Man… the positive responses that I received so far in regards to the GENERATIONS line-up have been overwhelming. It’s amazing to know that it matters as much to many of you as it did to me and the people that were in the group. It started out as just a simple idea but when it all started to come together, I had this gut feeling in my stomach that we were onto something special. As it is with everything else in life, nothing has ever been accomplished without passion. I’m happy to say that I can share that passion with my friends and fellow enthusiasts and we can all get together to produce such a memorable event. Nisei Showoff/Import Showoff is a very important piece to the rich history of our automotive community. It’s a real shame that the younger generation doesn’t realize that. It was the original import car show and we should all participate in keeping it going. Ken has done a great job over the years and I’ll be honest, there are times when I feel like he doesn’t get the recognition that he deserves for all that he’s accomplished. When he first came to me for help to come up with an idea to push the show, I didn’t hesitate because Showoff is a big deal for me and I’ll always have fond memories of it. The whole reason why I decided to do the whole GENERATIONS concept at Nisei Showoff instead of my own event is because the Showoff name still carries with it a great deal of respect and notoriety in the eyes of the older enthusiasts. It almost made perfect sense to do something like that for Nisei because 2014 will mark the 20th anniversary of the Import Showoff name. Yes, you read correctly, that’s twenty years. Many of you who are just getting into the hobby aren’t even twenty years old yet. I say that GENERATIONS 2012 is a once in a lifetime thing because it is. Who knows if you will ever see some of these cars again? There are no guarantees that you will get a build like Junko’s Top Fuel Integra together in the same place as Terry Suvonnarith, who traveled 20 hours from Washington with his friends and his Integra. Speaking of Terry, I can tell you that it was a memorable trip for him and his friends from the Northwest because they are all older now and it’s hard for them to just pick up and go on a road trip like that. When you’re in your early 20s or younger, it’s easy to just drop everything and go somewhere but as many of you know, it’s just different when you get older. I can’t say enough about those guys for coming down to Socal to visit because it was a pleasure finally meeting some of those guys after all these years….

It would take me days to sit here and tell you about everyone in the GENERATIONS line-up. There are some that I just met for the first time myself so I don’t know all that much about them but I appreciate the ones that came up to me and passed on a kind word, or just shot the shit with me about anything. Lee from FFsquad and I don’t know much about each other but we can talk about random shit like basketball or something and that adds to the value of putting this together. While it is a car-related event, we can still talk about other stuff and develop that camaraderie, you know what I mean? I’ve noticed in the the last couple days, since photos have been popping up from Nisei, that ATS Mike Jones’ EF  build has become an instant hit. It debuted at Nisei and all of us who knew of the build were excited to finally see it in person. The car came out great and it’s good that he is getting the recognition that he deserves. He hasn’t been messing around with cars for awhile so it was kind of easy to just forget that he was a Honda head too. I know for him it was important to finish that car because it meant a lot to him as well as the rest of the ATS Garage family. They lost a great friend years ago in Vincent Pascua and this EF hatch build is sort of a rolling tribute to him. I never got a chance to meet Vince personally but he was a vital part of the early days of ATS Garage and there is no doubt that they think of him every time they do an event like Nisei Showoff. It is important to carry on the memories and the tradition, otherwise it is just any random car show or event that lacks significance…

It goes without saying that there are certainly more than a number of individuals from the earlier days of the community that have become “bitter” or “jaded” because they feel that their hobby has passed them by. I won’t get into the details but I can think of a couple off the top of my head that out right refuse to come out to anything because people don’t know who they are anymore…and that’s a real shame. That’s mostly an ego problem but I think for those guys, they feel like they have lost touch with the hobby because everything moves so quickly now. With social media and the worldwide web controlling mostly everything that you see, you can quickly lose touch of what has happened in the past and how this community got here to this point. Things have become so overly competitive now in the community that everybody is trying to constantly move forward to get ahead of the next guy, to be the guy that does “_____” first. Many are out for bragging rights and to try to be “internet” famous. Knowing this, I wanted to incorporate some individuals who never cared about that. These guys just do it because they love cars. And if for whatever reason they lost touch of that, hopefully being around others like that will help rejuvenate their love of this hobby. Jason Haradon and Dave Chik have two of the best DA Integras ever built. I mean, they literally set the benchmark on how to build and maintain a timeless Honda. They never seemed to care about internet fame or succumbed to new trends. They just love their Hondas. I really wanted them to be a part of GENERATIONS because I like the fact that they still come around and are still involved, you know? They don’t come around often but they make an effort. In turn, guys like me appreciate everything they do and love to see their Hondas. You don’t have to make it out to every meet, show, race event, etc. But understand this…if you do happen to try and go, somebody who may or may not know who you are will be there and see your labor of love for the first time and they will be inspired. That’s what GENERATIONS was about. If you don’t want to be forgotten, make it so that people will remember you and what you’ve accomplished. Don’t be bitter because you feel like this hobby has passed you by when people may not know who you are in the first place because you just sit behind a desk and bitch about how awful things are today….

