This collaborative effort between JDMyard and myself was a great meet and all, but I don’t know how many people actually realized how it almost didn’t happen. I mean, at one point there was probably a 50/50 chance of it all not working out. I had always wanted to go to Australia for the World Time Attack Challenge, and a few months ago, Yonas came to me with the idea to try and do a meet if I made it out there. It would work out perfectly on paper, because we could have his 15-year anniversary meet happen after WTAC. He wanted to do the meet a week after but that meant that I would have to stay a few extra days. It doesn’t sound that bad, but I should mention that Australia isn’t exactly a cheap place to hang out in. Everything is a bit more expensive there and the U.S. dollar doesn’t necessarily stretch as far as one would think. If I could get more people to come with me, that would have been great because we’d probably share one big AirBnB or something and it would drastically bring the costs down. October is a tough month for many since SEMA preparations are going on so I just couldn’t get anyone to join Tiffanie and myself on the trip..

I thought I’d be able to stop by New Zealand during that stretch of time too, not doing my research and later realizing that flights to NZ from Sydney weren’t cheap either. After some thinking and digging around to see how much everything was, it just didn’t sound realistic to go to Australia. Going to WTAC and then hanging out in Australia for another week just seemed like too much time there and money spent. I’d never been so I don’t even know if I could hang out down there that long. Yonas’ reasoning for pushing the meet back a week was because he knew that he and his guys would be way too worn out from the World Time Attack Challenge to have the energy to host a meet just hours later. I understood that, and I wasn’t about to force him to do anything if he wasn’t up to it. About a few weeks before WTAC, I hadn’t even booked my tickets yet because I wasn’t sure if things would fall into place. Some days later, Yonas messages me again and tells me that he thinks that it’d be a good idea to have the meet the day after WTAC because there would be some people from out of town that could also attend, so it made sense since it meant we could get more enthusiasts involved. I asked him how he felt about hosting a meet the day following WTAC and though he knew his guys would be tired, it made the most sense schedule-wise to do it. He’d also been super helpful with finding whatever information I needed to make the trip happen so I felt bad if I didn’t go. Word got out to the car enthusiasts out there that I might come so everyone seemed excited about having a little shindig to check out some cars and to celebrate both my 9-year anniversary of doing The Chronicles out there as well as JDMyard’s 15-year. On an otherwise uneventful evening a day or so after we ironed-out all the details, I book our flights to Australia and, as they say, the rest is history. I believe wholeheartedly that the turnout would have been even bigger had we gave more notice of the meet way before we actually did, since I was so wishy-washy in making my decision to go, but I think I speak for both Yonas and myself when I say that we were incredibly happy with the way our meet came together. If anything, it gave me more incentive to go back next year because I know there is still so much more to see, both Australia as a country and car-wise. Even the guys that worked at JDMyard looked like they had a good time hosting the meet, but I think winning the Open Class Championship the day prior might have helped with that…

All in all, it was a great trip. I look forward to going back, whether it be next year or the years to follow. I enjoy the car community out there and there is so much potential out there for these car guys/gals to do great things. Have a gander at the photos below from the meet and see for yourself…

Thanks to everyone in Australia for hanging out, coming by to say a kind word, or just to talk about anything in particular. A huge thanks goes out to Yonas Liu and the crew from JDMyard for being so welcoming. The trip would not have been the same without their involvement….

You don’t see EF Civic sedans very often in two-tone but this one looked pretty good slammed on CCW wheels..

You do, however, see white DC2 Integra Type Rs with Mugen MF10 wheels. These in the new 16×8 sizing which were recently released in limited quantities by King Motorsports….

Silver FN2 Civic Type R on Volk Racing CE28…

Black EK Civic with a 99-00 front-end with CTR grille, 5-lug swap, Spoon Sports front brakes, and gold Volk Racing CEs…

This Lancer Evolution IV featured some pretty wide front fenders and rear over-fenders. Wheels I believe are Work Emotion 11R-FT…

Pretty mint Lancer Evolution II GSR on OZ Racing wheels…

Just a couple of mates hangin’ out by the rubbish bin next to a K-swapped Integra R-clone…

Nice CTR-clone running a First Molding front lip and custom black Volk TE37 wheels…

