In the increasingly saturated Southern California car show scene, timing is everything. When and where you have your event can quickly determine whether or not people will show up. A couple of years ago, things were very different; quality of cars and the quality of production were key factors in a show’s success. Today…not so much. To be fair, the top tier events in our country are successful because of their ability to produce a great product but these days, shows and meets are so commonplace and everyone is trying to throw a car show because they want a piece of the proverbial pie. Everyone is a “hustler” now and sees that there is money to be made in the industry so they attempt to put an event together on their own. Social media makes up for a lot of the work that people used to do in an attempt to help spread the word about any events in our community. I still remember back in the days when show promoters would ask people to help them distribute stacks and stacks of flyers to their friends and acquaintances. In 2013, you can merely press the “share” button on your favorite social media site or upload a photo and it is instantly spread across to thousands of people. Things have shifted so much that it is almost easy to put an event together. Sure it might not be any good but thanks to the power of the internet, people will come out just to come out in hopes of being photographed and possibly becoming the next “internet celebrity”. Because of this over-saturation of events, timing has become a crucial part of an event’s success. Planning an event too closely to another event kills your foot traffic because people aren’t always willing to pay over $20 in a matter of weeks just to see the same cars again. Enthusiasts also get worn-out too so if shows or meets fall too closely together, people will pick just one to attend and voluntarily miss the other one. And if you want to throw a car show at the end of the year, people aren’t likely to come out because of the holiday season and also because they had already done so many shows throughout the year already. Putting an event on in the beginning of the year is risky as well because many peoples’ cars aren’t ready until around the beginning of summer when the flood of shows occur…

Timing is key. I bring that up because it helps to gradually bring your attention to the Spocom Anaheim 2013 event. This year’s version of Spocom happened at just the right time. I personally have not seen this type of foot traffic at a Spocom car show in the last three years or so. It got pretty crazy at one point and the Anaheim Convention Center looked pretty packed. I don’t know if teaming up with Hot Import Nights this year had anything to do with it, but I will say that having the show start at a later time actually worked to their benefit. Unlike the Spocom shows of year’s past, this one didn’t open up their gates until 4 pm. The show was an evening affair but unlike your usual night time car show, ala HIN, they kept the lights on. Starting the show in the late afternoon was a great idea because it was pretty hot out here in Socal. The sun was bearing down pretty hard on us and I think that it would have prevented people from coming out and waiting in line. The late start also provided people with the opportunity to have a regular weekend afternoon to relax or to do whatever they do on weekends. They could spend time with their friends and family before spending the rest of the evening at the Spocom show. I think it was a great idea to have the show set-up this way and maybe it’ll continue in the future….

I wasn’t even originally supposed to bring my car to the show. Spocom has become a major event in our industry so I always mark the date on my calender so that I can attend. In all the years that the Spocom show has been going on, I think I’ve only missed like two shows. I think the quality of cars at Spocom has gradually become lower over the years but I go because I like the show itself. I think Paul Nguyen and staff do a wonderful job of putting the event together so I make sure to show my support. The quality of cars isn’t necessarily their fault. That has more to do with there just being a lot more shitty cars in our community, haha. I think that they could possibly screen the cars that do the show every year like the Wekfest Series does but I just don’t know if they can fill up a convention center hall if they started to become selective of the cars that come. I understand what it takes to throw an event like Spocom and the costs that it incurs so it makes sense to accept registration from all enthusiasts that want to be a part of it. I don’t like it personally but I can’t knock it. Spocom has also become a huge event for import models and those aspiring to become models so if you are into that side of the import scene, Spocom is the show for you. Anyways, back to what I was saying earlier…. I hadn’t planned on bringing the car but it just so happened that my buddies from R-Rydes had some extra spots left. They had registered almost 30 cars and some ended up not being ready in time so there was space available. I knew that Ryan from Rywire really wanted to bring his E-AT Civic build out to Spocom since it was a big industry event so I asked him if he wanted to show with me. Sure enough, he did so we took two of the three spots that the guys from R-Rydes had available. The days leading up to Spocom were pretty tumultuous for Ryan since he had yet to get the Civic running but we’ll get into that later in the coverage. Let’s just say that it all came together the afternoon before the event took place…

