Before Team Hybrid was the well-established and highly decorated car community that it is now, it was a group of guys in a parking-lot. Growing up in Oxnard, California in the 1990s, Team Hybrid founder James Lin’s family owned a Chinese restaurant. In an age before cell phones, forums and social media, meeting people who shared your niche interests worked a bit differently. For James and his brother, it worked by parking their cool builds in front of their homes, the family restaurant and even the nearby Blockbuster parking lot – and seeing who stopped to say hello.
Back then, James’ ride was a 1995 Acura Integra GS-R. His brother had a Mitsubishi 3000 GT. And slowly, other builds began frequenting the lot. New friends with compliments and questions about models, mods, engines and more. Before it had a logo, a purpose, or a name, Team Hybrid was a conversation among a growing crew of diverse, young enthusiasts who wanted to build something special with their own hands — and do it together.
“We never set out to create something specific. It just happened. Nothing was forced. It all happened organically.” – James Lin, Team Hybrid founder
Cross-Breeding Car Culture
Eventually, the parking lot regulars began to call for James to make it official. Their crew was a club, and they wanted to start acting like it. So, like with any of his builds, James got lost in creating the blueprint, thinking about the team’s name, meaning of the name, colors, logo design, standards, code of conduct, originality, quality and overall philosophy. Upon reflection, he realized that the most important part of the group would be its core value: inclusivity.
Growing up in a neighborhood with a wide variety of backgrounds and ethnicities present, James understood the power of diversity, specifically, the powerful magic that can occur when different cultures meet.
It’s how he landed on the name Hybrid: “the offspring of two plants or animals of different species or varieties.” The hybrid idea applied both to the mix-and-matched parts that make for unique and novel car builds, but also to the range of stories, experience levels, styles and personalities that he wanted his club to welcome and foster. Hybrid represents respect for what is, and for what could be. What’s new. And what’s next.
Under the Team Hybrid banner, the crew began working to garner more interest and gain public acknowledgment. They kept their core values close as more people joined and the group became bigger than the sum of its parts. More than a car club, it evolved into an extended family, populated by enthusiasts who wanted to grow in the car scene but also in life. As the culture evolved, they coined the Hybrid Hs — short mantras that the team lives by to this day.
“Hybrid Heart. Hybrid Humble. Hybrid HardTuned.”
The Thirty-Year Build
James credits these core values, coupled with the team’s relentless devotion to their craft, for the many successes that unfolded next. In the 2000s, the team made one of its largest waves at SEMA, winning the invite-only Scion SEMA Tuner Challenge in 2006 and 2007 (back-to-back first-place) placing in the Best of the Best in 2010.
In the Tuner Challenge, they hold the record for most appearances and first-place awards to date. Meanwhile, enthusiast magazines began showcasing the team’s momentum. Today, Team Hybrid is the most-published organization in PASMAG history for covers and features — a statistic that represents droves of meticulous, boundary-pushing builds and decades of hard work and collaboration.
Three decades, to be exact. This past spring, on Jan. 7, Team Hybrid celebrated its 30th anniversary. Thirty years of conversations, accolades, ‘Best Overall’s, and most important: 30 years of “Hybrid Luv.”
Under strong leadership, Team Hybrid has helped shape the import car scene into what it is today. And naturally, when it was time for BFGoodrich to launch its next ultra-high performance tire, James was the first call. The assignment: craft a SEMA-worthy build to represent everything this new tire could do.
“It was a project I’d been patiently brainstorming about for years.”
Unveiling a Phenom
Pulling some strings to get it in the show last-minute, James unveiled a candy apple red Nissan 370Z as the first build to ever feature BFGoodrich g-Force Phenom T/A tires at SEMA in 2023. Almost everything on the car was modified in some way, shape, or form: wheels, suspension, carbon fiber bodywork, sound system, engine modifications, racing seats, interior work, exhaust, and most notably, brand-new, yet-to-be-released, ultra-high performance rubber.
As a Team Hybrid masterwork and the first BFGoodrich Tires-branded build to enter this category at SEMA in over a decade, it made quite the splash across the event.
“People at SEMA know who Team Hybrid is, so the build was always going to garner attention. But the fact that it also featured a tire that’s not out yet … that created buzz. It shocked everybody who knows anything about tires.”
Available now, the BFGoodrich g-Force Phenom T/A tire is the result of decades of BFGoodrich racing knowledge, delivering ultra-high performance on days at the track without compromising style on days at the car show. The tire sports a dual-zone tread design optimal for any dry or wet environment, and its g-Force tread profile features an advanced grip design for sharp twists and turns, paired with side inserts for stability. It’s the upgrade for the driver who’s ready to make the road theirs.
Building a Legacy
With an unwavering commitment to excellence, James Lin continues to build for the future of Team Hybrid. He sees no limits as to what they might accomplish next. The records to beat are the ones they set themselves, but the real prize is the connections they make along the way. Team Hybrid is much more than a group of enthusiasts joined by a mutual interest. They’re a family. One that’s stood the test of time.
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with a legendary team.”
With his eyes on the future, James builds for generations to come, hoping to pass his legacy down to new car lovers across the nation. His advice to young builders is to lead by example, honor your word and always strive to beat the best, even if the best is you. He recognizes that he wouldn’t have gotten where he is today without staying true to himself and holding his team to the standards they set for themselves as a handful of youngsters, loitering in the Blockbuster parking lot, wondering what kind of greatness might roll up next.
Here’s to the next 30 years. May Team Hybrid continue making history.
