VIDEO> Simply Clean & Stance in Orlando
Simply Clean from Bluemotion on Vimeo.
Back in January I covered the Simply Clean + Stance event in Orlando Florida, which was completely awesome. I am saddened to hear that the next event may not be till November of this year… sad face!! I wish these guys would do a rotating event every 4-5 months or so to help promote proper car building. Cars with sunken wheels are 8 years ago people; change with the times! Flush wheels and no drop don’t count either!
Anyway, the video is awesome and so is the sound track. Quan Vu at Bluemotion did an awesome job, and from the looks of it, it involved a Canon 5D Mark II. Rock on man – for his first car meet video, I am simply stunned. The song “More More More” is from the upcoming LP by SOY Is Real… so if you think it’s dope like I do, just watch the video over and over again.
Lastly, BIG THANKS to Simply Clean’s Nickoli for giving us the first shout out at the end of the video. You know I will be at the next one!!
If you want to view pictures of the cars that did not make it on the video and my coverage check out Nickoli’s link.
:: Scottie Scheetz
VIDEO> 5Axis DJ Hero 2: Scion xB
We showed a snapshot of the new 5Axis Scion xB at the SEMA show back in November… here’s a closer look at some of the details of the car, as shot real “quick style” with Antonio’s Canon S90 point&shoot pocket camera.
What we really like about this Scion xB is the fact that it’s the first time we’ve seen anyone make the newer Scion xB look really, really cool. Think about it – DJ equipment, dancefloor and strobelights aside… we think if Troy Sumitomo, the man behind 5Axis, made those flares, wheels and fender mirrors available for your everyday Joe Schmoe Scion owner to buy… well, we’d see a lot more second gen xBs on the road that actually look cool.
After all, we can definitely picture a guy who owns a fully built KP61 Toyota Starlet with TRD N2 works fender flares driving a widebody Scion xB like this as his daily driven commute car, even with the automatic transmission. We think these flares and wheels would be a hit… (Antonio was already trying to figure out what other cars those wheels would fit on) but what do you guys think?
:: Travis Hodges
PS: Don’t you think this xB would fit perfectly in the DJ Hero booth at a big video game convention, like E3?
VIDEO> Triumph at the Mooneyes Christmas Party
Even though we don’t cover motorcycles too often on the Motor Mavens site, sometimes we come across bikes that are just so cool looking, we gotta put em on the site! We were walking around at the 2009 Mooneyes Christmas Party at Irwindale Speedway, drenched in rain when we spotted this particular Triumph motorcycle getting rained on.
All our DSLRs were covered up and protected, but luckily we had a Canon S90 on hand, which is definitely one of the top two Canon pocket cameras (the S90 and the G11 are the best in our opinions) out right now. The S90 was able to shoot a quick video in the rain, just so we could show the details of the bike before trying to shelter our camera gear underneath a tent.
This Triumph makes us want to build a bike… so cool.
:: Travis Hodges
CARSPOTTING> Spyker’s C8 Aileron Spyder
The Spyder is the latest offering from bespoke car-builder, Spyker Cars. It's Spyker's latest offering of hand-crafted quality and exclusivity - and it has a little "get up and go" too. Who doesn't like that? Apparently, not everyone. Read more...
CARSPOTTING> Introducing the Mazda 2
Sure, the 2 might seem like a let-down compared to supercars like the LFA and the SLS but, let's keep it real, how many of you have the solid-gold wheelbarrow filled with diamonds and rubies that they're asking as a down payment for one of those America's Next Top Model magnets? It's like buying a Picasso. You just can't nail it up on your living room wall (perish the thought!). No. Protocol requires that you buy a freakin' museum to display it. Do you have a museum? I didn't think so.
So, being the Motor Mavens that we are, we figured we'd throw in a "real" car to talk you guys in off the ledge. We believe (in the immortal words of the bard, R. Kelly) that you can fly - but we figured you might just want to drive first. Read more...
CARSPOTTING> Porsche Boxster Spyder
VIDEO> The Spirit of Irwindale Formula D
The+Spirit+of+Irwindale+Formula+D
There’s just something about Irwindale Speedway at the end of the season. After all the teams in the Formula Drift Championship have faced countless trials and tribulations, dealing with mechanical problems and financial stress of how to get their cars and teams from event to event as the series travels all over the country; the Formula D homecoming at Irwindale Speedway for the last event of the year has a different feeling to it than the other events in the series.
The drivers and teams in the points race are anxious, knowing that they must be on point and professional every step of the way, as even the smallest mechanical hiccup or driver error could take them out of the running and give the advantage to an opposing team.
