Let me begin by stating that I am not, nor will I ever claim to be, any sort of curator of our community’s past and present history. What I have always done is tried to show you the lifestyles of a select number of Honda enthusiasts as well as show you my daily life being in this great industry. I have always been more about the human side of things. I love cars and Hondas in particular so it is a great joy of mine to cover everything that surrounds it, but the people are what matter to me the most. I originally came up with the idea to do the “GENERATIONS” line-up at Nisei Showoff last year when Ken Myoshi from Showoff approached me with an opportunity to create a headlining theme for his event. He trusts in my ideas and I think that over time, I’ve come through for him and produced a pretty solid product. The GENERATIONS line-up was very simple; to honor the great builds of the past, showcase some of the top tier builds currently, and offer a glimpse into the future to show what our community has to offer in the coming years. I had a short time to do it but I was able to pull it off with some help from my fellow friends and enthusiasts. We had a line-up of about 15 Hondas, some which were already household names and many who may have been forgotten or only heard of from online Honda forums but never seen in public. Everything went almost seamlessly, with a couple of cars not being able to attend at the last minute but I was very happy with it. Other enthusiasts and show goers responded very positively with the idea and also really liked the idea of honoring enthusiasts from the past. I think it turned out to be a pretty memorable Nisei Showoff and it was back to the drawing board again next year to come up with something different. Whether or not there would be another Nisei Showoff at all was the real issue. With money becoming increasingly tight and available lots in the downtown LA area becoming scarce, there was a real possibility that this event wasn’t going to happen…

I met up with Ken a couple months ago alongside Tony from It’s JDM Yo!! to discuss the idea of doing another Nisei Showoff. At that point in time, Ken did not even have a solid location booked yet and was still in the process of trying to be able to locate a place to do the show. The lot that it was typically at was finally sold and being used so it was out of the question. His major responsibility was putting together the event and finding a location. What he wanted me to do, was to once again come up with an idea to push the show. We talked about it over dinner and he mentioned how successful the “GENERATIONS” line-up was the year before so we agreed to try it again this year. I had significantly more time to plan this time around so I set forth the motions to try to get a larger group together for the 2012 Nisei Showoff… the response was overwhelming to say the least. I began contacting people privately as well as through social media outlets to see who was interested. There are a couple of Hondas from the past that I knew were locked away in storage that I really wanted to try to bring out. Some were more than willing, and some I am still in the process of trying to convince. Hopefully when they read this they will be motivated to come out. I don’t think you guys have any idea how many people I was able to get a hold of. There are times when I wished that I had joined the Honda community earlier, but I did hop on board until late ’99 to early 2000. Luckily for me I have great friends and associates to help me…

In today’s ever growing Honda community, things have become very competitive…almost TOO competitive, to the point where I think we often times take things for granted and try way too hard to be better than the next person. With so much innovation and new technology popping up almost every week, it is almost expected that we strive to be the best. It’s a good thing that people are competitive because we end up pushing one another to try to be better and better. The bad side of it is that we tend to sometimes make more enemies than friends in the process. We forget that we are all enthusiasts who share a common interest. Instead of it being an “interest” it turns into a sport, where everybody is doing whatever it takes to hold the top spot…to be considered “the best”. The internet has helped to push this mentality because there are a number of you who are simply out for fame. You do things to get validation from others and don’t even enjoy your cars. That’s a shame if you ask me. This is supposed to be fun after all and you’ve made something that is so enjoyable into a mind numbing task. You blow your money just to please others who probably don’t care about what you’re doing because they’re too busy trying to be better than someone else. Everyone is so busy trying to move forward that they have forgotten about the past and the people that inspired them to build cars in the first place. You have to remember that there was a time when things were different. When you were growing up, the Honda community was way different. There was a better sense of camaraderie….almost a brotherhood or kinship among enthusiasts. There was a time when people just built Hondas for fun. Nobody cared who was better or who did things first because it didn’t matter. If you did something that nobody was able to do before, you were respected…not hated. Knowledge was shared because there was little knowledge before that. People didn’t withhold information from others to hold other people down. The community back then, was a community. With the GENERATIONS concept, I hope to bring back some of that camaraderie. I want people to have a chance to get to know the ones that helped build this community to what it is today. I want people from back then to be able to stand alongside the enthusiasts today and be able to exchange ideas and communicate. There are also a number of people from back then who are somewhat jaded, who feel that maybe the scene has passed them by. Maybe they don’t like the way things are today. My hope is that these guys will be able to see what we are doing at Nisei Showoff and understand that we are reaching out to everyone to open that line of communication open. Having the Hondas from past and present there is a very cool thing, but it is not the most important thing…

