KING OF FITMENT

From Speedhunters today:

WAT. That’s crazy.

So, I found an entire set of model photos from this event… Awkward… Hilariously enough, Andrew and I weren’t even there all day. We found a huge 9K Racing decal smack dab on the middle of the windshield after we got back. How disrespectful -___-

Take a look at the original article here…

I swung by FckYourCrew’s end of summer BBQ/cruise today — it was an awesome time.

I rolled in around 10, but I was the first one there (haha). I guess I could’ve slept in another hour or so.

We rolled out from Alamitos Park around 11:15 — a few of us decided to leave because cops were rolling through the parking lot and running everybody’s plates. Little would we know that the police were going to be the theme of the day…

We ended up down the street to wait for the rest of the group, but Brokey33′s car got stuck on the entrance to the joint we were parked at, so we spent some time getting his car freed. I left, then promptly lost the rest of the group.

Five minutes and 10 blocks later, a cop pulled me over and told me my exhaust was modified, that I had front side curtains, and a dangling thing on my rearview mirror which was obstructing my view. He took my license, insurance, and registration, but let me go because, according to him, there was a robbery in progress and that it was my lucky day. Awesome.

I ended up at the right place and had some food, chilled with some cool cats, and checked out some nice cars.

After, a few of us got some rolling shots in on a bridge and ended up at this cool underpass — the photos below are all from there. Enjoy!

Again, these photos really suck. I’m not responsible for feelings of disgust or nausea when you look at them!

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Oh yeah, you guys can do whatever you want to these photos if it’s for non-commercial use. Sounds good?

So I’m back from Tokyo and I just managed to get some photos sorted out. Let me apologize in advance for the horrible image quality — I was hoping to pick up a Sigma DP2 or something or other while I was in China, but news about the new Olympus E-P1 have put my camera purchasing plans on hold, so all I had to use was a cheapy Panasonic point-and-shoot, which didn’t handle the weird lighting conditions in the exhibition hall very well.

There were a LOT of donks at the show; I think the LA DUB style is a huge influence over there (kinda like how they took the SoCal import scene and made it into SpoCom. Hmm. I guess there’s more to tuning than JDM, huh?). I met a LOT of cool people, but big thanks to Ted @ Montage, Tetsu at T2DF, and Kazumi and Ray at Speedworx. Thanks also to Dave (I didn’t get the company you worked for, sorry! If you ever read this, we’ll go grab a drink when you’re next in SoCal). EDIT! It was also nice meeting Norihide at Special Cars magazine – thanks for keeping me company and good luck on your Boxster! END EDIT!

Anyway, enjoy the photos!

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I’m in Tokyo right now. I missed the last bus from Narita to my hotel, so I got pwnt and had to take a bus to the Tokyo City Air Terminal and then a cab to the hotel. My wallet hurts right now :(.

But today, after breakfast, I went to the Tokyo Special Import Show for the press showing day with my friend, Ted. All I have to say is… damn. The level of detail and theme in some of these cars is insane.

I’ll just channel my inner James Joyce and put some stream-of-consciousness thoughts here: RWB’s Nakai-san had his personal Porsche 930 sitting outside, next to a huge crowd of other track-prepped Porsches. That Idlers Club logo is really cool. Saw the hottest, lowest Lotus Exige I have ever seen. There was a really hot modified Audi S8 there, with excellent fitment. I met the owner of Liberty Walk (OMG *faints*), the Japanese distributor of Giovanna/WTW Corp. stuff, and a guy who apparently races NASCAR. Didn’t get his name, though. *EDIT* His name is Takuma Koga, last active in NASCAR in 2002. *END EDIT* Fortissimo had a really nice current-gen GS on display – Bold World suspension, carbon fiber aerokit (on a black car – the contrast is so hot). There weren’t as many booth girls as photos of other events would suggest, but there were a few. Some were wearing hella weird outfits. I’m in love with the alumite gray finish of the top-of-line Endless brake caliper. Wish I could afford a set. Giovanna edition bicycles? This eclair is really good, haha, and it was only 105 yen!

Anyway, there was a lot of stuff I forgot — I’ll post up photos and more observations when I get back to the US. Yodobashi Camera tomorrow, maybe?

I’m really excited about attending the Special Import Show at the Tokyo Big Sight this year. I’m going to post some photos of last year’s show, just to whet my own appetite :)

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As you can see, the variety and quality of cars is going to be amazing! I’ll be taking photos of the show; expect some posts mid-June. :)