to actually look like a Hot Wheel. So that’s kind of my aim to try to create and make builds that make me feel like that kid again.”

Produced, shot, and edited by → https://www.instagram.com/tomgorelik/

Previous episode → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDIDtuUK538

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