Things always get interesting in November. It’s a big month because the SEMA Show always happens during this time but the two other events that people look forward to are the two that serve as bookends to SEMA; the first being The Chronicles Anniversary events, and the other, both strategically scheduled of course, is the annual Autofashion VIP Festival which takes place in San Diego, California. I’ve been friends with Freddie and the boys from AF for a LONG time now. I honestly don’t even remember a time when I was tinkering with cars and Autofashion wasn’t around. They are a staple in our automotive community and in San Diego, perhaps the most notable shop from the city still operating in 2019. Our two events always coincide with the SEMA Show because we always want to help maximize the time that visitors have when they come from far away for the show. Most of them come from Japan but there have been many others who have come in the past to experience all three events…

The crazy thing about scheduling all the events this way is that it never leaves Freddie and his group any time to rest or even breathe, because they are often building cars to debut at SEMA while also planning their own event a few days after. On top of that, Autofashion has always been incredibly supportive of The Chronicles and they are the ones that DJ at my event. This year, they were so busy that they couldn’t make it out to Year11, and I’ll admit, I missed having them there. I’m so used to them being there that it just didn’t feel the same. I understood why it was best they didn’t come this time because I don’t recall when I’ve ever seen Freddie this stressed-out over SEMA. Some days before the show he even told me that he’d probably never want to build a car for SEMA again because the stress just wasn’t worth it to him anymore. It was taken a toll on him mentally and he just felt like he was losing his fire for building cars. SEMA came and went and you wouldn’t know he’d been so worn-out in the last few months…

One would imagine that the Autofashion VIP Festival would be the one to bear the grunt the most of all this stress he was taking on but this was yet another great year for this event. Everything went off without any issues and the event retained its usual, incredibly chill, vibe. I enjoy coming to this event because its always nice to just catch-up with friends, grab some good Mexican food locally, and spend the day shooting photos. I usually see this show as the final ‘major’ event for me of the calendar year and that means I can take a break after to just focus on creating content for the site. Not a whole lot changes year-to-year for this event, much like mine, because it’s perfect the way it is. This is becoming so cliche, but honestly, it’s just a good vibe overall. People enjoy their time there and don’t really care too much to compete for awards or care about meeting YouTubers or whatever people are into these days. It’s just a good fucking time. And in 2019, that’s starting to become pretty hard to come by. Here are the photos I captured that day…

Every year the line-up seems to change at the very front of the AF VIP Festival. A few years ago myself and some other cars were parked up front by the booth, last year hosted some more recent Autofashion builds, and this year, the front line played host to a variety of old school Datsuns including the brand new S30Z project by Freddie and crew which made its inaugural appearance at the SEMA Show this year…

If you ask Freddie, he’ll tell you that his project has been an absolute headache from start to finish, and at one point, almost killed his passion for building cars. It wasn’t so much the car itself that caused his disdain, but the people involved with the project who were responsible for providing all the necessary parts to complete the car in time for SEMA. Much of it isn’t finished yet because some people just completely flaked on the project, causing Freddie a lot of grief—and a whole lot of money. Some of it is in the litigation process now so we can’t even name the names outright. Despite all the issues, the car looks fantastic with one of the few Speed Forme kits that exist here in in the States….

The L-series engine has been updated to modern fuel injection using a set of Jenvey individual throttle bodies….

