GALLERY> Nisei Showoff Vs Infamous Long Beach
The tried and true Import Showoff event thrown by legendary import carshow promoter Ken Miyoshi during Downtown LA's annual Nisei Week Festival in Little Tokyo is always a good time. Everyone knows that Nisei Showoff symbolizes the best of the best - the highest standard in modified import cars, with attendance by the OG crews that used to run the streets of Los Angeles when the sport compact scene was just beginning to blow up. The whole vibe at Nisei Showoff feels a bit nostalgic, to be honest. Can it be that it was all so simple then? Good cars and good friends in a relaxed atmosphere, surrounded by good Japanese restaurants and boutique shops in Little Tokyo.
However, some young car enthusiasts don't care about memory lane nostalgia or waxing poetic about the good old days. For this rapidly growing new generation of frame-scraping tire stretchers, the newly conceptualized Infamous show was thrown as a collaboration between the Fatlace and Canibeat Crews at the Queen Mary in Long Beach.
It's obvious that MotorMavens connects to both scenes and both types of automotive taste, so those who follow @MOTORMAVENS on Instagram and Twitter already know that we decided to hit both shows. Here's a quick gallery of images from both events! Read more...
COVERAGE> Wheelspotting At Wekfest Long Beach
CARSPOTTING> Montego Blue Miata With Meisters
COVERAGE> Grassroots Drifting Action in NorCal
SHOPAHOLIC> Street Party At The Flagship Society
This was only the first official party held at Flagship Society, but when people heard through the grapevine that L-Con founder/fabricator Louie Contreras was working on organizing an event, everyone knew that they better not miss it!
There were lots of people in attendance, so it was pretty tough to find parking outside the shop. There were tons of fresh cars on the streets lining the shop, but it was raining so hard, people weren't really hanging out by the cars. Instead, everyone was having fun inside the shop itself with DJ A1 in the mix, getting everyone to bop their heads and groove as they walked around and checked out the shop with friends. Our good friends from the ItsJDMyo! Blog had a table inside the event, passing out posters, with a bunch of scantily clad Vietnamese coffee shop girls smiling for pictures... and sometimes not. Read more...
WEBMINING> Papercraft Super GT Epson NSX
Today I’ve been taking a keen interest in this years Tokyo Auto Salon, and while I was searching around for information and interesting photos I stumbled upon this little gem. Epson Nakajima Racing decided to bring not one of their real Super GT cars to TAS this year but one made entirely out of cardboard and paper!
Now I’ve seen some pretty cool little papercraft cars before. I even tried my hand at making a Nissan Skyline KPGC10 GT-R once (not that it looked anything like one by the time I was done with it) , but a full scale race car is just awesome! After a bit more searching I found the full build of the car on their website. It’s amazing to see the amount of detail gone into it.
Check it out at EPSON Nakajima Racing.
:: Daniel Bridle
NEWSWORTHY> Factor X NSX wins Redline Time Attack at Willow
The cars of the Redline Time Attack continue to dominate racetracks all across the country, and at the most recent Redline event at Willow Springs International Raceway, long-standing record lap times were shattered not once, but twice.
Redline Time Attack golden boy Tyler McQuarrie and his Unlimited Class carbon fiber-bodied C-West/BC Honda S2000 showed why they are a dominating force in the time attack scene by running the 2.5-mile “Big Willow” course in 1:20.454 seconds. Not only was that lap time the fastest of the day, it was the fastest ever recorded at Willow Springs International Raceway. With a lap time like that, it seemed safe to say that McQuarrie would walk away with yet another 1st place trophy.
But records, including newly set ones, are made to be broken. Billy Johnson, piloting the lime green Unlimited Class FX Motorsports/Cricket NSX ran the same Big Willow course in just 1:18.555 seconds. For those of you who hate to do math at home, that’s almost 2 seconds faster than McQuarrie. And for those who need help in the art of deductive reasoning, this also means that Johnson walked away with the new track record. But that’s not all Johnson walked away with; he also scored the first-place trophy in Redline Time Attack’s Unlimited Class.
At the end of the day, the Redline Time Attack Unlimited Class results were as follows:
- 1st: #5 (Johnson) FX Motosports NSX 1:18.555
- 2nd: #1 (McQuarrie) Cwest s2000 1:20.454
- 3rd: #489 (Bonarito) Sierra Sierra Evo 1:20.838
There are still seven races left in the Redline Time Attack Series, and the next event at the New Jersey Motorsports Park is just two weeks away. Be sure to check back with us later in the week for our gallery of the Redline Time Attack at Willow Springs International Raceway.
::Justin Kaehler
