The most common question I was asked throughout the morning of the 2017 Spocom Anaheim show was, “Are you really going to stay the ENTIRE day? You’re crazy.” I guess you can say I am, at least a little bit, but yes, I totally had every intention to stay at the Spocom show the ENTIRE day, which meant that I arrived at around 8:30 AM that morning, and stayed until the very end of the show. If you included waiting to get all the cars out of the show, that would mean the show would end at around 11 PM. That is a long day, any one will admit, but I didn’t really mind to be honest. I love cars and I love being around cars. I also very much enjoy free air conditioning as well, so a day where I didn’t have to sit at the office and use my own A/C is always a good one. I think I’ve gone to pretty much every Spocom show since the very beginning and I usually have a pretty good time at this show because there isn’t any pressure to really do anything or follow anyone else’s schedule. Spocom is usually a “wind down show” for me because it serves as a nice break where I literally do not have to do anything but enjoy the show itself with friends. Whenever I’m at a Wekfest event, it is usually pretty hectic. I try to cram as much content as I can photo and video-wise, all the while trying to be a good judge for the event, and finding time to chat with people. Spocom is just a good time. More often than not most of my friends are pretty drunk there as well and we just fuck around and have a good laugh about anything in particular. I had to be there extra early this year because I had to bring my own car to the show. Wekfest Long Beach was originally supposed to be the grand debut of my Q45 makeover but things happened and it just didn’t work out. I was bummed about not being able to bring my car but I knew that I could still bring the thing out for Spocom Anaheim. Freddie from Autofashion USA offered me a spot at his booth since he was doing a full Mode Parfume display, and was even nice enough to put me right up in the very front by the entrance to the show. The only condition was that I had to be there at 8:30 AM to bring the car. They had set up the night before and I could have brought the car in then, but my car was still over at IDL Auto Design and didn’t want to trouble anyone with having to drive me back and forth so I could pick-up my car on a Friday afternoon…

What I really wanted to do at Spocom this year was to just shoot photos. Being that I was at the show the ENTIRE day, it gave me plenty of time to play around with my camera. I haven’t had this much time to shoot an event in a long time and I had a lot of fun with it. The Anaheim Convention Center is pretty well lit too so it made it a lot easier for me to run around and shoot. I don’t think there were too many new builds at the show, being that we are already basically done with the Socal show season, so we saw a lot of the same cars. I didn’t get to shoot much at Wekfest Long Beach or San Jose so it was cool to finally get the opportunity to get some good photos of some of the better show cars this year. Umm, not much else to say about this show. I shot a lot so there are probably about three-parts to the Spocom coverage in total. Nothing was really new about this event. If anything, Spocom is always consistent. The good things are good and the bad, well, it’s still there. There’s nothing alarmingly bad about the event that needs to change so I have nothing really negative to say about the show. Overall, it’s just an enjoyable time, and there’s not much more you can ask for than that…

Enjoy.

Rob Kothenbeutel and I had been in talks for the last few months trying to arrange a time to shoot his crazy Evo for Super Street, and it just so worked out that he was coming down to Southern California for the Spocom event. He had some stuff he had to do to his car before the show so I took advantage of the opportunity to get some detail shots of his Evo while it was on the lift at Tanabe. He had a new Varis hood and wing coming in the following day and he needed a place to work on his car, so I offered him a space in my shop. The summer temps have been pretty high here lately so it was better that he got to work in the shade inside a shop other than trying to install the parts at his hotel like he had planned…

The following day, it was time for the Spocom event. The show itself didn’t start until 4 PM, but roll-in had already begun by 9 AM. I had to bring my Q45 to display at the Autofashion booth so I was there bright and early. While waiting, I took the opportunity to get some shots of the cars coming into the venue…

The first ever TRA Kyoto Pandem widebody E46 sedan, which features the rear flares that have been altered to flow properly with a working rear door…

The guys from Emperor always bring out a solid group of Mitsubishi Evolutions. This full Voltex widebody Evo has been making the rounds at various shows this year…

Thick lips on these bronze Volk Racing TE37V Mark II wheels clearing the Brembo brakes and measuring-up to the widened fenders of the Evolution…

Rowie’s Evolution X on Advan Racing RG-D2 wheels…

K-Break Lexus LS460 from StyleSixtyThree…

As mentioned, I brought my Y33 Q out for its first big show in Southern California. The guys at IDL Auto Design have been storing the car for me while Yuta’s been working on some other cars at the shop but I picked it up the night before and then headed-out to Anaheim in the early AM…