Custom interior within with reupholstered panels, custom door cards, and a carbon fiber Number7 steering wheel from Japan…

The rear section of the interior has custom sheet metal panels pressed with a diamond motif to give it that bit of class, with a roll bar integrated into the chassis. I love that the guys from Autofashion USA even incorporated rear headrest LCD monitors…

Fuel Safe Systems fuel cell featuring a Nuke Performance fuel set-up which has also been integrated into the design of the rear trunk panels…

Skyline Mikey’s Hakosuka with an externally-mounted oil cooler up front with a front mounted intercooler hiding behind the front grille area…

I always like how the sun hits this event during the late afternoon and how it gives the cars this great glow…

Single-turbo RB26 swap under the hood of the Hakosuka, highlighted by a copper-plated valve cover and intake manifold…

Also inside Mikey’s Hakosuka is a carbon Number7 steering wheel…

Datsun 510 Wagon from WILD*CARDS running a BRE front lip, sitting on Watanabe R-Type wheels…

One of the better-looking Nissan SR20DET swaps inside this 510 with some custom titanium pieces and a Cerakoted GReddy intake manifold…

A closer look at the face of the 510 reveals a set of rare S.E.V. Marchal 819 head/foglights…

Fresh off of its debut at this year’s SEMA Show was Jaycray’s Liberty Walk Lexus LC500h with a dark green vinyl wrap that has also been airbrushed for a more distressed ‘patina’-look…

Kevin from GReddy’s Civic has made the rounds to almost every event this year our here in Southern California….

Damien’s K-Break Lexus GS300 on Work Emitz wheels from Endless Projects…

Joel’s bagged Evolution 9 wearing full Voltex Racing aero and bronze Volk Racing TE37V Mark II…

Autofashion USA-built full Mode Parfume GaMu Lexus GS300 running Work Meister S1 3-piece wheels and Project Mu front/rear big brake kits…

Procharger supercharged 2JZ-GE engine with a full array of custom aluminum engine covers made by Buddha Concept Designs…

Close-up shot of the Work Wheels and Project Mu brakes…

Mode Parfume Phantom GaMu F50 Q45 from LOWBALLERS car club…

The guys from Street Symphony brought out this K-Break equipped Lexus 2GS…

The two men responsible for the Wekfest Japan series, Kenneth Li and Hiro Ueda. Guest appearance by Chubs, Ken’s puppy…

Phil from PUREVIP’s Mode Parfume GaMu Regalia Lexus LS430, with custom metal fender/quarter panel work by Ulterior Motives body shop to house 19×11 and 19×12 SSR Professor SP4 wheels…

This new Toyota Camrys are starting to look better and better with every new generation that comes. The SE model in particular looks super sleek so its not surprising to see guys starting to mod them heavily with a sporty VIP style…

Aimgain GT Lexus 3GS representing the guys from LOWBALLERS Las Vegas, complete with Aimgain GTM wheels…

Danny Huerta from Karuma Unlimited’s imported Nissa Y32 Cima bagged on BBS wheels…

One of the best custom VIP builds around right now is Chris Cu’s Q50 sedan. Exceptional custom body work, good wheel fitment, not over accessorized, and everything just flows together so seamlessly…

One of the cooler, more notable builds to emerge this year is Taylor Uji’s Lexus LS400 running a custom BN Sports kit adapted from a SXE10 Altezza/IS300. The kit was custom-fitted and then taken apart, chopped, and shortened height-wise so that Taylor could continue to drive the car low without risking the kit’s destruction…

If you’re wondering what the wheels are they are Rays (Yes, the same Rays that makes Volk Racing) Payton Place Vintage wheels complete with original center caps that have been cleaned-up and rebarreled by the guys from VRWheels…

The front-face of Taylor’s one-off BN Sports LS400…

1up Yamada’s Lexus 3GS painted a bright teal to represent his hometown of San Jose, California bagged on refinished SSR Koenig wheels…

Love the added custom touch to his vanity plate…

There’s been a bit of a rage lately with guys customizing and turning factory OEM wheels into 3-piece wheels. One of the guys responsible for that is “Chamorroboy86” from San Diego. Here you can see this 4-door Integra sitting on now 3-piece Integra GSR wheels aka “GSR blades”. The concept is a bit polarizing but I gotta admit, it’s pretty cool to see it executed…

