The Chronicles Year11 Anniversary Meet Coverage… Part 1…


For all intents and purposes, I always felt that Year11 would be a hangover year for The Chronicles. I think it’s pretty difficult coming off of a 10-year anniversary, with so many expectations and what not, and thinking that the year that followed would meet that same type of success. The one thing I don’t feel these days is the pressure that comes with success though. If I ever had a goal it would have been to make The Chronicles still relevant walking into the tenth year and I’ve more than met those aspirations. If anything, what I’ve created is prosperous now and the only task I’ve given myself is to continue to provide great content. I’ve always told myself that if I don’t continue to get better at what I do creating content for the car community, I’d stop…

I haven’t stopped yet. And I don’t plan to.

I believe I’m still getting better at whatever this is that I’m doing and 2019 was probably my best year-to-date. When it came to planning the Year11 anniversary event, my goal was to be more prepared than I had been previously. The formula remained the same as it had been in the past, because, well, it just works…but I wanted to streamline everything so I didn’t feel overwhelmed with any particular thing. Make a list and get it done—but earlier, so that I could actually find some time to sleep or achieve any measure of rest. I’m not getting any younger and the recovery time is definitely longer these days. So I got the booth ready, the floorplan for the event finalized, being that there were more vendors this year, and one of the main things I tried to do was to cut down the amount of cars within the meet. It just felt like last year was way too crowded. It felt good that we had that many people trying to be a part of the ten-year event but boy was it cluttered. For Year11, I wanted to just keep it simple. Cut the cars down by about 30-40 cars and situate the vendors so they had a good amount of space between them. The only noticeable difference I think this year with the vendors was the absence of Autofashion USA, who have been a big part of my events as far back as I can remember. Freddie and the rest of the guys from Autofashion were going through their own sleepless nights trying to finish up a SEMA build so I told them to just not worry about coming to Year11…

When the event actually happened and it was over, I found myself pretty satisfied. I cut down the amount of cars this year but the spacing of the vendors actually took more space and in the end, the car count looked pretty similar to last year. It was still a little too packed for my tastes but oh well, what can you do, right? I also added some more cars in the final days because I just wanted to make sure I had some good builds in attendance for spectators. It actually would have been more but there were a couple of really good builds that were supposed to come from out of state that ended-up not being able to make it. I was bummed because they would have had a huge impact on the event but I understand how difficult it can be to transport or drive a car down to California from afar. Sometimes I’m still surprised by how many people continue to do that, especially guys from the East Coast or up in the Pacific Northwest. I always appreciate those who make the effort because it shows that they value what I do. It’s pretty amazing that after all these years, people are still willing to take time out of their busy schedules to come to a Chronicles gathering. I acquired this support base over the course of a decade and these enthusiasts have grown alongside me and that’s a pretty amazing feeling…

I had a lot of fun this year, like, actual fun because I had the opportunity to breathe and take it all in. This year has been great. Last year was a rough one personally, but this year has been the complete opposite of that so this felt more like a celebration than the one before, which was supposed to be the ‘big’ one. Attendance was good as usual, on par with the crowd from last year I think, though I never actually keep count, and it seemed like everyone enjoyed themselves—per usual. I’d like to thank everyone for coming out once again to celebrate another great year of The Chronicles. Here’s to many more!…

With that said, here are some photos from that day. Of course I would have liked to take more photos and try to get every car but there’s so much to do on that day that I only had brief moments to collect content. Hope you enjoy the photos…

309A8319-Edit

One of the cars that ended-up being a late addition to the show was the Slaughter Boys Civic build, which has been one of the more notable cars to surface in 2019. It has had a great year, winning multiple awards at different automotive events this year and it is much deserved. The owner hit me up a few days before Year11 and I made sure to squeeze him into the event…

309A8321-Edit

One of the cleanest engine bays you’ll find out here in Southern California, with a K-swap in place, custom throttle cable, custom brake lines, shaved bay, and tucked radiator under the core support…

309A8325-Edit

What stands out immediately are the massive individual throttle bodies which are created for Drag Cartel by famed induction specialists, Kinsler…

