Happy holidays all, hope all of you had a great time with your friends and family. I think most of you should be winding down from the whole holiday fiasco by now so let’s dive right back into the Wekfest Florida 2015 coverage. It turns out that there are actually enough photos to stretch the coverage out to three total parts so there will still be one section of coverage coming after today’s update…

Hmm…what should we talk about today…umm, let me go back and skim through the previous post to see if there was anything that I hadn’t addressed yet…

Ok…So I’d like to think that I was a pretty perceptive person that has a good understanding of how things are and how they work. I know it seems as if I spoke negatively in regards to the Florida car scene but I generally do think they have a good scene down there–it just needs some work. Some help, some inspiration, whatever you want to call it. The people there are good people. Judging from some of the comments that were on my Instagram post a couple days ago, there seems to be a general consensus that the scene has changed quite a bit over the years. Theft played a major role in it but I think people in that area realize that the scene has been hurting for some time now and making an effort to make things better. It is difficult to really put forth a maximum effort when faced with the possibility that someone can come and take your pride and joy away at any time but I think passion prevails. Things will recover, slowly, but the scene will one day grow back to what it once was, or even better, with some help. I think shows like Wekfest are good in that they do help to set a bar, so to speak, for enthusiasts to build towards. It isn’t the end all, be all, of any car show in existence but it does encompass a certain idea of quality and execution that top car builders strive for. The show is something to look forward to and people who participate want to bring out their best. If there were no events, no meets, and no means for enthusiasts to communicate with one another, there would really be no progress. Even the lurkers who build for themselves and generally keep their cars to themselves need points of inspiration as well and I think show like this provide that outlet. Of course, if you don’t care for car shows, you’d simply scoff at the idea of any car show invigorating a scene or community but the reality is that it works. It worked in Texas, it definitely seems to be helping over in Japan, and I think overall, enthusiasts from all over the country make an effort to attend Wekfest events to see what they are all about. Some leave inspired, some leave thinking it is all hype, but as long as it is generating a reaction and emotion from people, I think it is a positive thing…

You have some shows out there (who shall remain nameless) that come and go and you never hear from them again because they don’t make people care about what they do. Awards don’t mean anything in the bigger picture, let’s be honest. They are things made by people to give people to give to someone else that is supposed to be a physical form of appreciation or acknowledgement. It’s not “real”. What these things do is make people care about what they do or what their friends do. It is a tool that serves its purpose as something to create that spark that might not be there yet, or to help you understand that someone out there appreciates what you do. That’s why its so crazy to me that people get upset about awards and throw them on the ground and break them if they don’t get what they want from their experience. That’s absurd. That isn’t what it is supposed to be about. You shouldn’t go somewhere expecting to win something that won’t mean something to you a couple months from now when it is just taking up space on your desk. It’s like going to school and winning the perfect attendance award because you showed up to class every day. Five years from now, ten years from now, who really cares?  It was just acknowledgement for your efforts and to help make you understand and care that what you did was a good thing, a positive thing. That’s what awards are for. Other than that, it’s all very “whatever” in the grand scheme of things. The car gods aren’t taking a tally of how many awards you’ve won in the past to see if you get entrance into automotive heaven or the import scene “Hall of Fame”. There won’t be an induction ceremony in your honor, trust me. If anything, it something your mom and dad will call you about a couple years later and ask if you want them to throw them away or not because they’re just taking up space on their shelves. Meanwhile, you’re living an adult life and caring about actual things that fucking matter…

Here is Part 2 of 3 of the Wekfest Florida 2015 Coverage…enjoy…

Harrison Schultz’s GM LS1-powered FD3S RX-7 featuring a complete Kazama Auto widebody aero kit from Japan…

Nifty-looking Knight Sports side mirrors that look like some obscure art piece that should be hanging on a museum wall somewhere fancy…

Another angle of the FD, also note the Mazdaspeed rear wing and the Project Mu big brakes behind the Volk Racing SF Challenge wheels…

F50 RHD Nissan Cima from Royal Republic on Leon Hardiritt Waffes…

Imported Nissan Silvia with OEM Spec-R aero on Work VS-XX….

Cindy from Royal Republic’s custom widebody C63 AMG coupe…

K-Break Hybreed Cross Nine wheels on the C63…

CL9 TSX with JDM Euro-R conversion, custom front splitter and side pieces along with 3-piece CCW D11 wheels…

Bagged BMW i8 on Vossen wheels that you guys saw in Part 1 of the coverage…

Matt Hamilton’s freshly redone S2000 build with aero pieces from Voltex, J’s Racing, and ASM. Under the hood is a HKS GT-Supercharged F22C engine…

Type-X styled RPS13 240SX on CCW LM5 wheels…

John Perez’s incredibly well-kept B16-powered Civic  sedan…

Liberty Walk Performance R35 GTR on air…

Z33 seated aggressively on WED’S Kranze Vishunu…

JDM EF8 SiR inspired CR-X on WED’S SA90…

Slim’s turbocharged rootbeer DC5 RSX…

Turbocharged B-series motor inside this nicely executed Integra engine bay…

Mike Schietroma’s RCG-built K-turbocharged EM1 Civic SI, which later took home “Best of Show” honors….

Nax Whitmore’s custom widebody UCF30 LS430 from Fortune Minds on Luxury Abstract wheels…

Subtlely executed 350Z on Work Emotion CR-Kai…

AP1 S2000 wearing ASM aero and Volk Racing CE28…

Rare to see an S14 Kouki these days without a aero kit or Japanese front end. This one still had the OEM USDM front bumper and SE front lip…

Ricky Alduen’s Candy Mandarin-painted FD RX-7 featuring a Petit Racing street-ported 13B Rotary engine…

Interesting to see Varis Arising front fenders on an R35 without all the crazy aero pieces and canards that come with the rest of the kit….

Turbocharged H2B set-up in this 4-door Civic drag car with a shaved engine bay…

Xavier Ortiz from Wireworx personal, long-time, Civic build that was B-series turbo as long as I can remember. For the 2015 Wekfest Florida event, he showed up casually and popped his hood to reveal that he’d finally decided to join the dark side and K-swap…

He put his own unique touch to the swap by doing the swap in a “gangster lean” style more often seen on K-swapped drag cars. This tilts the engine forward and now the individual throttle bodies run right behind the core support…..

Acura Integra Type R with a rare set of Enkei NT03 wheels in this particular sizing. I don’t remember the exact specs but I remember the owner telling me that he only knows of two other sets in this sizing in Florida. Also known as; lock that shit up tight and don’t ever let anyone take that shit from you because not only do you have a rare set of wheels, you also own a Type R….

Acura Integra GS-R wearing a Advan Racing vinyl livery and Advan Racing RGII wheels…

I’m not exactly sure who owns this EF now but I remember doing a story on this Civic years and years ago for Honda Tuning magazine. Nice to see that it is still in pretty good condition…

Rotrex-supercharged Honda CR-X on 15-inch Regamaster EVOs with a nice meaty set of Falken Azenis rubber…

K20/K24 street and drag-prepped Civic from HT Performance. One of my favorites from the Wekfest Florida event due to its overall execution inside and out along with the mildly-built K-series engine that I believe made around 312whp…

This gold Civic hatchback was also a product of HT Performance with a all-motor K-series engine that dynoed at 325whp. Like the white hatchback above, it too was very well done but had much more of a raw feel to it with many of the interior panels cut-out for weight reduction. Overall, another functional street/race car representing Florida well…

On that note, it’s time for dinner and to get my weekend evening started. Thanks for looking folks and stay tuned for Part 3 coming as soon as possible. Thanks for the support…