It’s great to hear all the positive feedback so far from the first piece covering the 2018 Wekfest San Jose event. I put a lot of effort into the photos and writing so it’s nice to see that people still appreciate written pieces in long-form. I try to write whatever I can now because it is incredibly therapeutic for me but it can honestly be difficult to find the time to do it. Everyone seems to be so acquainted now with brevity due to the continued advancement of social media but I am trying to be the old guy who is unwilling to change, bringing you content that is reminiscent of the magazine articles many of us grew up reading.
As I said in Part 1, I’ve recently refocused myself and have really tried to shoot more. Having this new camera body is great and I’m really excited to test its limits. I was running around all morning into the early evening so I definitely made the most of it. With so many cars participating in this year’s San Jose Wekfest event, there was plenty of ground to cover. I knew I wasn’t going to shoot every car in that huge convention hall but I had to make sure to walk the show multiple times to ensure that I didn’t miss anything. What ended up happening was me just being pleasantly surprised by the variety of cars there and all the different styles represented. I know we are waist-deep in the bolt-on flare era right now but it was great to see a lot of really well-executed old school Corolla and 510 builds, American VIP style evolved, spectacular Integras and NSXs, and even some wild lowrider builds in attendance…
Don’t get me wrong, there was some stuff I am personally not so fond of but in this day and age, with all this exposure and transparency, you just have to learn and embrace it all, good or bad. Trends come and go so if there’s something you don’t like, appreciate it for what it is and move on…
Today, I got more photos for you from the roll-in phase of the show. I actually didn’t shoot during the day of because it was so hectic but one entire day of shooting was plenty of time. We even stayed a couple of hours after roll-in was over so we could walk the show and judge some of the cars while everyone was gone. There is a total of three parts so come back for the rest. Enjoy friends…
Nat Huynh’s IP AutoDesign/Priola Body Lexus LS460L from Endless Projects getting set for staging at its designated spot…
Ferrari 458 wearing a full GT3 kit and Rotiform wheels also from Endless Projects…
Anthony’s DA Integra running a Mugen rear wing and M7 wheels from Milestone Collective…
Dustin Mcqueary has been busy tearing his DA down for a complete resto-style build but in the mean time, he’s staying occupied using old parts from that build to make his daily driven sedan Integra look nice…
Custom widebody E60 BMW wearing a JOB Design kit representing the guys from PUREVIP…
Jay Garcia’s Aimgain GT Nissan R35 GTR entering the building…
Jay Cantorna’s Onestar widebody Lexus 3GS from PUREVIP always looks great. Spectacular custom body work and wheel fitment just makes this car sit so well…
Complete Voltex-equipped Mitsubishi Evolution MR wearing a graphical livery inspired from the famed Sun Auto CyberEVO…
Mark Arcenal’s RWB Backdated Porsche 930 at the Illest display booth….
