The Import Alliance Spring Meet is a major event every year in our country. It’s probably the first big event for the East Coast and enthusiasts are eager to attend to kick off the year. Their Summer Meet is probably the biggest of all but since the Spring Meet is held in Atlanta, Georiga, it provides a central venue for people from all over to attend. I’ve personally never been to a IA Spring Meet, but I’d like to attend one of these days. This year, the timing just wasn’t right and I’ve just been really busy the last few months. I was actually gearing up to go to Japan again this weekend for the USDM Jam event over there but even that manage to fall through because I just got a lot of stuff to take care of back home. The IA Summer Meet sounds intriguing but I am not sure what my schedule will be like around that time. I missed the Summer Meet last year after going to the final Nashville event in 2011 and I don’t know if this year’s will be comparable to the one I went to. I’m happy that I did make it to the final Nashville Summer Meet because it was an entirely new experience for me. Everything was unplanned, unexpected, and it was quite an adventure. I think people will always remember the summer meets because they were held at the Nashville Superspeedway and all future ones just won’t be the same. The location plus the hotel parties and all the shenanigans that ensued was what really made it great…

Anyways, from the photos I’ve seen so far, the IA Spring Meet was a huge success. I was looking forward to seeing coverage because it provides a good glimpse of what the year holds in terms of car builds on that side of the country. I can’t say I saw anything spectacular that is going to change the landscape of the year, but I am happy to report that the quality of builds out there is continually improving. I noticed that the bar has been raised a bit and guys out there are starting to understand that cleanliness and simplicity is key. I’m still waiting for the two-toned engine bay thing to die but you’re still gonna have that younger crowd that will do that because they think that it’ll help them stand-out more. Trends will come and go and hopefully the enthusiasts out there understand that. If you build with quality, your work will speak for itself and it will stand the test of time. If you’re just out there for that quick 5 minutes of spotlight and “internet fame”, then by all means, do all that random gaudy shit that seems to be popular…

Like last year, I have photo sets from three. maybe four different photographers that attended the event. I wasn’t able to make it so the best option was to get a couple of people who could cover the event for me. Since it is such a massive undertaking to capture a bulk of the Spring Meet, it just makes more sense to have more than one person cover it. This way you get to see the event from different points of view. This also allows for more variety. Some of the photographers that I use are relative unknowns to me so I really don’t know their taste in cars. Maybe they just don’t like the same things as me so I have options with other people shooting at the same time…

Today, for the first set of IA Spring Meet coverage, we will be taking a look at the meet from the perspective of Anderson Rajavong. Rajavong has been out here to the west coast before so I am familiar with who he is just through mutual friends. He wanted to take on the task of doing some coverage for me and I was all for it. He actually collected a ton of photos for me but to be honest, I’ve only plucked the photos that I felt were the best. I noticed that Anderson is very fond of shooting with a 10MM wide angle and while it makes for some dynamic imagery, it doesn’t always provide for the best view of an entire car. Still, I really like the photos that he was able to capture, especially at the beginning of the day. He was able to get photos of the cars that I personally wanted to see which really helps in my description of the coverage below. Thanks to Anderson Rajavong for taking the time to cover the event and for delivering the photos to me so quickly. With that said, let’s get started with Part 1 of our IA Spring Meet coverage…

PHOTOS BY ANDERSON RAJAVONG

Our adventure with Rajavong starts the Saturday prior to the IA Spring Meet where we see some members of the Premium Garage Krew (PG+K) prepping their cars for the event…

PGK seems to be growing bigger every year and while I do know some of the original members, I am familiar with some of the new guys in the group…

One of the guys that I do know and still communicate with, is long-haired Asian guy Bon B, pictured here with an Asian lumberjack and what appears to be Top-Zero selling rapper, Waka Flocka…

Boosted Civic coupe with hood-exit exhaust and Air Walker front bumper…Not a bad color combo with the white TEs but the car could use some mirrors. I’m sure with the exhaust dumping out of the hood it makes for a very interesting street car…

Two Phoenix Yellow Integra Type Rs, one with bronze TE37s and the other on polished Desmond Marquis Promedas…

The ITR with the Desmonds is also K-swapped…

Danny Dang from PGK says “Hi”…

On the road to Atlanta…

DC5 that was one of many IA-attendees who were hanging out at the hotel where they stayed that evening…

I see that the re-emergence of the C-West DC2 front bumper has also made its way to the East Coast…

Right-hand drive Civic coupe on white CCW Classics. Pretty nice build actually with Mugen SS front lip and Mugen Ferio rear wing…

…and a really well-done engine bay, shaved all the way around all the way up to the core support. The splatter paint is an acquired taste but I like that he color-matched the intake and has matching cooling hoses. The painted engine block and transmission is a bit much but I like how well-thought out the whole engine bay is and how it all comes together….