At the same time, the fans are excited to see the cars and drivers return to the birthplace of American drifting after they have spent the whole year on tour, cutting their teeth and taking their epic fender-to-fender dogfights to race tracks across the nation in an attempt to attract more sponsors, build more publicity, and most importantly… attract new drifting fans.
I’ve been traveling with the Formula Drift series since the very first event; since the series started in 2004… and every year, as the season ends at Irwindale Speedway, there’s a shared feeling of excitement and pride of accomplishment running through the pits.
This video, by Motor Mavens shooter Travis Hodges, is our attempt to capture that feeling. And it was captured entirely with two cameras, the new Canon 7D digital HD SLR and the Twenty20 ContourHD.
We hope you enjoy the video, and CONGRATULATIONS to all the teams, drivers, umbrella girls, and FANS that make the Formula D series what it is. RESPECT!!!
:: Antonio Alvendia
CARSPOTTING> Mighty Crown from Japan
While you were sleeping… I was out doing a late night photo shoot with a particular mighty Crown from Japan. No, I’m not talking about Mighty Crown, the reggae soundclash champions from Japan; I’m talking about this incredible looking MS60 Toyota Crown Super Saloon.
This awesome right hand drive MS60 Crown is owned by an old school Toyota enthusiast named Irik Farnacio. Even though he just started working on building it up bosozoku style, I think it looks awesome already. He already has wide wheels with hippari tires (stretched tires) on it, not to mention a takeyari (exhaust pipes) set up that will get the local fuzz to pull him over in no time flat.
This photo is just an excerpt from a recent photo shoot I did for Max Power Magazine in the UK. This is an extremely busy week and weekend (FD weekend) for the Motor Mavens crew, so I’ll just post this preview on the site for now… but please check back real soon for more photos and our story about Irik and his friends!
::Antonio Alvendia
PS: In case you other photographers were wondering… this was hand held using a 5D Mark II.
COVERAGE> El Mirage and Land Speed Racing
For me, the journey to El Mirage was something like a time warp. We had to drive through the high desert of the Antelope Valley, and eventually began noticing lots of old homes and old buildings... not to mention ghost-town looking businesses that look like they haven't seen a customer walk through their doors in a decade.
On Sunday, Travis and I decided to drive our Nissan Cube press vehicle up to El Mirage to check out the scene and see what it was all about. On the way to the legendary dry lake bed, we stopped off at this liquor store/gas station for drinks, and were happy to find an old Ford hot rod parked outside at the gas pump. I approached the owner of the car, a gentleman named Dave, and said hello while he was refueling his hot rod with a funnel, as the gas station's modern style gas nozzles wouldn't be long or slender enough to get the entire neck of the fuel nozzle into the vintage gas tank without spilling onto the side of his old Ford. Read more...
VIDEO> Hot Rods and Pin Up Girls
Antonio has just gotten back from Seattle Formula D, and I’m sure many of you are waiting to see the photos from the event. He is currently preparing photos and stories to post up, but while he’s doing that, we thought we would change the pace just a little bit.
Many of you I’m sure have seen some of Antonio’s stories and photos from the 2009 Ink and Iron festival. (There are A LOT more photos by the way… we just thought we’d spread out the postings in case not everyone was feeling the style.) While we were at the show, we decided to get some video footage of the event. This time we only used Antonio’s Canon 5D Mark II digital SLR camera in video mode. He’s just starting out with trying his hand at shooting video… it’s a really different skill than shooting still photos, as there are different techniques that make both disciplines challenging.
Many of you may not be aware of this, but the 5D Mark II is becoming a huge favorite of the independent filmmaker. The 5D’s insane depth of field, color quality and low light capabilies make it ideal. There’s no high speed or time lapse capability, it simply has amazing picture quality.
Along with video footage we got from the 5D Mark II, we integrated some of Antonio’s still shots. See if you can tell which shots are stills. Enjoy the new video and let us know what you think.
:: Travis Hodges
ARCHAEOLOGY> Tecart’s AE86 at Tsukuba Circuit
Today, I was looking through one of my old USB hard drives that contained some images from one of my Japan trips in like… 2004 I think? Or maybe 2005. Anyway, I stumbled upon this photo I shot with my old Canon 20D camera.
Even though Canon’s current product offering makes me think the 20D is a POS now, I gotta give it props because that’s the camera I had with me the longest… I shot with that thing for like FOUR years. That includes constant travel with at least one event per weekend, meaning I would shoot a minimum of 1000 images per weekend, using a “non-pro” bodied camera with a less durable shutter. In fact, my shutter did eventually fail on me at Road Atlanta last year. Thank God for good homies like Cody Wellons from S3 Magazine and John Choi from Falken, who let me borrow their DSLRs so I could finish shooting the event. Even though I was pissed about the broken camera, some of my other photographer friends thought it was cool – they said, “man, your camera broke because you took too many photos with it? That’s dope as hell… and your 20D has been all over the world with you!” True, I didn’t think about it that way!