Here’s a close-up of my custom Battlecraft exhaust with dual titanium turn-down tips. We had to make a custom exhaust for this because the original Mode Parfume exhaust that they made for this chassis was no longer in production. The bumper itself had a bit of an oval shaped, flat, opening so I decided to try a little something different and do a turn-down exhaust since you don’t see very many on VIP builds. I love how it turned-out and it definitely adds an eye-catching touch the the car…

Hector Levario’s Honda S2000 running classic bronze TEs…

Aimgain GT widebody R35 GTR built with the help of Autofashion USA…

Not really something to brag about I guess but good for you…haha…

Pandem widebody E30 BMW from Eurosquad…

The Aimgain GT R35 airred-out preparing for staging…

Crazy to think just how huge the R35 is compared to a car from the 80s…

Junction Produce Lexus 2GS on classic Leon Hardiritt Ordens…

Another rear angle of the Varis Scion FR-S…

Hector’s AP2 with Voltex front bumper, rear diffuser, rear wing, and OEM hardtop. One of the rare guys running Cusco seats these days…

Allen Lugue’s Run Free AE86 Corolla on RS Watanabe wheels complete with caps. Great to see one of the old Garage Life cars from the early 2000s still looking pretty amazing in 2017…

He’s not wrong…

Inside the building, we were all set-up at the Autofashion USA display, which was pretty epic this year. Best part about it was I got to finally have my car at a show with my boy Big Steve’s LS, also running a Mode Parfume aero kit…

Formula Drift competitor Chris Forsberg’s RB25-powered S30Z….

Fully-molded Liberty Walk Performance Ferrari 458 rolling into the show for set-up…

PSM Dynamics widebody BMW M4 coupe…

Steve’s Lamborghini Huracan looks fucking amazing on Advan GT wheels. Something about the combination of Japanese parts on a Euro platform just works perfectly…

Another angle of the Liberty Walk 458 on Rotiform wheels…

Some nice Ducatis on display running a Xerox and FILA livery…

One more for good measure…

Definitely have seen this PMC-S styled Hako out and about throughout the year…

The PSM Dynamics widebody kit is, in my opinion, one of the better looking kits out there right now for this chassis. Everything flows pretty well with the original bodylines of the car and its styled in a way where it isn’t overly aggressive and distracting…

Randy Riggs’ multiple award-winning Infiniti G35 build always looking amazing. Had to get a snap of it on the ground before he does his usual display thing and has the car on custom stands showcasing the suspension and brakes…

One of my favorite builds of all-time is most certainly Steve Wong’s AE86 Corolla. He’s done everything possible to this car and it is one of those Southern California car builds that has long been a staple in this community. Even guys who know nothing about Toyotas can appreciate the amount of work invested into this build. Who knew you could own an L&L Hawaiian BBQ and have such a crazy car? He’s got that Huracana on Advan GT wheels now but he still brings this Corolla out for Spocom events…

Custom front fenders wide enough to stuff in these Volk TE37V wheels wrapped in Advan A048 rubber. Let’s not forget the Endless brakes positioned perfectly to be seen through the spokes of the Rays wheels…

The HPS Performance booth featured this red FD time attack car running an RE Amemiya front bumper…

This Subaru WRX STI was pretty interesting. The entire body has been over-layed in carbon fiber, giving off the appearance that the body is made of the same material. The overlay work looks fantastic and I like the contrasting neon green on the brakes and vinyl graphics to give it a more dynamic look…

Jeremiah Santos’ Super Street magazine-featured EP3 Civic running custom bolt-on flares and an Ubeymade rear diffuser…

Featured alongside Santos was Joseph Pham’s EP3 on chrome-dipped Mugen MF10 wheels…

Roy De Guzman’s Hakosuka Skyline GT is probably the only car of the entire Spocom event that has its own matching Hot Wheels toy, livery and all…

Digging the carbon headlight duct on Sergio’s Mitsubishi Evo IX, featuring a Sheepeybuilt turbo manifold and Volk Racing TE37V Mark II…

Andy Ta’s JZS147 GS with Skipper Design aero and SSR Professor MS3 from the Endless Projects crew…

Ryan took time out of his busy schedule to bring his Integra Type R out to the Spocom show…

The car is actually running pretty well now with a new Quaife dog box which allows the paddle shift system to function. It just needs a good tune now and it’ll be fully driveable…

The Spoon Sports center-drive FD2 Civic Type R disguised itself as a show car for the 2017 Spocom event…

Ferny’s black Voltex Evolution looking great on Volk TE37V Mark II…

And the last photo of the day goes to Hector’s Voltex S2000, all cleaned-up and ready for the show…

Still more to come so stay tuned!…