Civic Type R riding on a set of Advan Racing RCII with some meaty tires…

AP2 S2000 that I also had a chance to see at WTAC this year running an Amuse front, Voltex wing, Mugen (or Mugen-style) hard top, and white Volk CEs…

Mugen EP3 Type R looking just right on a set of front-staggered Volk CE28 wheels…

Huge front tire on this red Integra with JDM DC2 Type R face, also on Volk CE28. As mentioned before, Volk CE28 wheels are quite popular in the tuning community down under…

Civic SiR in red with an OEM-style carbon hood and white Advan Racing RG…

Classic Japanese flair with this red/white-themed EF9 Civic hatchback on Work Equip 01…

M-Sports S15 Silvia with front wide fenders, and rear overs, sitting on bronze Work Meister S1 3-piece wheels…

Nice work in progress build with this EK hatchback running a 96-98 CTR front bumper and grille, as well as an OEM CTR wing, and 15-inch white Advan Racing RG…

This red AP2 S2000 featured a J’s Racing front half lip, which has been molded to the front bumper for a more streamlined-look. Voltex fender flares allow the S2000 to run a more aggressive sizing of Volk TE37SL wheels, and in the rear is a Voltex rear wing…

Black on black EK with 99-00 front end, First Molding front lip, which has been color-matched, sitting on a set of Buddy Club P1 Racing wheels…

Somebody decided to unveil the true secret to JDMyard’s success at World Time Attack Challenge, endless consumption of expired Mi Goreng instant noodles…

FD1, FN2, FK8…

White Hondas everywhere at the JDMYARD x CHRONICLES Meet…

I took some time to really get some more detailed photos of Yonas Liu’s naturally-aspirated Civic drag car, since it was the car that really helped to put JDMyard on the map for me and many others here in the U.S. If it wasn’t for this car, I don’t think the bridge between ourselves and JDMyard would have ever existed…

Unlike the boosted K24 Civic that competes at WTAC, Yonas’ personal car runs a naturally-aspirated K24 engine with Kinsler individual throttle bodies…

The completely-gutted interior of Liu’s hatchback, with only the welded-in roll cage present, along with a single Bride seat, steering wheel with column-mounted Haltech digital dash display, and a collection of Haltech electronics on the passenger floor…

Here’s a better look at the Personal steering wheel and Haltech display, which is mounted via a single sheet of carbon fiber mounted to the steering column…

Myers Competition hood-exit header…

Another overhead look at the engine bay with the huge Myers Competition header running along the firewall. Here you can also see the custom cooling system arrangement…

Speedfactory drag race half-sized radiator and fan. Notice how the Civic no longer has the factory core support…

Myers Competition carbon fiber airbox which pulls air in from the front Myers carbon air entry duct into Kinsler individual throttle bodies…

From this angle you can see how the Myers Competition header has wideband oxygen sensors in each individual runner…

Drag Cartel-built K-series cylinder head specifically prepped for JDMyard. You also get a glimpse of the Rywire engine harness here as well…

Slammed Honda Integra with a OEM Type R lip kit with custom front splitter and side pieces added…

I never thought I’d see the day when I would go to a car meet and see more than one FN2 Type R. Instead, I saw one in pretty much every color, white, silver, and red…

Amazing supercharged Honda Concerto on RS Watanabe wheels that you probably saw detailed in our Chronicles Vlog series…

Roland’s widebody and bagged NSX on black Advan Racing GT wheels rocking a “5ENNA” plate in homage to the late great Ayrton Senna….

Tiffanie babysitting Felix Alim’s kid while he runs around to shoot and chat with ITR owners…

The Milano Red EK Civic on silver Mugen MF8 wheels that you saw in Part 1 of the coverage…

Clean black Integra Type R with, you guessed it, Volk Racing CE28 wheels and Spoon Sports brakes…

Another shot of the other black ITR from Part 1 with the matching silver Spoon Sports brakes and Mugen MF10…

It’s only appropriate that I close-out my Australia coverage finally with a shot of the FK8 Type R that took us around Sydney during our stay out there. Such a great car that I really learned to appreciate more when I actually got to ride it in and see what it all came with. Just a fantastic car. People want to talk shit about the dealer mark-up and all that but man, it is a great platform if you want a complete driver’s car…

That’s a wrap on that mates. Thanks for looking!…