So back to the subject matter, check out this purple Tecart’s AE86 Levin 2-door drifting at Japan’s famous Tsukuba Circuit. In the photo, the car is in a mid-drift transition and is about to be flicked to the left to continue through the D1 course… however, this photo was NOT taken at a D1 event!
This photo was actually taken at one of the legendary Battle Magazine “Battle of Drift” Competition events, which Japanese people nicknamed as “BM Cup” or “BM Hi.” For those who aren’t familiar with “BM,” Battle Magazine (now defunct) was very well loved by many Japanese drifting enthusiasts because it was the only magazine out there that really featured the cool grassroots drifting movement as it was happening in Japan.
I think most American and European drift fans nowadays only know about drifting from what they see in a “professional series” like Formula D and D1 Grand Prix. However, for guys like me, who have been following Japanese drifting since the 1990s, it’s all about the privateer efforts… back then, it was all about the super dope Japanese grassroots drivers who drift with their everyday street cars, battling different drift teams from different regions of Japan, etc. That’s what it’s all about.
By the way, did anyone notice the Japanese “team sticker” on the rear quarter window? It comes from one of my favorite AE86 teams… “Go Maru Japan.” More on this subject later – you better stay tuned to Motor Mavens!!!
:: Antonio Alvendia
POINT&SHOOT > Camera Testing at Ink n Iron Festival 2009
VIDEO> Honeymoon at Ebisu Circuit
Exactly one year ago, my good friends Jody and Chris Manacop (you might recognize the covers he’s shot for Performance Auto Sound Magazine, but you probably wouldn’t know his name cause PASmag effed up more than once and put someone else’s name under the photo credit! LOL) got married… on the day before Toshiki Yoshioka won first place at Formula D Las Vegas.
So today, on the 1-year anniversary of our good friends getting hitched, I decided to post up a video from their honeymoon. (No, no, you won’t see any night-vision camera stuff here… Google Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian for that.) I’m posting up a pretty cool video from their honeymoon in Japan; these two decided to go to the Summer Drift Festival at Ebisu Circuit for their honeymoon!
As luck would have it, I had just finished a photo mission in Germany, Belgium and the UK, so I met up with them in Japan during their “Honeymoon at Ebisu.” So there we were… Chris, Jody, Kumakubo, Naoto and the rest of our Ebisu Family in Fukushima Japan… just chillin out, looking for delicious Japanese drinks and snacks at the kombini (7-Eleven)… when Kumakubo asked Chris and Jody if they wanted to check out Ebisu’s Touge course.
In the words of Tokyo socialite Kenta Ogawara, Chris responded “well, OBVIOUSRYYYY!” and hopped into Kumakubo’s yellow Autech PS13 Silvia Convertible with his Canon SD 800IS point and shoot camera and an old school drifting helmet, which looked more like a baseball helmet.
So here’s the video that Chris shot with his SD 800IS, on his first ride up and down Ebisu’s touge with the King of the Hill himself, Kumakubo at the wheel… and the white RPS13 180SX in the background is being driven by Team Orange’s Naoto Suenaga with Chris’s wife Jody sitting shotgun.
So HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Chris and Jody! And thanks for the funny ass video! See you in Vegas tomorrow night! I’m gonna stop name dropping and get on the road now!
:: Antonio Alvendia
(PS: Excuse Chris’s high pitched laughter, LOL)
VIDEO> Redline Time Attack at Big Willow
Last weekend, we were out at the Redline Time Attack at Willow Springs International Raceway, performing a camera test. Every once in a while, we have to test different types of cameras to see what kind of footage they’re capable of producing.
This time, we were trying out a Canon HF S100 consumer level HD video camera. The camera costs less than $1000 USD, so it isn’t too expensive, and we think it’s still capable of producing pretty decent image quality – remember, the entire camera is about the size of a Campbell’s Chunky soup can! The whole point of testing these different consumer level cameras is to figure out which ones have the best image quality and features-for-the-price. Nowadays, more and more people are interested in self-producing videos for Youtube, Vimeo or Streetfire uploads; this is why we think it’s interesting to test real-world cameras that normal people can actually afford and edit using iMovie or Final Cut.
Anyway, at Willow Springs, we encountered several challenges – it was extremely difficult for the camera to focus while shooting through heat haze (on the track) and the wind presented an issue, but all in all, we think the Canon HF S100 isn’t bad for a straight-to-SD card HD video camera under $1000. However, we’ll let you watch the video and form your own opinion. What do you think?
::Travis Hodges