309A8330-Edit

Hosted at the VTEC Club USA booth was Dave Chik’s Civic hatchback, this year sitting on Mugen NR10R wheels…

309A8334-Edit

Situated next to Dave’s Civic at the Hybrid Racing display was Kristian Wong’s time attack Civic, which is getting closer and closer to completion. The car has come a long way since we last saw it out in public at the Los Angeles Wekfest event. Kristian has been putting in a lot of late nights on the car and it should be running any day now…

309A8339-Edit

309A8341-Edit

Being that it is a Hybrid Racing sponsored vehicle, you’ll find a host of their components on Kristian’s K. He’s also got the latest Hybrid Racing shifter inside the cockpit. Tucked under the core support is a Koyorad radiator, bringing more attention to the polished RBC intake manifold with it hidden from view, and up top is a rarely seen JIC Magic strut bar…

309A8353-Edit

Also hosted at the Hybrid Racing booth was Teddy Timoteo’s Civic, running a First Molding Flugel Plate and Volk Racing TE37 wheels in Diamond Black finish…

309A8356-Edit

His engine bay continues to look fantastic, now incorporating more titanium goodies from Chasing Js. The centerpiece is the Jenvey individual throttle bodies with titanium velocity stacks, along with the swirl pot which incorporates a hard-pipe to the full-sized Visteon radiator…

309A8360-Edit

A closer look at the Jenvey throttles and swirl pot set-up…

309A8361-Edit

Year11 was a host to this year’s Super Street FF Battle winner, Muoi Tran, who brought her CIvic hatchback out with a freshly-painted Arios front bumper…

309A8365-Edit

Right next to Muoi was a Southern California legend, ‘FF Goldy’, which is an old FF Squad original, now owned and tracked often by John Cruz…

309A8371-Edit

Cody Chan brought out his Japanese Pocari Sweat-themed Civic hatchback paired with another Civic wearing a UCC Black Coffee livery. A+ for style points and quirkiness…

309A8372-Edit

Midori Green Civics are always welcome at my anniversary events, especially when they have SiR bumpers and Work RSZ-R wheels…

309A8373-Edit

Ho Dao’s DA Integra now back with a OEM Kouki face and JDP carbon lip, sitting nicely on classic Blitz Type 01 wheels…

309A8376-Edit

Franky Chan made the trip down from the Pacific Northwest in this RHD DA6 Integra on classic Mugen M7 wheels, running what looks to be an extremely rare US Racing Sports front lip…

309A8383-Edit

Peeking out through the small windows of the original M7 face are a set of Endless brakes…

309A8386-Edit

Mario Oviedo’s custom-painted Milano Red Acura TL with a 2012 front face conversion and A-Spec lip kit. Wheels are SSR Executor CV04…

309A8392-Edit

309A8394-Edit

Keith’s K20Z3-swapped Civic sedan from San Diego on SSR wheels…

309A8396-Edit

309A8406-Edit

My annual photos of Randell Ang’s turbocharged Civic coupe since he’s been coming to my anniversary gatherings since day one…

309A8401-Edit

Though you see mostly Hondas at these events, every now and then there are some really good non-Honda builds like this Voltex-equipped Subaru WRX STI….

309A8408-Edit

Juan Leon’s Midori Green Civic always looking great with the SiR bumpers and Spoon SW388 wheels. Ride height is everything on a simple build like this and he’s definitely got in dialed-in…

309A8415-Edit

Every time we see this car, Der reminds me of just how photogenic this build is, and the fucked-up front lip just gives it that much more character…

309A8416-Edit

This Civic Wagon looked great planted to the floor on custom Gales LS636 wheels. The curb-feelers are a nice touch as well…

309A8422-Edit

Always appreciate the guys from JUST4FFUN for always showing love and showing up to anything I’m hosting whether it be an anniversary Chronicles event or just a simple gathering at the shop…

309A8424-Edit

White Civic EH hatchback with no aero, no moldings, and a set of Enkei wheels…

309A8430-Edit

309A8431-Edit

I still remember the days when Ly Say used to come to the Chronicles Anniversary events in his red CL9 TSX. These days, he brings his son with him to my events in this Acura Integra with an SI-VTEC front and B-series powerplant with a shaved Mugen Formula-style valve cover….

