Wekfest South 2016 Coverage…Part 2…


It’s good to see that everyone is enjoying the Wekfest South coverage so far. I’m really happy with how the photos came out and I’m glad that its transitioned so well from camera to website. It always helps to have a good venue to shoot at but as usual, the cars are always the centerpiece. Today, you’re gonna be seeing more of the same. Same, meaning that there is a solid group of car enthusiasts within this photo set that do a great job of representing the car community down in Texas…

I think it is okay to go with current trends. Many still hate the entire idea of putting fender flares on everything and calling them widebody but realistically, you kind of just have to get used to it. You either adjust and accept the current state of things or you’ll just end up being a bitter car enthusiast. If you’ve been around any length of time, you’re going to understand that styles and trends come and go. Eventually, things come full circle. What you see today will some day be looked back upon as either odd or overly-done and people will have a good laugh about it. Things inevitably go on. In the early 2000s we saw a huge change from the “bodykit era” to the much cleaner, more well throught-out “JDM era”. Feel’s widebody kits were copied and plastered on every car possible, as was the Buddy Club front bumper, but those times soon passed. We look back on it now with a smile. Some think it strange, some think it even cooler now looking back, but again, that is the car community. I think it is better to accept and embrace it for what it is, while also not losing sight of what you like, and not forcing your opinion down the throats of people who do not agree with you. “To each their own” as it is said. It rings truer more now than ever. I think we all just get caught up in opinions now because the internet has given everyone so much availability to express it. Admittedly, I used to be one of those people that refused to accept change. Traveling a lot,seeing different sub-communities, and meeting different car enthusiasts has really taught me to open up not only my eyes and ears, but my mind…

You get to learn a lot about the automotive community when you visit Texas. One of the more interesting aspects of being down in Houston is the variety and broad spectrum of styles that exists. You do have your entry-level car guys/gals who are barely getting traction with their car builds. They don’t have quite the understanding or resources to build something really detailed yet so they just get some big wheels and put air suspension on their cars. It’s a fun way to start. I guess the equivalent to that would be many of us 30-somethings getting our first car in our teens. We would get some wheels, cut our springs, and slam the shit out of our cars. It looked cool and we could cruise around in them to local meets. Today, the “stance” crowd is what I honestly would consider to be the entry-level enthusiast. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of very well-built cars that also could be considered “stance-styled” but their levels of intricacy put them in a different category altogether. I don’t hate “stance”. I actually quite enjoy it when it is done correctly. “Correct” is in the eye of the beholder obviously but you don’t see me shying away from shooting photos of these cars just because people don’t like the way their wheels angle, if you know what i mean. In Texas, you also get to see some very high-caliber builds as well. These are the enthusiasts who have a very good understanding of tuning style and history, and incorporate that into their projects. Some will stay true to the style and build with traditional style in mind, and many more have taken a different road, choosing to add their own twist on tradition. For me, I think I enjoy those cars the most. I love the understanding of history when it is meshed together with individuality and personal style. Somewhere in the middle of all that are enthusiasts who are still building their way to the top. I always tell people to just keep doing what they love when they ask me for advice as far as what they should do to their cars. I am not anyone that you should dictate what you do to your own car. If you keep doing what you love, someone out there will appreciate it. Even the littlest of details that seem otherwise unnoticed will always, ALWAYS, be noticed and appreciated by someone out there. I can’t think of anything more important than simply moving forward with that knowledge in mind. Junior always asks me to get on the microphone during the driver’s meetings at all of the Wekfest events to talk more about what I’m looking for. I say the same thing every time. If you love it, keep fucking doing it. Who cares what anyone thinks?…

Today you will see more photos from the early morning roll-in. As I mentioned in Part 1, I dedicated pretty much all of my time to shooting the roll-in because I absolutely love the way the venue looks outside and how the cars are presented in their natural form. Take a gander and I hope you enjoy what you see…

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A duo of widebody Euros from Prospekts in attendance…

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This E46 M3 cabriolet dons a TRA Kyoto Pandem widebody kit and deep concave RSV Forged wheels. They had just recently finished the custom roll bar for the car and sanded it down to a nice finish but the following morning, the weather had already altered the raw metal of the bar, leaving it with some patina…

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Thomas’ from Prospekts’ Audi S5 coupe is also on RSV Forged wheels but is adorned with a Liberty Walk widebody kit…

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By about 9 am, a majority of the exhibitors were already on hand at the venue waiting to get in…

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This Subaru WRX with custom over-fenders is actually a pretty well-known Texas-resident. The car has a 2.7-liter stroked Boxer-4 that makes around 700HP. I heard from some fellow Texas enthusiasts that it made quite an impact at the recent Texas 2K16 event surprising a lot of people with just how fast it actually was….