Again, I have amazing people around me and they have helped me to build this GENERATIONS line-up to something so monumental that I cannot even fathom what has come to be. We had a line-up of 15 Hondas last year and that was already an amazing line-up by my standards. In 2012, you will witness more than 60 Hondas; many from the current crop of Honda heads, and many who are from years back. We have put out a lot of effort to try to get some of the older generation to come out to Nisei Showoff. If anything, we would be able to put together an event in itself with just the cars that we have now, but Import Showoff has such a rich, storied history that it serves as the perfect platform for us to make this GENERATIONS line-up happen. I am more than pleased with what we have. I am also still in the process of seeking out other Honda enthusiasts from the past, who still have their cars hidden away in storage. I want to be able to get these cars out there even if it is the last time anyone will ever hear or see them again. If you are an older Honda guy/gal and no longer have your vehicles or have since moved on from the import community, I invite you to come hang out at Nisei Showoff. We would all love to meet you and hear your stories of the import scene from back then…

The past portion of the line-up was the most difficult to put together. I learned that last year and it’s pretty wild how much feedback I have gotten this year. The present is always the easiest and the future portion of the line-up is as well, but I’m trying to be more creative with it in 2012. The Honda build I really want to get out there is Rywire’s latest project, which is his Integra Type R that you have seen exclusively here on The Chronicles. The build is far from finished but I think this is the perfect time for it to make its first public appearance. If all goes well and we can get the chassis back from ASC, you guys will have the chance to see the progress on it in person.

I want to state right now at this moment that the GENERATIONS line-up is basically near completion, so please do not contact me in regards to being a part of this line-up. I have taken careful consideration as to who I want and I think I have the cars that I need. I am however, open to having some more Hondas in the “past” portion of the group. If it is a great build from the past and it happens to still be around in its period correct form, I would love to have it at Nisei. If you are interested or know someone from the past who would like to join us at Nisei Showoff, please contact me privately on Facebook or email me at stickydiljoe@yahoo.com. Again, I do not need anymore Hondas for the “present” section of GENERATIONS. Those are filled. Future projects are also filled…

With all that said I personally invite you to go to Nisei Showoff on August 11th, 2012 to check out the GENERATIONS showcase for yourself. I feel that it will be one of those once in a lifetime opportunities because I honestly don’t think we will ever be able to get this group together in one place ever again. I may reveal the line-up later on down the line when everything is set in stone, but for now, check out the official GENERATIONS flier. I think you guys will have a pretty good idea of who is participating. It is a great honor for me to have everyone come out and to be at Nisei Showoff. I never expected the feedback to be this great and I am very excited to see it all come together. I have a private page set-up where participants of GENERATIONS have been able to chat with one another and give their feedback on the showcase…more than one of them has already uttered the word “EPIC”….

It’s going to be amazing. I know there is another event going on that day as well and I am not trying to step on any toes, but if you are a die hard Honda enthusiast, or any import enthusiast in general, I think you will be more than happy with Nisei Showoff this year. It may go down as one of the best Showoff events of all time.

August 11, 2012 will be a day that will go down in history. I hope you are there to be a witness to it…

Please do me a favor and spread the word. GENERATIONS 2012, The Chronicles X The ORIGINAL Import Showoff…

Larger Version (1400×933) *If you are going to help spread the word, please use the larger format image in this link, thank you! 

The GENERATIONS section may be full, but you can still register your vehicle to be a part of Nisei Showoff 2012. Head over to http://www.showoffcafe.com for information on how to register!