Overall it was a great experience. The foot traffic was really good and Spocom pulled through with a quality show. There are always changes that can be made but there wasn’t anything significant that would have made or not made the show for me. I had a good time hanging out at the show indoors and was happy to avoid the intense heat from the summer weather. Thanks to Paul and the guys for having me and a huge shout-out goes to Danh and the entire R-Rydes family for being so kind and providing Ryan and I with spots to have our cars there. The R-Rydes crew consists of a lot of good dudes and it’s remarkable to see them win award, after award, after award. I think by the end of the day, they had collected about 15 trophies for their efforts….

Below is the first half of the photos from the 2013 Spocom car show held at the Anaheim Convention Center. They are presented in the exact order in which I took them from the roll-in in the morning to the end in the late evening….Enjoy and thanks for looking in advance…

So my morning started out at about 8:30 am… I had to meet up with Ryan to help him load his E-AT Civic onto his trailer so we could take it to the show being that the car has not been tuned yet and also because it is not a legal U.S. vehicle that can be registered and driven around the streets. We had all just spent the last couple of days trying to get the car running properly since it hadn’t been fired up since the car was put together for Eibach 2013. It wasn’t running at that point and business has been pretty crazy at Rywire lately so there just wasn’t any time. It’s taken a while for the car to get fired-up because what Ryan is doing is incredibly unique. He has an ITR motor in there but what makes it significant is that he is attempting to do an electronic drive-by-wire system on his car and it has never been done before on a Honda utilizing AEM’s “Infinity” engine management system. How this works is that there is an electronic servo unit that has been retrofitted to the Kinsler 55mm individual throttle bodies that drives the flaps without needing any sort of throttle cable or cabling system. Everything will be electronically-controlled and being that it hasn’t been done before, there are a lot of factors that need to be covered before the car is running at its peak. What exactly are the benefits to using a DBW system? Well it would take me a while to tell you and I’d rather have you read about it in a future feature in Honda Tuning magazine…

Anyways, our roll-in was originally set for 10:30 am so I made sure to get to the shop early to help load the car up. The car isn’t really complete yet so it usually takes 1-3 cranks before the car really fires up strong. Luckily that morning, everything fell into place and the car fired right up. Ryan and I loaded the car up by 9:15 am and we were just hanging out and eating breakfast. The venue was only 3.8 miles away from the Rywire facility so we had time to relax. We pulled up a little early even so Ryan and time to wipe down the car. It hadn’t even left the shop since the last event we went to, I think it was Wekfest LA, so it had piled on a considerable amount of dust….

For those of you that care, check out the quick 15-second videos below of us documenting the initial fire-up of the Rywire E-AT. If you have Instagram and follow me or Bisimoto, then you have probably seen it already. If not, you should definitely check it out. Something about watching the throttles open and close without the use of a throttle cable is pretty damn cool. Huge thanks to Bisi Ezerioha who came through that Friday to help tweak the AEM Infinity unit to work properly with the drive-by-wire system…

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO….

AND HERE’S ANOTHER OF BISI PLAYING AROUND WITH THE THROTTLES

AND ONE MORE BY RYAN HIMSELF…

The Rywire E-AT engine bay… it doesn’t look like it would run but this is fact now officially a running and fully operational set-up…

We had to wait for the guys from R-Rydes to show up to the venue since we were parking with them that day so I used the free time to capture some of the roll-in…

EVO X on SBC Enkei RPF1s…

Another EVO X, this one flared with widened front fenders and rear quarters, also on Enkei RPF1…

