1G RIP Greg Collier

[Ludachris]

For those who had spent any time in this road racing sub-forum in the mid 2000's, you remember @Greg Collier’s enthusiasm and road racing adventures in his "Flying Banana". He wasn't your typical DSMer. He road raced a DSM and won championships while most of the community was obsessed with drag racing. He had some of the best race recap write ups around, and he definitely inspired more than a few DSM road course enthusiasts. He was always willing to help others here, and I was always grateful for his contributions and welcoming attitude here in the forum. Unfortunately, I only got to meet him and his wife Kathy in person once down at Buttonwillow. Outstanding couple of human beings.

After he sold his race car and stepped away from the DSM world, he disappeared for a little while. I reached out and kept in touch with him via email over the past decade. We'd go back and forth every year, sometimes multiple times. I learned a some years back that he was diagnosed with leukemia, and I made it a point to always check in with him to see how he was doing. While typing up a thread about DSMtuners' 20 year anniversary in the Hangout just now, I tagged him. It made me realize I hadn't chatted with him since April of last year. I emailed him just now and the email bounced. I reluctantly search his name on Google and found this:

Gregory Collier Obituary - San Diego, CA

Celebrate the life of Gregory Collier, leave a kind word or memory and get funeral service information care of El Camino Memorial - Sorrento Valley & Memorial Park.

www.dignitymemorial.com

You'll be missed my friend. Figured this post belonged here in the Road Racing sub-forum.

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[Vegas Smith]

Damn. Enjoy your friends and family while you have them. Sorry to hear.

 

[twicks69]

Man what a bummer, I enjoyed following his stuff for years! RIP Greg, you will be missed!

 

[GreenGSX]

Greg was instrumental in my road racing history and he always shared the best advice with me freely. I never got to know him outside of cars but I can't imagine he was any less amazing and generous. Rest in peace my friend...

 

[FIBA M - EC17PSE]

He built such a nice 1G and had a great time doing it. I remember his car from pretty much when i first started here years ago! Such a shame this happened

 

[diambo4life]

That is a damn shame. We are losing them.....just like Tom Noonen a couple months ago. Rest In Boost.

 

[steve]

RIP Greg, save a seat. We'll all be seeing you again in a blink of an eye.

 

[pagosa dsm]

learned a lot from his posts
RIP Greg

 

[Ludachris]

learned a lot from his posts
RIP Greg

You're not the only one.

I'm sure others who were pretty active in this road racing forum back then will feel a great sense of loss as well. @cioc, @underradar92, @talonTSIDriver, @tsiboosted, @Black95TSIawd, @Slow old poop, @D_Eclipse9916, @housegsx, @jtoby, @mavisky, @GreenGSX, @DSM90AWD, @ninjai_ruken (who bought Greg's car many years ago), @gixxerdrew, @terefic181, @Suparata, @logic, @Tevenor, and many others.

Tag some members you remember that would always chime in on Greg's race write ups.

 

[Black95TSIawd]

I was much younger when he was still actively campaigning his car. I lived through his posts about his car and details about his racing. A pioneer in some ways. May he rest in peace.

 

[turboAWDfanatic]

Haven't been around the forums much in the last several years but have been coming back recently as I'm back into working on and driving my 1G. Came across this post and immediately remembered Greg's name and his yellow car. Never met him, but loved reading about his car and seeing it here. Thank you so much for posting this. RIP Greg!

 

[glenneclipsegsx]

Damn I haven’t logged in to my profile in over a decade to see if I could relive my youth maybe find another 2gb GSX and see this. I remember Greg and his car on the forums so long ago. I’ve been out of the DSM scene since 06 myself. I remember going to my first drag race when I was 15yrs old in 1996 and seeing a pair of DSMs doing 10s at Englishtown and was hooked. The Mkiv supra was really my dream car back in those days but unobtainable even then for a high school kid. Bought my 97 maghenta grey pearl GSX in 1999 for 17k with 14k miles on it after my high school graduation. My 7yr obsession. Never felt that kind of attachment to any of the many cars I’ve owned ever since. Crazy to think about but that time was really the peak of having a real car community online that I remember guys like Greg. It’s not the same these days. Rest In Peace Greg

 

[Ludachris]

Damn I haven’t logged in to my profile in over a decade to see if I could relive my youth maybe find another 2gb GSX and see this. I remember Greg and his car on the forums so long ago. I’ve been out of the DSM scene since 06 myself. I remember going to my first drag race when I was 15yrs old in 1996 and seeing a pair of DSMs doing 10s at Englishtown and was hooked. The Mkiv supra was really my dream car back in those days but unobtainable even then for a high school kid. Bought my 97 maghenta grey pearl GSX in 1999 for 17k with 14k miles on it after my high school graduation. My 7yr obsession. Never felt that kind of attachment to any of the many cars I’ve owned ever since. Crazy to think about but that time was really the peak of having a real car community online that I remember guys like Greg. It’s not the same these days. Rest In Peace Greg

It's certainly not the same these days. Those were some of the best times for the automotive enthusiast back then. And people like Greg have made a huge impact on a lot of us.

 

[Kettlar 91 laser rs]

Currently tearing up at 3:00am at the fact im 24 and everybody is way older with some already passing away and ill never get to experience the best days of being a dsmer