A look at the interior of the coupe. Very subtle with full interior intact and black Status Racing seats…

Nice adaptation of the Mugen Ferio spoiler…

Another DC5, this one on Enkei RPF1…

Good to see that RSXs are popular at least somewhere in our country. We don’t really see that many of them out here on the West but its good that they are embraced in other parts. Pretty underrated cars that are very capable tuning platforms. This particular build features a BackYard Special aero kit…

Bradley LaFayette’s Japanese-imported right-hand drive Honda S2000 VGS that I’ve seen and heard people raving about parked alongside Matt Tucker’s EK9 CTR which is now K-turbo…

The IA Spring Meet is the first major event for Rami Qasem to re-introduce his S2000 to the world. You probably remember his S2000 looking more LIKE THIS, but he’s recently redone the entire car with ASM aero, JDP rear wing, and new CCW wheels…

Z34 370Z on gold Work VS-XX…

Tracl-prepped Civic hatchback with front and rear fender flares. The spike bolts holding the flares down is kind of gaudy but whatever works, I guess, haha… Nice to see SSR Professor SP1R wheels used too. I don’t know if people are aware that they make the SP1 in smaller sizes…

GM LSx-swapped S2000…

Now we move onto Sunday, the day of the IA Spring Meet where Rajavong captured this shot of Wilder Bowers’ beautifully-done EG6 Civic SiR on WRD Chevlon wheels. This was definitely one of my favorites from the Spring Meet…

Hondas were well-represented at the IA Spring event…

Red S2000 on CCW Classic, still one of the most popular wheels out on the right coast…

Slammed DC5 RSX on purple MB Battles…

More of the BYS RSX…

Lexus 2GS on Auto Couture Supremes…

JZA80 Toyota Supra with molded Top Secret GT300 widebody kit…

J’s Racing-themed CL9 Acura TSX on Honda Time Attack edition Volk CE28N…

AP2 S2000 also J’s themed with J’s front bumper, front fenders, and rear over fenders. Wheels are Takata Green TE37SL…

Eric Badis’ custom Acura TL…

One of my favorite builds from out east is this Lexus IS350. He showed up to the IA Spring Meet rocking this new GS F-Sport front bumper that he had modified to fit his IS. Pretty nutty looking…

Phoenix Yellow ITR on bronze Volk TE37s, a classic combo…

Civic coupe on Magnesium Blue Volk SE37Ks and a lot of aero…

K-swapped Civic coupe with customized classic BBS mesh wheels…

The coolest build at the IA Spring Meet would probably have to be this K-swapped Civic CVCC hatchback…It’s crazy to see how the motor sits in there and how clean the body of this old Honda is. The only way to make this build even better would be if it had some SSR MK2 wheels or something from an older period…

Really liked this DC2 on Rays Gram Lights 57S-Pro wheels…

FA5 Civic with FD2 Type R conversion and JDM OEM ’09+ taillights…

Blue AP2 S2000 on white Work Emotion XD9…

Matt Tucker’s K20 turbo EK9…

LaFayette’s S2000 VGS…

Civic with EK4 SiR-look and SSR Type-C…

Might be hard to see but check-out the OEM Optional headlight covers on this hatchback…

Civic rocking a Spoon Sports carbon front lip and 15-inch Regamaster EVOs…

One more of the K-swapped DC2 on Desmonds…

“Crouching Hatchback Hidden Exhaust”…

The biggest “WTF?” build of the IA Spring Meet was probably this Civic hatchback…At first glance, you’d probably think that it was just a silver Civic on some meaty Hoosiers that don’t fit….okay…

…then you look into the rear hatch since it has been propped-open and you see a motor inside….Well, that’s odd. Why is the owner of this car transporting an engine in the back of his car?…

…then you walk up to take a closer look and you quickly realize that this guy isn’t transporting an engine. The motor is literally mounted to the back of his Civic, as the owner has converted his EG into a rear-engine, rear-wheel drive Civic. While the idea of it is novel and kind of cool, the craziest part is that there is no separation of the motor from the driver. There are firewalls for a reason and this build has no indication of any “wall” to prevent “fire”. Fucking nuts! Haha..AND it has NOS too!

I posted this car up on my Instagram account and the brother of the owner actually commented. He said that it is still under construction and not nearly finished yet. Hopefully when it is all said and done, they create some form of separation for the motor. Otherwise you’re not only burning up from the heat of the engine and putting yourself at risk, but you’re also inhaling all kinds of smells and exhaust fumes and what not that could potentially shorten your life by a couple of years. That is, if you can survive the heat and explosive nitrous oxide being injected from the bottle next to the driver seat into the motor that is right behind you…

No hood, no motor, no firewall, no care…. Good luck on this build. If done right it can actually be pretty cool…

Custom blue-metallic painted Civic coupe on Regamaster EVO Brites from Premium Garage Krew…

EG Mike’s Civic on 949Racing wheels…

One more shot of the engine bay from the coupe you saw up top…

…and closing out Anderson Rajavong’s coverage of the IA Spring Meet with this nicely-executed del Sol engine bay. This is the kind of two-tone that I DO like…

Thanks for looking and thanks to Anderson for providing the great shots! Stay tuned for much more in the days to come!…