The Chronicles Vlog #3 (Part 5/5) and AF VIP Festival 2014 Coverage….


I honestly hope that these video blogs have helped to give you some more insight into my world. Some of it may not be that interesting for those of you who are just here for car shit but I don’t think you’d enjoy the site as much if you didn’t like seeing everything else that goes on. If anything, I’ve always wanted to give you guys a more personal look into our car community out here and these videos help to illustrate what I can’t normally describe in words. Vlog #3 has been filled with a ton of content, from the Rocket Bunny NSX build to Year.SIX, then SEMA ’14, and all the partying and food, but today, we close it out with a bang. SEMA week is usually pretty long and arduous but it seemed as crazy as it has ever been this time around. Typically, we start the week off with my anniversary event before heading to Vegas and then we end the week down in San Diego at the Autofashion VIP Festival. I have been a long time supporter of Autofashion USA and consider them very dear friends. No matter how busy my week is or how complicated the schedule, I always find time to support these guys. This year was a special one because it marks their tenth anniversary so I really couldn’t afford to miss out. Freddie and the gang had a party in Vegas to celebrate along with a pre-meet off the Vegas strip during the week. I attend both those events and even managed to hop in my own VIP build to drive down to San Diego. This year, VIP Festival was held at the B&G Suspension lot which provided ample space for all the cars, VIP-styled or not, to attend. The weather was perfect and the event, as always, is really laid back. I liken it a lot to my own anniversary event where it is mostly close friends and supporters who are a little more grown up and are just there to chill. The cars are cool but seeing everyone makes the event that much better. On top of that, I also get to eat at my favorite Mexican Food spot that I used to always go to when I was growing up in SD…

The final part of my Vlog series (#3) covers my final days in Vegas before I headed home to California. Check it out and then take a look at the actual photo coverage of both the Pre-Meet and VIP Festival below…

There are only a few photos from the VIP Festival Pre-Meet in Vegas because I honestly wasn’t feeling very good that evening and just wanted to relax. I figured most of the cars would be at the actual VIP Festival anyway so I just walked around and took photos of some cars that I thought would only be at the Pre-Meet. We didn’t even get any video footage because it was dark out there and hard to film….

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The Pre-Meet was actually the night that SEMA 2014 ended so many cars that were a part of the SEMA show were in attendance. Yogi’s Lexus GS was one of the cars that went straight from SEMA to this event. I know things continuity-wise are a bit confusing since I posted up the SEMA stuff a while back but this is the same week in which all of this took place….

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Noel Barnum’s Varis FR-S was another build that was at the 2014 SEMA Show…

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A rare R30 Skyline coupe made an appearance….

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…along with this Hakosuka that you’ve seen numerous times here on The Chronicles….

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Black Pearl LS460 on new Work Wheels…

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K-Break LS460 on RSV Forged wheels….

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SquadOne’s custom LS460 is always there to support the Autofashion USA family…

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K-Break LS460 that came out from the East Coast for the 2014 SEMA Show….

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One of the more peculiar builds at the Pre-Meet was this 55-56 Chevy truck bagged on Maya wheels….

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At one point, I envisioned my own Y33 Q looking like this with the JDM Cima GT front end and Leon Hardiritt Waffes. Unfortunately, I lost this front bumper in a fire and never got around to installing it….

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Hammered Chevy Impala SS coupe that was parked side-by-side with the Chevy pick-up from the same era….

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Aimgain Cygnus LS430 on Avant Garde wheels…

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Ian Perri’s rusted and beat-up 280Z on Advan Racing wheels…

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The last photo I took that evening before heading over to Honey Pig for a late dinner was this FD3S RX-7 on white AME Tracer wheels….

As you can see in the video above, we headed home to Los Angeles the morning after the Pre-Meet. It was nice to be home for a couple hours but then we all had to prep our cars for the trip down to San Diego. We arrived a little late that Sunday but Freddie from Autofashion had some prime parking spots for us right up front by their booth….

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The VIP Festival is obviously catered to Japanese VIP-themed cars but you’ll often find non-VIP builds in attendance. This beautifully-done Toyota Celica coupe belongs to Dennis Kiyan, who is also an old buddy of mine from high school. He has a VIP Infinti M build but has recently devoted all of his time into this Celica…

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“Big Steve” Wong’s Aimgain LS400 has long been a staple in the U.S. VIP car community. He rarely brings it out but of course, he wouldn’t miss the AF VIP Festival for anything…

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Ryan Der’s E30 BMW M3 on bronze Volk TE37s. Thanks to him for being my filming buddy and doing his best to cover the entire SEMA week for my Vlog series….

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SquadOne GS with a complete Wald lip kit….

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The SquadOne LS made the trip from Vegas to San Diego, which is a solid 5-hour drive….

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A couple more of Der’s E30 M since the only time I ever see it is here inside the shop parked next to my own car. Nice to see it getting some sun instead of collecting dust for a change….

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My Aimgain Euro Y33 Q45 on SSR Professor MS3 wheels. I recently added the side stripe to my car and really like how it looks. It adds a good amount of contrast to the paint and the gold leaf is my attempt to be classy, haha….

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DPK David’s LS430 bagged on Airrex suspension and Leon Hardiritt Ordens…. I recently added the side stripe to his LS as well and as you can see in the second photo, I used silver leaf to match his paint….

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It seems like I’ve been seeing Yogi and his GS every fucking day lately so of course, he popped up at VIP Festival still wearing his Phaze2 t-shirt. Buddha Concepts did an amazing job with his GS and I’m proud to say that I got to see this thing come together….

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Scion FR-S with OEM front bumper and Rocket Bunny flares/sideskirts… It’s not a bad look actually and the Work VS dish wheels are a nice touch….

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Jesse Villacruz’s LS430 is one of the more prominent VIP builds in 2014. His chopped hood is pretty interesting and adds a unique dynamic to his build….

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Really liked how this LS430 looked with a full G-Answer lip kit and WED’s Kranze Bazreias….

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Faiz Rahman’s custom IS300 was on display at the SEMA Show this year and I invited him to make the drive down to San Diego for the VIP Festival. Didn’t think he’d actually make it out but sure enough, he showed-up in the afternoon….

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This Civic always pops up at the VIP Festival since it is a SD local. You saw it at my Year.SIX event with bronze Volk TEs on it but it made an appearance that Sunday on Mugen M7 wheels. Love how timeless this hatch is. The Mugen SS front lip and EC Works mirrors are great choices in terms of rare parts for this chassis…

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Mode Parfume M45 from STYLESIXTYTHREE… I’ve always been a huge fan of this particular chassis and wanted to build one at one point before picking up my Y33. Good to see that other guys appreciate it as well and can make them look this good….

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Rare and incredibly expensive K-Break Hybreed Fivesta wheels with a brushed face and polished step-lip….

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STYLESIXTYTHREE also had this bagged Odyssey on WED’s Kranze LXZ wheels…

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Aimgain Euro GS400 from Royal Flush….

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This UCF20 was everything I’d want in an LS400 build if I were to put one together. The body is nice and simple, no crazy wheel fitment or overly aggressive body work. The step-lipped Leon Hardiritt Waffes tuck nicely under the wheel wells and the front lip is all you really need with a straight-forward build like this. I love it and this was one of my favorites at the VIP Festival….

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Wrapping up the first half of this VIP Festival coverage with a couple shots of Andre’s turbocharged J’s Racing widebody S2000 from Project ZERO….

That’s all for today. Make sure to watch the video above if you haven’t already and check back next time with more from the 2014 VIP Festival. Thanks for looking….

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