Front-face shot of the incredibly aggressive Varis Kamikaze FR-S/86 owned by Brian Duong…
The Rywire-built Mugen S2000 featuring custom widebody work by Casale Designs hosted at the Mackin Industries booth running Volk Racing ZE40 wheels in their classic bronze finish…
Hanzel Tango’s NSX is coming along quite nicely as he slowly collects all the rare Mugen goodies he can find…
One of San Jose’s more well-known residents is Chris from Darkside Racing and his LS-powered twin-turbocharged Fox Body Mustang. This year he was actually parked right up front at the Wekfest booth representing his hometown proudly…
Jimmy Nguyen was having some distributor issues on his H2B-powered EM1 Civic SI build but luckily had friends with both broken arms and Coach shoes to help push his coupe into the building. Also it was like 90 fucking degrees outside so you know Jimmy got some good ass friends…
Slammed Civic hatchback that I often see at events up in the Bay Area running a B-series set-up with OBX individual throttle bodies and old school Volk Racing C-Ultra wheels…
The Junction Produce Rolls Royce Phantom getting cleaned-up after being unloaded from the trailer…
As mentioned earlier, Hanzel’s NSX is really starting to come together. He seems to have all the NSX-spec Mugen products available for the car, minus the complete aero kit of course, but I’m sure he either has it or will soon have it, depending on how much he wants to spend being that Mugen stuff for this chassis is not particularly cheap or readily available anymore. Even the guys that do own the stuff want to charge an arm and a leg for it because they don’t want anyone else to have it…
Here in the rear you can see the Saclam exhaust set-up, a piece you saw not too long ago in my Wekfest Chicago coverage on a silver NA1, as well as the rare Mugen hatch with air duct. Through the glass you can also spot his Mugen seats…
The Mackin Industries Rays Engineering display featuring two of Southern California’s finest…
Another look at the first car in the building that day, the Rywire K-turbo Integra after it was all cleaned-up and staged…
Danny Pak’s GT3 458 after it was parked and aired-out. If you guys are wondering, yes this is the same GT3-kitted 458 which was previously white when it was owned by someone else. It has since been repainted and completely refined…
Nat’s HKS GT-Supercharged 460L once again, now sitting as intended, tucking Work Zistance wheels…
Speed Element’s RB-powered Rocket Bunny Nissan S15 Silvia running Cusco seats and Volk Racing TE37V Mark II wheels…
One more of the JOB Design BMW 5-Series from PUREVIP…
Pandem widebody R32 Skyline built by LTMW…
Had to stop by to get a shot of the KA9 Acura RL which you don’t see very many of modded out here in the States. This one from Illiminate looked pretty good bagged on WEDS Kranze Bazreias…
K-swapped Integra Type R running a JDM ITR front face, Spoon Sports carbon lip, Spoon Sports brakes, Spoon carbon side mirrors, and SW388 wheels…
Jonathan San Juan’s Civic hatchback wearing a complete Mugen Type Aero kit. Love the use of silver Mugen MF10 wheels that match the silver Project Mu brakes…
Deejay not only owns this black NA1 NSX, he also has a K-powered del Sol…
Jayson Santoyo’s Marga Hills NSX with widened front fenders to house a meatier tire set-up on his Volk CE28SL wheels…
Tony Pham’s Comptech-supercharged 3.2L-swapped NSX wearing Advance aero and Rays wheels…
Completing the line-up of NSXs was Michael Mao’s twin-turbocharged Route KS Super Madonna NA2-converted NSX on custom Mugen MF10 wheels…
Eric Tsoi from Inspire USA’s Super Street magazine-featured Honda S2000 wearing complete Spoon Sports S-Tai aero, along with AP Racing brakes, Volk ZE40 wheels, and is now on air suspension…
Jimmy Nguyen from DSDONE’s H2B EM1 Civic SI all cleaned-up and ready for the show, looking great with a carbon First Molding front lip, J’s Racing front fenders, and classic Advan RG wheels in white…
Looking inside Jimmy’s engine bay is an H22A engine swap running a Speed Factory tucked radiator set-up, oil breather set-up, and Myles Competition header. The engine bay has been smoothed-out, shock towers extended, and the brake booster has been deleted for a much cleaner overall appearance…
Rowell Ysmael’s DA9 Integra running a rare OEM optional lip kit, Wilwood brakes, JDM 1-piece headlights, and Volk Racing TE37 wheels…
It’s not too often you find a B17A GS-R engine inside an Integra that isn’t a DB2 GS-R but I had to do a double take when I noticed it inside Rowell’s RHD-converted engine bay. He is also running a tucked radiator set-up, classic Comptech B-series header, Skunk2 Ultra Series intake manifold, and All-In Fab intake arm/velocity stack. Just beautiful execution overall…
On that note, I’m gonna cut it off here and save the rest of the photos for Part 3. We saw a lot of the same cars that were rolling in during Part 1 of the coverage but stay tuned because the third and final installment features some really great builds that you have yet to see. Thanks for looking!!…
Love the coverage. Thankyou for covering this show once again. Was a pleasure to finally get to meet the man behind the lens. Bought a shirt and a few stickers as well. Thankyou again.