This past weekend at
Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, the
Formula Drift Championship celebrated its Ten Year Anniversary. It's hard to believe that the sport of professional drifting has already been in existence in the United States for ten whole years! Crazy - it certainly doesn't feel like it's been ten years.
Over the past decade, there have been a ton of new faces in the traveling Formula D circus - new drivers, new photographers, new teams and sponsors, new models, and new fans. When the very first Formula Drift event was held at Road Atlanta back in 2004, drifting was very much new to the United States. Most people didn't even know what it was. Most of the drivers and teams were very grassroots in appearance; we certainly didn't see the
big corporate event activations and sponsor logos that you find at Formula Drift events nowadays.
Many of the original drivers, models, and teams from the inaugural Formula Drift event in 2004 have moved on to pursue other things. However, there are still a few OG Formula Drift heads (like me) still around. Man, we're getting old!
Read more...Posted by: Antonio Alvendia | May 20, 2013 | Categories: Perspective | Tags: 10D, 1JZGTE, 20V 4AGE, 350Z, 4AG 20v, 4AGE, Acura, AE86, Blacktop 20V, Blake Fuller, Bogen, Braille Auto, Braille Battery, Braselton, Canon, Carbon, Chris Forsberg, Competition Coupe, Corolla, Dai Yoshihara, Daijiro Yoshihara, Dalton Hanley, DC2, Discount Tire, Drift Alliance, Ford, Formula D, Formula Drift, Formula Drift Championship, FR-S, Georgia, GoPUCK, Grassroots Motorsports Magazine, GReddy, Gushi Auto, Integra, Jerry Tsai, JZX90, Kai Tsukiyama, Kenshiro Gushi, Manfrotto, Mark II, Modified Magazine, Monster Energy, Mopar, Mustang, Mustang RTR, PS13, Road Atlanta, Rotora Brakes, S13, Samuel Hubinette, Scion, Seibon, Seibon carbon, Shinsengumi Ramen, Sparco, Taka Aono, Toyota, Tsukasa Gushi, Vaughn Gittin Jr, Viper, Weir Performance, Z33 | 7 Comments »
This past weekend, there were tons of automotive events happening, so those of us located in Southern California faced a dilemma - should we go to
Nisei Showoff or
Infamous?!
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...Posted by: Antonio Alvendia | Aug 16, 2012 | Categories: Gallery | Tags: 192, 1971 Toyota HiLux, 8RC, 911, Acura, American Racing, BBR Competition, BMW, Brian Nguyen, Brian Scotto, Canibeat, Charles Trieu, Civic, CR Kai, CT9A, D Styles, Dan Nguyen, E-AT, E46, Evo 9, Fatlace, FRS, GTR, Hilux, Honda, Honda Ruckus, Hoonigan, Import Showoff, Infamous, Integra Type R, Invisibl Skratch Piklz, James Nguyen, Jonathan Wong, JZA80, Ken Miyoshi, Lancer, Legend, Little Tokyo, Long Beach, M3, Mark Arcenal, Mark II, Mitsubishi, Mugen, Nisei Showoff, Nisei Week, Nissan, Osaka JDM, Pandora One, Porsche, Queen Mary, R35, Rauh Welt, Rauh Welt Begriff, Regamaster Evo, RN12, rotiform, Ruckus, RWB, RWB USA, S2000, Scion, Scion FRS, Spoon Sports, Sprint Hart CPR, SSR, SSR Mark II, SSR Professor, Sunny, Supra, Toyota, Voltex, Weds Sport, work wheels | 10 Comments »
Long Beach is quickly becoming one of my favorite venues for automotive events. This weekend, our friends from
Weksos Industries made the trek down to Los Angeles to hold yet another
Wekfest event in Southern Cali. Even though the event is pronounced "weak-fest" and their company name is pronounced "weak sauce," the turnout was anything but weak. Lowlife car owners from all over California and Nevada scraped their oilpans all the way to the Queen Mary to show off their first class wheel fitment.