One of the wheels that has been seen in photos circulating the internet in the last month or so is this polished 3-piece JDM Integra Type R wheel. Very cool. Would I ever do something like this or rock a set of 3-piece customized OEM wheels? Probably not, but hey, I can appreciate the effort…

Wild vinyl wrap on this R35 GTR wearing a full Aimgain GT Type-2 widebody kit…

Jay Garcia’s Aimgain GT Type-1 R35 GTR, Dana Balthasar’s Lexus RC coupe sporting a new livery, and the new Autofashion USA Pandem Supra…

Autofashion USA and MistRShop collaborated to make some pretty cool awards this year for their event. The big one in the center is the “Autofashion USA Choice” award which was put together with the assistance of the individual who also has been putting together those custom 3-piece OEM wheels you saw earlier…

Autofashion-themed cookies featuring the Anomoji versions of Freddie and Kevin’s faces from Autofashion USA…

Job Design BMW E60 5-series bagged on Leon Hardiritt Ordens from PUREVIP…

Another build that debuted at SEMA this year and immediately went down to San Diego for the Autofashion VIP Festival was Joe from Endless Projects’ Prior Design widebody AMG GTS…

Michael Small from Endless Projects’ green vinyl-wrapped Honda Accord sedan wearing a full “BabyBear Gangster” body kit from Thailand and Work Durandel wheels…

If the wild aero wasn’t enough, under the hood of the Accord was a custom turbocharged J-series…

TRA Kyoto Pandem widebody A90 Supra owned by Kevin from Autofashion USA that was just recently finished in time for the SEMA Show…

Old school cool at Autofashion VIP Festival 2019…

Two of the best Datsun 510s in the country from Team WILD*CARDS…

Fantastic engine bay execution under the hood of Gil Susana’s 510, featuring an SR20DET swap and full-shaved bay…

Garrett turbo upgrade for Gil’s SR-swap as well as a full-sized radiator with converted -AN fittings and plumbing…

Elroy from Autofashion’s brother recently completed this Datsun Sunny B120 pick-up truck…

Inside the engine bay of the tiny Datsun truck is a factory 1200 A-series engine with upgraded carbs and a rare Hayashi Racing cast aluminum valve cover…

Takechi Project Racing Hart FR 4H wheels complete with caps and all…

Another shot of Skyline Mikey’s RB26DET-powered Hakosuka…

A better shot of the Speed Forme-kitted Datsun 240Z on Work Meister M1 wheels currently being built by Freddie and the boys from Autofashion USA…

Chris from PUREVIP’s W210 Mercedes E320 on Leon Hardiritt Waffes…

Randy Balino’s incredibly-detailed Lexus GS300 from Kross Kolor Kustoms…

Freddie going over the final judge’s results while Big Mike keeps the crowd company…

Jaycray making sure his girlfriend isn’t too pissed at him for spending so much time on his stupid car lately…

Taylor Uji receiving an award for his BN Sports LS400…

We were all interested to see who would take home the “Autofashion USA Choice” award and much to the surprise of everyone, even the person who won it, it didn’t go to a vehicle that was present at the show this year….

Instead, it went to an individual who has been a long-time member of our automotive community out here in California. He’s a bit of a hermit but made it to the show to receive the ultimate honor from the guys at Autofashion USA. Judson Bryan, better known to the world as the creative recluse behind JDMEGO, was all smiles as his name was announced. He’s done a ton of automotive artwork for Freddie over the years and has been instrumental in helping Autofashion throughout the years. As such, the guys wanted to honor him for his work and time….

Judson is not one to mince his words online, but has never been much on public appearances, let alone talking on a microphone in front of a big crowd. On this occasion, in front of many friends, he picked-up the mic to let us know how much he really hated us, lol. It was good to not only see him out and about, but also happy and smiling with friends. Congratulations to both him and the guys from Autofashion USA for another fantastic year of passionate work…

And on that note, I bid you adieu. Back to my adventures in Australia. Thanks for looking…