Not everybody agrees with what I say but I make an effort. I get out there and I’m trying to keep quality and tradition alive. It may go unnoticed but at least I tried. If I never did anything ever again I can be proud to say that I got this group together and showed the world that it could be done.

Today we are going to take a look at some more coverage from the event, with a mix of the past and present, with some detail shots tossed in there for those of you who couldn’t make it out. I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate the kind words that I’ve received. It really means a lot that people care as much as I do…

If you missed Part 1, click the link below to check that out before you move on to today’s coverage…

Nisei Showoff 2012: GENERATIONS Coverage…Part 1…

Thanks to all of you who actually make the effort to read all my rambling by the way…now on with some photos…

The four DAs that we had certainly made for a nice collection but let’s not forget about the huge line-up of EFs at Nisei Showoff. I made it a point to put most of the EFs together because I know how many of you love the EF chassis…

Even to this moment, I still can’t believe that Andy Hope was at a car show and a member of our line-up that day… When we first came up with the idea to do this whole thing, Andy was actually one of the first people to commit 100% and it was very motivating to know that it was important to someone like Andy who has seen and basically done it all in the Honda scene…

A shot of the interior of his Circuit Monster CR-X…

We had a very diverse grouping that day and one of the guys that was parked alongside the EFs was Bisi Ezerioha from Bisimoto Engineering. I’ve worked with Bisi a number of times and he’s become a good friend of mine but it’s also important to recognize his accomplishments over the years in the Honda community. I thought he would be too busy with everything to come out but sure enough, he brought his turbo Civic Wagon out and spent the entire day at the show…

A really late addition to the GENERATIONS line-up was Jimmy Nguyen and his white CR-X from Norcal. Apparently I missed out on getting a shot of the outside of his CR-X that Saturday but it is the white CR-X to the left on CP-Rs. It was probably a day leading up to Nisei when I got a message from him on Facebook. He asked me if there was still room in the line-up for him to be a part of and I didn’t even know who he was or what car he drove. I clicked on his Facebook profile and saw that he had a very clean CR-X so I told him that I would make room for him if he made the trip down the next day. Sure enough, come Saturday morning, he comes cruising into the venue and I made him a part of GENERATIONS. I didn’t get to speak to him much that day but he seems like a very nice guy. Anybody that would be willing to drive down from Norcal without a potential spot shows that the guy is dedicated. I can dig that and I was happy that he showed-up… unlike some guys who committed and then didn’t even bother to leave me a message or call me to let me know that they weren’t coming. It’s not like I didn’t spend days on trying to come up with how to park almost 80 cars to accommodate everyone. I’m not gonna say any names but many of you in the know will figure it out. The only guy that called me to let me know he couldn’t make it was Kelvin Bulda and his EK, which I would have loved to have at Nisei. He had car troubles upon leaving Norcal and it was too risky for him to get his car down here with such a long drive ahead…

Anyways, you’ll notice that Jimmy’s hood is spaced and sits pretty high…

That’s because he’s running a QSD H2B set-up in his CR-X, which utilizes an H22 motor with B-series transmission. This makes the motor sit higher and thus the hood has to be elevated to make room for the motor…

His CR-X was really clean and well-executed. I really didn’t tell anyone that he was coming but hopefully people had a chance to check out his car….

Another EF that I didn’t originally intend on being in the line-up was Jaime Galvez’s CR-X. I remember his car from Eibach and was really impressed by it. One of the coolest things about it was the super rare CR-X Exclusive interior. I don’t even know if Jaime was aware of the group he was parking with but I managed to squeeze him into the line-up because it only added to the great EFs we had that day…

Loved his OE-style K20A swap with gold accents added… interesting touch…

A couple more photos of Miss Showoff, Marissa Hiroko…

It was cool to see that she was still having fun even though it was hot as shit…

…and it was also nice that she didn’t complain about it like some other girls who show up at car shows and bitch about how their booths aren’t set up how they want or some other stupid shit…

Big Mike’s Prelude was recently shot for Honda Tuning magazine so keep an eye out for that feature at the end of the year. I’m happy to see that he finally paint-matched his valve cover instead of it being some random khaki color, haha…

Ryan Der’s Civic from ATS Garage rocking that red, white, and blue…

DPK JP’s Civic now on re-released Enkei J-Speed wheels. Though he’s constantly making minor changes to it here and there, it is still very representative of how Hondas were built in around 05-06 so it was fitting that he was in the line-up…

Jay Powers’ EK from ATS Garage with J*Blood front bumper and black Volk CE28s… As I mentioned, a lot of the older Honda guys have other things going on in life so it’s not always easy to just drop everything and go to a show. He and his wife Lisa are expecting a baby very soon so it was crazy that he still made it down to show at Nisei. That’s dedication though and all the credit in the world goes to him for making time to be there…

Jay’s K20 swap…

His rare Zeal bucket seats…

The backside of the Zeal seats have been painted blue to give the interior some contrast…

Jay always reppin’ ATS Garage to the fullest…

The FCB-built Integra Type R belonging to ATS Anh Truong made the trek from Norcal to be at Nisei. Without giving away the show results, let’s just say that this car was handsomely rewarded for being one of the best builds at Nisei…I love how his ITR looks on Almight Grey Regas…