Read more...Posted by: Antonio Alvendia | Jun 04, 2012 | Categories: Coverage | Tags: 350Z, Accuair, Acura, Aimgain, Aston Martin, Bentley, bikini top, BMW, BMW Motorsport, Continental GT, Dodge Challenger, DPE Wheels, DTA Posse, Elissa Alva, GS300, Honda, JDM Palace, Job Design, Jon Sibal, Jonathan Wong, Leon Hardiritt, Lexus, LS430, M3, M5, Miata, NSX, Porsche, project g, Radio Flyer, Radio Flyer wagon, Rauh Welt, S2000, SC430, stance, STi, Subaru, Super Street Magazine, Team RLL, Toyo Proxes 4, Volk Racing, VS-XX, wekfest, weksos, Weksos Industries, Work Equip, Work Meister S1, work wheels, WRX, Z33 | 14 Comments »
Fall is arguably one of the most beautiful times of the year in Washington - aside from the rain that is. The normally muted palette caused by an overcast sky suddenly comes to life with bright orange, red and yellow leaves amidst the evergreens that stand fully dressed all year. It's in times like these that the Seattle car community shines; auto enthusiasts like
Karim Kerawala keep their rides looking fresh all year round. Where the question of, “Is this your daily driver?”, is met with a slight smirk, because this
Montego Blue 1997
Mazda Miata is, in fact, Karim’s daily driver and any other suggestion would be more than absurd - there's no other way to roll.
Read more...Posted by: Lucas Perez | Dec 21, 2011 | Categories: Carspotting | Tags: Acura, Brandon Thai, Civic EG, Evo IX MR, Garage Autohero, Hard dog, Honda, Karim Kerawala, Lucas Perez, Mazda, Megan, Megan Racing, Miata, Mitsubishi, Pacific Grand Prix, Racing Beat, Ray Stonehocker, RSX Type-S, S2000, Scion FR-S, Sparco, Starlet, Touge Factory, Toyota, Washington, Work, Work Meister S1, work wheels, Yokohama | 8 Comments »
A couple of weeks ago, I shed some light on the
Comrades FC3S Truckasaurus RX7 from
Fatlace WordUp!, a drift and gymkhana session in held once a month in Santa Clara, CA. The event is only open to 15 drivers and members of the media - no spectators are allowed. It is the closest thing we have to
Drift Day in the Bay Area and is centered on providing a safe venue for those who wish to better their skills in a safe environment.
Read more...Posted by: Sam Attal | Mar 23, 2011 | Categories: Coverage | Tags: 240SX, 350Z, 510, Acura, AE86, Bay Area, Corolla, Datsun, drift, Drift Day, drifting, Fatlace, great america, gymk, Gymkhana, Hachiroku, Honda, Longchamps, Nissan, Nissan 350Z, Nissan S13, Nissan S14, Norcal, NSX, S13, Sam Attal, Santa Clara, SSR, Toyota, Vienna Dish, wordup!, zipties | 34 Comments »
This has been one hectic weekend - it's as if the Southern Cali car events just don't stop, even on the motorsports off-season! This was a weekend of Christmas Parties and get togethers with good friends, but it was also a weekend of really bad weather in Los Angeles - with lots of rain causing car crashes for non-rain trained drivers. It was hydroplane city out there on Southern California freeways, but it still didn't stop people from coming out and packing the hell out of the
Flagship Society grand opening event last night!
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...Posted by: Antonio Alvendia | Dec 20, 2010 | Categories: Shopaholic | Tags: Acura, Ballade Sports, CVCC, DTA, engine builder, fabricator, Flagship Society, Honda, JZA80, L*Con, L-Con, Louie Contreras, NSX, Prelude, Rogue Status, Suicide Machine Co, Supra, tattoo | 22 Comments »
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
Posted by: Daniel Bridle | Jan 16, 2010 | Categories: Webmining | Tags: Acura, Daniel Bridle, EPSON, Honda, NSX, Papercraft, Super GT, TAS, Tokyo Auto Salon | 8 Comments »
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
Posted by: Justin Kaehler | May 31, 2009 | Categories: Newsworthy | Tags: Acura, BC, Billy Johnson, C-West, Factor X, FX Motorsports, Honda, Justin Kaehler, NSX, Redline, S2000, Time Attack, Tyler McQuarrie, Willow Springs | 11 Comments »