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A side profile of the Subaru WRX. The flares are an interesting touch considering how it doesn’t follow the factory body lines like that of the widened 22B STI which was only available overseas…

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Filling out the wheel wells are custom rebuilt Blitz Type 01 wheels wrapped in meaty Toyo Proxes R888…

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This DC5 came all the way from New Mexico to compete at the Texas Wekfest event. I remember seeing it last year because of its bright yellow hue and contrasting Mag Blue Volk CEs…

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Simply-executed Civic hatchback from Low-Weezy-Ana car club…

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Pandem widebody R35 GTR from Prospekts…

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This Civic was pretty interesting in that it was running a front-staggered BBS LM wheel set-up. The front features an Air Walker front bumper, custom front splitter, and from the looks of it, the Civic is also turbocharged…

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Acura TSX from Prospekts on Superstar Leon Hardiritt Ordens…

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One of the more notable builds in attendance that weekend was this SW20 MR-2 from Prospekts which actually features a fully-built turbocharged Honda K-series engine swap. It’s so simply done on the outside that you’d never suspect that this MR-2 makes a shit-ton of power from a Honda VTEC motor…

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Kenneth Li from Wekfest enjoying a cigarette while uploading something to the Wekfest Instagram feed…

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A Honda Grom built and piloted by a female enthusiast…

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I want to say this is Rocket Bunny, but I am not sure if I should add “style” at the end of that statement…hmmm…

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One of the best overall builds in attendance this year was this green 1987 VW GTI owned by Benjamin Hobson. You rarely see VWs this thoroughly built at a Wekfest event and it captured our collective attention the moment it pulled-up…

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A rare set of HRE 505 wheels complete with Ferrari caps to make this GTI sit just right. I have some more photos of this car later after it was set-up inside the venue…

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5Star always brings out some really nice Honda builds, including this Spoon Sports-themed AP2 S2000 on aggressive Volk Racing CE28N….

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Team Tom Syhachack showed up with their Rocket Bunny S30Z and turbocharged S2000…

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AP2 wearing a variety of different aero pieces. The front is Voltex Suzuka, fenders appear to be J’s or J’s-style, and the rear over-fenders are Circuit Garage…

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Another angle of Tom’s S2000. Nothing new this year since he’s been busy working on his S30, but this is always one of the better builds from Texas…

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Berlina Black S2000 running a CR front lip and Circuit Garage over-fenders….

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Car Shop Glow seems to be the popular aftermarket taillight down in Houston…

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DC5 RSX seated on white Desmond Regamaster EVO wheels…

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S2000 repainted in a dark shade of red on Advan Racing SA3R wheels…

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Chea from Refined Elegance carrying his NSX display toy into the show…

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S2000s were everywhere at Wekfest South. If anything, it was probably the most popular Honda chassis of the show…

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Love this Honda Grom build. I honestly don’t know shit about them but it looks super cool in this colorway with some Mugen bits on it…

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Christian Santiago’s Advance NSX looking frozen in time…

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I guess “Must be nice” would be an appropriate thing to say when staring at this duo…

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Tom must be so bored of this car now that he has his Datsun to toy with…

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Flare all the things…

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CVT Designs brought out a blue Odyssey this year instead of the usual red one you’ve been used to seeing at practically every Wekfest event…

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Another Texas fan-favorite is this rally-style Hyundai Genesis coupe…

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Tiffanie showing Chuy and Yuta some of the photos she shot that early morning during roll-in…

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Big-body Beemer hammered on GMR wheels….

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The Kouki S14 you saw in Part 1 with the rare Final Konnexion aero kit…

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Rootbeer-colored SW20 MR-2 running over-fenders to fit staggered Work Meister S1 2-piece wheels…

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Tiffanie Marie capturing some photos for the official Wekfest Blog

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Tricky Ricky debuted his white EJ1 Civic coupe at the 2016 Wekfest South event. From the build photos on Instagram, this car has been coming together for quite some time now…

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In the engine bay of the Civic coupe is an incredibly well-done B-series engine set-up with a cleanly shaven bay and cooling hoses hidden from view…

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Varis Arising Subaru WRX STI…

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Sil80 from Team Sun*Works with a trio of Honda Ruckus’ not far behind…

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Unique Taxi-themed Infiniti G35 sedan…

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Another angle of the 7-series BMW long wheelbase from Dumpsville…

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Back inside, we finally see Tom’s S2000 set-up in the Continental Tires display area…

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Bagged Subaru BRZ from Prospekts…

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Thomas Pinai and company hard at work on polishing-up his Mode Parfume GS400…

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Vinyl-wrapped Rocket Bunny V2 FR-S from Squirrel Squad…

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Gonna close it out today with some shots of Fernando Huerta’s Mugen del Sol. Always good to see this car and its solid collection of parts. Especially love the Project Mu brakes up front peeking through the Volk CEs…

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Within the shaven bay of Huerta’s del Sol is a K-series swap featuring a set of Kinsler individual throttle bodies with polished horns…

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Inside the del Sol is a beautiful set of Mugen MS-R seats produced by Recaro…

That’s it for Part 2. Still much more to come so stay tuned and share if you like what you see! Thanks!…

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4 comments

  1. I am not terribly knowledgable with Rocket Bunny kits, but what is the dead giveaway that the grey z33 has a replica kit? Joey seemed to imply it might not be authentic.

  2. holy Christ that cage is dangerous as fuck in that del sol lmao. its basically a headrest unless the owner is under 5ft tall

  3. did u get a chance to get any pics of yoel ITR from florida?

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