Wekfest Hawaii 2017 Coverage… Part 2 of 2…


I know I’m probably gonna get some heat for this but admittedly, I took a lot of photos of the same cars over and over again during Wekfest Hawaii 2017. These are the cars that caught my eye, I’m sorry, haha. I fly down to Hawaii once a year to check out these cars and whenever something is of interest to me, I spend a lot of time going over them. The Wekfest Hawaii event isn’t very big compared to some of the other shows on the tour so you either see the same cars from year to year or you catch a glimpse of something new. I enjoyed the show but didn’t shoot much during the event itself. Most of the stuff is during the roll-in and I always find the set-up phase of the show to be much more appealing to capture. It gets kinda dry to just shoot the entire event with a tripod after the cars have already parked so I try to avoid that these days. I think that stuff is just better for the Vlog where I can give you a more detailed look of the cars up-close with the GoPro. Being that it is a smaller event, you also will notice the huge gap between the enthusiasts who have been building cars for years now, and those who are just getting into the hobby. The newer guys/gals do the whole “airbags and wheels” route while the more experienced people get more into the details and overall execution of the cars. The gap is very significant in Hawaii but I think with time, the competition level will even out a little bit more as the older enthusiasts continue to stick around to be an example for the newer generation of builders. We will see. In the meantime, check out the rest of the photos I captured that weekend in Hawaii. Thanks to everyone for looking and all the people I had a chance to mingle with out there…

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Jr. Ordonez’s white EK9-styled K-swapped and turbocharged Civic on Rays wheels…

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1971 Skyline GT sedan with the front fenders and rear quarters massaged to fit Volk TE37SLs…

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A couple more of the Varis BMW M4 just because I can’t get enough of this build…

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This Evolution has been an award winner at various events out in Hawaii for the last couple of years. Good to see it still intact and looking great…

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This early 70s Toyota Corolla 1600 looked like it was fresh off the showroom floor…

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Subaru WRX Wagon squatting on the pavement on some Work Meister S1R wheels…

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SMG brought out this nearly full carbon-bodied JZA80 Supra Turbo. Everything other than the rear quarters and roof have been replaced with lightweight carbon fiber body components…

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Mike Matsumoto’s Acura NSX is a regular at every Wekfest Hawaii event. This year he showed up with some minor changes but the car is still looking pretty solid…

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A closer look at the carbon fiber-clad Supra on new Rays wheels. Nice touch with the Top Secret wing by the way…

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Iridescent color-shifting paint on this R35 GTR with some carbon APR add-ons…

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SMG came out with a good grouping of turbocharged Nissans and Toyotas…

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The only one that was naturally-aspirated with Mike’s NSX…

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Car Shop Glow rear L.E.D. taillights add that finishing touch to any build….

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Here you can see the redone faces of Mike’s SSR Professor SP3 wheels in gold to match his cage…

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J.P. Damo switched things up a bit this year with some black on black SSR Professor SP4 wheels to contrast the white on his widened, turbocharged, S2000….

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Really clean purple AE86 Corolla Trueno on Volk TE37V…

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Yet another beautifully-restored Volkswagen from Hawaii, this one a bright red Type 3 on Porsche wheels…

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This custom purple VW bug is one of those builds that can compete at any car show at the national level can win top honors. It can be a classic car show, an import event like Wekfest, or even a DUB show, this thing is amazing…

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I haven’t seen TJ in a while since he seems to be all over the place fulfilling his duties with the U.S. military but he now resides in Hawaii and still has his S2000…

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I first met him almost 10 years ago I think and he had another S2000 at the time which was pretty nice. He bought this S2000 and was in the midst of a full custom widebody makeover and everything when he was stationed in Virginia. I guess things didn’t work out as planned and he has the car now with some Voltex overfenders to cover-up the cuts in the wheel wells that were made for his custom metal widebody. Good to see him again and know that he’s still into cars even though he’s older now and has a family and all…

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You don’t see very many Honda Groms anywhere at car shows, sometimes you’ll maybe see one or two, but I think they just never really caught on like the Ruckus did. I think by the time the Groms came around, the whole fascination with these types of bikes was over…

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The “Dreamkiller” UCF30 Lexus LS430 is another multiple award-winner that you’ll always find at the Hawaii Wekfest events. He actually had a bag blowout up front so the car had to be driven into the show just like this. It didn’t do any damage to the body which worked out great. At this angle the car looks like it was posed this way but he was actually driving in with no front bumper. The wheel is just wide enough where it masks that…

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Complete K-Break LS460 build on Infinitewerks wheels…

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This Subaru BRZ looked pretty crazy with these custom polished Volk TE37V Mark II wheels crammed under it…

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Marshall’s Mode Parfume Phantom GaMu widebody Toyota Prius on display at the Airrex booth…

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One more of Ordonez’s Civic. I totally forgot to get a shot of the engine bay after he popped the hood later…

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Lance Harano’s Corolla in all its pristine glory…..

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Still can’t believe this Toyota Celica has full white interior…

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Always good to see this Midori Green Civic and catch-up with the owner, Randy, who’s always thinking about new things to add to his build…

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Interestingly enough, as much as I travel, I rarely get to see very many Supras anymore so when I do, I always try to get more photos of them at various events…

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Scion FR-S on Work Emotion T7R wheels parked at the Illest Hawaii booth…

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The Abanes Garage drag EF was finally parked and set-up properly for the show so I made sure to get some detail shots of it…

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H-series engine with a custom shaved and filled valve cover recoated in purple…

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Distributor is no longer needed as the H22 has been coverted to a coil-over-plug set-up….

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64mm Kinsler individual throttle bodies…

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A couple more from a higher angle…

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Full tube-frame chassis with removable doors and a single seat set-up. Check out the custom rear rotors and Wilwood brakes…

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A look at the front chassis layout and front Wilwood brake kit. This car is one of the craziest builds I’ve ever seen, as I’ve mentioned before. Love that people still go to these lengths to build a highly capable race car and also an award-winning show car…

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Bagged KP61 Starlet from the OSIxHI car club…

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AE86 Corolla Levin coupe conversion done in a nice blue/silver colorway with Volk TE37V…

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That’s a wrap on the 2017 Wekfest Hawaii event coverage. Next-up, Osaka Auto Messe! Stay tuned!…

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