Chris Sakai from ATS Garage also made the trek down. His EK is, hands down, one of the best Honda builds to date and we all knew he was going to take home an award at the end of the day. You can’t really do much else to a build of this caliber…

Cool to see Chris reppin’ ATS on the side of his head…

I was just hanging out when Chris mentioned that he wanted to show me something in his interior…

He recently got a hold of a KTuned shifter but wasn’t happy with how bare it made his interior look so he added his own little touch to it by adding a carbon fiber panel to the console to give it a much more streamlined look. I loved it and thought that it came out great. It’s attention to detail like this that makes his Civic one of the best out…

The area that Ken gave me for the GENERATIONS line-up that day ended up being a bit bigger than I thought so I was able to add guys like Roy Brantly to the line-up. This is his Mugen EG sedan on CP-Rs…

One other car that I added was Ahmed Sulfab’s DC2 Integra. You probably recognize his car more with the INGS+1 kit and Sprint Hart CP-Rs with lime green lettering but he arrived at Nisei with a Mugen kit and WEDSport wheels…

Arnel Ortiz’s Civic on bags, Wings West aero, and custom BBS wheels. I really wanted him to be in the group because he played a major part in the whole wheel fitment trend within the Honda community. It’s gotten way overboard now but it was guys like Arnel who first test the limits of wheel fitment on Hondas… His red EG was and is probably one of the most recognized and copied Civics to date, other than Mike G’s hatchback. He doesn’t even know it but his influence was huge on the younger Honda guys….

I made sure to include some Hondas that were very current with today’s popular styling cues. Aggressive wheel fitment and “stance” is what people are into these days and I brought out a couple of Hondas to represent that for the “present” portion of the line-up. Karl’s S2000 on Work Meister S1s was a late addition but it made sense to have him there…

Sam Ip has one of the best 8th gen. Civic builds currently and he was one of the first guys that I wanted to host in the line-up. I love his enthusiasm and he’s got a good eye for building Hondas… You guys all know how I love TE37SLs too and I think they look pretty good on his supercharged, FD2-converted Civic…

Salem decided to change things up a bit by removing his J’s Racing front bumper and rocking a set of Dunlop Formula Hart wheels…

Jay Mayuga was another guy that I wanted for the “Present” portion of the group because TSXs are starting to grow in popularity now that they are becoming more affordable and Jay’s is a great example of how to build one correctly… Love the Modulo Voltage front bumper…

…along with the Mugen rear spoiler that most probably never even knew existed for the CL7/9 chassis…

Jay’s SSR Type-Fs and Spoon Sports brakes…

You may not recognize this TSX now but it is Bryant Nguyen’s that last year was on air suspension with SSR SP3 Professors. He got tired of the bags after blowing one out on a trip so he ditched the set-up and went back to coilovers. He took the money he got from selling the bag set-up…

…and picked-up a CT Engineering supercharger for his TSX… It’s a totally different direction from his previous set-up and it’s cool to see the evolution of his car…

Teddy Timoteo’s EK and Mark Sutakajana’s DB8…

RC Chacon’s K-turbo EG9… RC is always down to support The Chronicles and whatever I’m working on and I really appreciate it…

Mike Schietroma’s EM1 Civic coupe from Arizona…

Random shot of Charles’ Volk Artisan Fins w/aero cover…

Arn Reyes always representing old school Abunai Racing car crew…

Mauricio Santos is not a name that you regularly hear but he can definitely be considered for the “past” portion of the line-up considering how long he’s been around in the Honda community. His builds are always very simple but he’s one of those guys that has been there and has watched the Honda community grow over time. This EG that he picked up not too long ago is in immaculate condition and I think it only has like 80K original miles on it…

This EF9 Civic SiR is also Mauricio’s and looks period correct on those SSR EX-C Neos… Thanks to him for buying lunch that day too and getting May and I out of the heat…

Gerald Reyes was one of those guys that I thought would have been at the Infamous event due to the rest of his crew being very much into the whole “stance” craze. He along with his BFF Chivas Sotelo made the decision to be at Nisei instead and I think they belonged in the group because they represent the younger, more current crop of Honda guys…

Chivas Sotelo’s Sunkist Orange EM1 Civic on CP-Rs…good to see these guys and I hope they appreciated and understood why they were important to the GENERATIONS line-up…

Leon Casino’s other timeless CR-X build…

Brian Nguyen’s Mugen CR-Z, which was recently on the cover of Honda Tuning magazine…

…alongside Daniel Herrera’s KR-Z. I thought that these were good for the “Future” portion of the line-up because hybrid sport tuning is the next wave of Honda modification in the year’s to come…Daniel’s KR-Z isn’t a hybrid anymore but you get the idea…

Morgan Jade’s new FA5 Civic project from Sportcar Motion…

Jose Guzman’s BackYard Special-equipped DC5 RSX, also reppin’ Sportcar Motion…

Another shot of Danny Hernandez’s EK from Bandits…

Closing it out today with another shot of some of the DAs that were at Nisei Showoff…. Back with more tomorrow as I continue to go through the photos. Thanks for looking…