309A8444-Edit

One of my personal favorites is Jon’s EK4-look Civic in light gray tucking the tire of his Spoon SW wheels…

309A8453-Edit

Jose Del Villar took some time away from being a new dad and dusted-off his EF9 Civic hatchback to come celebrate Year11…

309A8451-Edit

Not much has changed on his Civic since he’s been busy but you’ll never miss his gigantic Kinsler individual throttle bodies…

309A8463-Edit

K-powered Integra on bronze Volk CEs running an Exceed/Mode Parfume front lip…

309A8466-Edit

This Civic appears to be a new build that I have not seen before. Interesting custom front lip set-up but the car looks good in this dark green hue. The bronze TEs also add a good bit of color contrast…

309A8471-Edit

Clean set-up in the engine bay which has been tidied-up, resprayed, with a B-series set-up in place…

309A8474-Edit

AP2 S2000 wearing Voltex street aero paired with a Mugen hard top and Volk TEs…

309A8476-Edit

Photo taken purely in appreciate for WEDS Sport TC05 wheels…

309A8482-Edit

One can never go wrong with a Kouki CTR-look paired with 15-inch Advan Racing RG…

309A8489-Edit

Jeremiah Whipple made the trek down from Washington with a couple others in his Civic hatchback…

309A8492-Edit

Nicely executed K-swap within running a full-sized CSF radiator, Mil-spec Wire Worx engine harness, and modified RBC intake manifold…

309A8504-Edit

One more shot since I do enjoy yellow EG/EH Civics, especially with a Spoon Sports front lip and TEs…

309A8505-Edit

Omal also made the long drive down to Southern California in his RHD Honda Integra Type R on bronze Mugen MF10. You can also see here that he has an authentic Spoon Sports hood and Spoon front lip…

309A8515-Edit

Long gone is the factory Type R B18C, now replaced with a newer K-series set-up…

309A8520-Edit

Daniel Hill’s CB coupe still representing the Accord community with great pride…

309A8532-Edit

Sara Choi and Brandon Kim’s matching S2000 Club Racers, both wearing complete Voltex aero, matching Spoon brakes, and identical spec Volk TE37 wheels…

309A8537-Edit

Ryan Blair’s RHD AP2 S2000 sat right alongside the twin CRs laid-out on the Eibach Springs facility via Air Lift air suspension…

309A8546-Edit

309A8543-Edit

He ended the day winning the “Best Engine Bay” award with his smoothed-out bay hosting a turbocharged F22C utilizing a Sheepey manifold and All-In Fabrication intake manifold…

309A8553-Edit

Another late guest that was added to the Year11 roster was Mikey’s Hakosuka sedan from WILD*CARDS. He recently debuted his Skyline at the Japanese Classic Car Show on these Watanabe ‘Gotti’ wheels just a few months ago. He had a day off and contacted me over Instagram Direct Message to see if I can squeeze him in. I like to add a bit of variety to my events and thought his car would be perfect…

309A8584-Edit

RB26DET swap inside the Midnight Purple-painted Hakosuka…

309A8586-Edit

My boy Judson actually told me this story recently that he and Mikey were hanging out with another friend of their’s who owns a 600HP BNR32 Skyline GT-R. They decided to have some fun on the highway and run the two cars together and Mikey’s Hakosuka walked the R32 like it was standing still. Pretty wild because you would just assume that this was just a cosmetic swap with the copper-plate components and all but this car definitely fucks…

309A8600-Edit

Tomohiro Sudo flew-out from Japan as he does every year to bring his ‘Fake RTI” Civic Wagon to both my event and the Autofashion VIP Festival. His Shuttle RTI-inspired Civic screams style and he even brought a pair of matching Nike SBs for fun…

309A8592-Edit

That’s all for Part 1. Still got tons of photos to show you guys so stick around and also keep up-to-date on the Vlogs as two episodes have been recently uploaded with one more to come! Thanks for looking!…

Categories: CoverageTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1 comment

Leave a Reply