Kenmeri Skyline GT-R… Always cool to see these things floating around stateside…

Z33 with Nismo V2 front bumper and Mag Blue Volk TE37SL…

Got a quick glimpse of the Liberty Walk E92 M3 before it cruised into the venue…

I eventually had to put the camera down since we had to park our cars and set up and what not. When I started walking around to get photos, I noticed that there weren’t a whole lot of Hondas present. I remember back when the Spocom show first started there was a huge Honda/Acura-influence. Now you’d rarely see them at all. There was a nice mix of everything else though so I captured whatever caught my eye as I walked through the venue. It was important to try to capture what I could before the gates opened to the public since I was shooting in low light conditions and need the time to get the right shots…

JonJon’s LS430 is still by far one of my favorite stateside V.I.P. builds. I love everything about the car from the full red interior, to the custom kit, the wheels, it has it all. Some of the best features are the little details that you’d only really notice in person…

Acura TSX with a lot of “Tiffany Blue” accents representing Trendy Vape SD….

White-on-white Lexus 2IS on SSR Professor SP1 with custom Neochrome Endless brakes lurking behind the front wheels…

Ojay Bayang’s bagged Toyota Previa with Avanzare aerokit and double-staggered gold-faced Work Meister S1…

R35 GT-R on Advan GT wheels…

Jin Ueno’s beautifully-done LS400 from Kyoei USA…

Y33 Q45 with a rare Car Studio JDS body kit bagged on custom refinished Garson Deep Racing Ryuji wheels…

Lexus 2GS on WED’s Maverick 405S….

Mode Parfume F50 Q45 on SSR Professor MS3 wheels…

Some of the Autofashion USA family hanging out in the Trendy Vape lounge…

Lexus LS430 with full Junction Produce aero kit sitting on WED’s Kranze Bazreias…Can’t forget the Project Mu big brakes either….

EVO X on the newly released Volk Racing TE37RT which is advertised as being 7% more rigid than the TE37SL….

EVO IX with full Voltex aero also on the new RT wheel…

Can’t really say I’m a fan of the outer ring design on the TE37RT but I guess it doesn’t hurt to constantly update the classic TE wheel…

Infiniti G35 coupe from Limitless Society seated on silver step-lipped Work VS-XX…

Luigi Arroyo’s Honda S2000….

I dig the color treatment on this Lamborghini Gallardo convertible. Nice contrast of the orange on the matte white…

Ben Sopra R35 GT-R from The R’s Tuning…

E36 M3 on Work Brombachers from Limitless Society…

Varis-kitted EVO X on bronze Volk TE37…

White G35 coupe on air suspension planted on WED’s Kranze LXZ…

Acura TSX with OEM Optional lip kit and CCW LM20…

BMW Z-coupe looking great on Work Meister S1…

At this point, the gates had opened to the public so it was hard to get good shots with people zooming by. So instead, I turned my attention to trying to capture some people and models in attendance. Here is a candid of Bisi and his baby daughter as he was chatting with Ryan….

A couple shots of Jeri Lee, who was working over at the M7/Drive Energy Drink booth…

Jenn Q at the It’s JDM Yo!!! booth…

Xena Kai, also at the M7 booth…

Walked over to the cars to see if everything was cool and spotted Alexia Cortez posing for some photos on the Rywire E-AT…

I don’t think Ryan would have been too happy with her sitting on the car but she weighs like nothing and was kind of just hovering her ass over the front end of his car so no harm no foul, haha….

A few more…

I am not familiar with who this is but her and Alexia Cortez were working all day for Skunk2/Kraftwerks and were making the rounds throughout the show…

E46 M3 on HRE wheels…

James aka FLOSS’s BMW M3. If you remember, he used to own a white EK back in the Hasback crew days….

I’m not 100% sure but I believe this street rod at the Toyo Tires booth is a 1931 Studebaker Model 54. It has a 350 Chevy crate motor with a 4-inch chop top on a custom one-off chassis… Pretty badass and totally something you would not expect to see at a Spocom event…

Gonna cut it off here for now and resume the rest of the coverage tomorrow. Thanks for looking everyone…