I bet you guys never expected to see this happen. To be honest, I don’t think I would have ever thought it would happen either. I went to a Hot Import Nights event—not here in L.A., but all the way down under in Sydney, Australia. Why? You ask. Well, I certainly almost didn’t go but then I thought to myself “why the hell not?”. Australia sounds fun this time of year. Okay, maybe not that fun since it was literally ON FIRE and there was a travel advisory warning of the devastating fires going on out there. But I went. It’s been a year of new adventures so why not close-out the year doing something I never thought I’d do? I almost didn’t go though. Dennis Shen from HIN (Australia) had emailed me a couple months ago and I saw it, didn’t really think much of it because I was so busy during that time, and I forgot all about it. Over the course of a decade, I’d traveled quite a bit all over the world to attend different events but going to Australia for Hot Import Nights didn’t necessarily pique my interest. I say that in the most respectful way of course. It is one of their biggest events down in Sydney, if not the biggest car show currently, but the HIN brand is just not very relevant to the automotive “climate”, if you can call it that, statesidein 2019. Hot Import Nights has seen its better days about a decade before and most of us only remember that name because at one time it was THE show to go to when we were young. Now the series has changed hands a couple times and I couldn’t even tell you who owns it now…

October was a pretty hectic month, as it always is annually for me. I’m usually planning-out The Chronicles event during that time and SEMA happens right after, as well as the Autofashion VIP Festival event. In the past few years, October is also the time of month when we travel to Texas for the Wekfest series. This year, the event was moved to a later date in a different city so I guess you can say that it wasn’t as busy as it typically is. Australia was on my mind a month before that but it wasn’t for the Hot Import Nights event. A part of me had been itching to go back to Sydney for the World Time Attack Challenge. I thought about it, got busy, and then forgot all about it. When Hot Import Nights came calling, I had already threw-out the idea of going to Sydney. It wasn’t until a good friend of mine from Australia messaged me and asked me to go personally. I didn’t know Dennis from HIN Australia but he knew that I was friends with Yonas Liu from JDMYARD. He probably assumed I was a complete asshole for not responding to his email but he really wanted me to go so he got in touch with Yonas. One of the main issues with flying all the way across the world and doing a gig like this is not knowing anyone and it being kinda awkward interacting with strangers. With Yonas in the mix and vouching for them, I was a little more open to the idea. If anything, I’d go down there and hang out with Yonas for a few days too, since I don’t see him very often. So I made him my point of contact and he actually was even nice enough to take care of the negotiation of terms for me. They sent over a contract, I signed that shit, and off we went to Australia for Hot Import Nights…

I should state right now, for those of you who were curious, that Hot Import Nights has nothing to do with the Hot Import Nights we have here in the USA. They’re completely different entities operated by different people. They merely pay to use the name over there and that’s about it. Whatever associations they have are only through the models that they hire for the event. The different “Miss HIN” models are brought on board to help boost the show’s relevance in Australia. Sort of like how they hired me to go over there to judge the car show and to do coverage. I myself am a recognized personality in the bigger scheme of things and as such, I help to bring relevance and importance to that show because I’m from the States. Had it been an event that was operated by the people that run HIN here, it’s unlikely that I’d go, because it would be a bit of a conflict of interests on my part seeing as how I am directly involved with the Wekfest car show series here at home. I wasn’t the only “personality” from the States that they hired. Along with me came Sam Du from Super Street Magazine and Constance Nunes, a model who is also a car enthusiast herself with an ongoing Netflix series…

The car community is rich in Australia so I knew that there was a chance that this show could be pretty interesting. I’ve been following here and there for some time now and after attending the World Time Attack Challenge a couple years ago, I learned a bit more about what they had to offer. It’s like a mix between here at home and what you see in Japan, but with their own personal twist on things. At times it seems more traditional Japanese in terms of styling and modifications, but the Internet has presented them with some fine examples of what we are capable here in the U.S. and they have also adapted some of those ideas. Like every car community anywhere, of course there is some weird, off-the-wall shit that probably isn’t necessarily pleasing to the eye, but you have to understand that everybody is just different. Variety is the spice of life, right? It can be good or bad, and traveling helps you appreciate both sides…

I will say this though; the people who I met down there are pretty fucking great. The cars were what I went for but it was a pleasure being able to meet all these people who were so accommodating and kind. They definitely made the trip worthwhile. From the beginning of the trip until the day I left, I was just showered with hospitality. They made sure I was taken care of and I’m thankful for that. One of the main reasons why I didn’t consider going at first was because I didn’t want to be around a bunch of people I didn’t know, but looking back now, it shouldn’t have been something I had to be concerned about because they were fantastic. I think I just get into my own head about that stuff sometimes and maybe some bad experiences have made me weary about meeting people but the opportunity to be at this event really changed my thought process…

It’s funny because the general reaction that I got from people was a hard ‘why?’ when they found out I was going to Australia for HIN. At first they were like ‘oh Australia, you must be going back to WTAC’. When I told them it was for HIN, they were in a bit of disbelief. Then I had to go on this long explanation of how it was different than here at home and that I was also going to Sydney to visit some friends. I also hosted a car meet while I was down there which you’ll see photos of later. Maybe this long-winded piece of writing will pique your interest and you’ll want to see what Australia’s car show enthusiasts have to offer. I imagine if you’d already read this far down, you’re probably to invested to leave now so you might as well finish reading. I’ll tell you more about the show and how my day went when I was there in part 2. Allow me to show you some cars in the mean time. Enjoy…

We arrived a couple days before the event and had some engagements to attend while we were there which included a night club appearance. I don’t do many of those here since I don’t go out anymore but it’s fun to do that kind of stuff when you’re traveling. The following day, Yonas picked-up Sam and I, ate some lunch, then headed to the venue to check-out the set-up. Interestingly enough, we found out that set-up or roll-in is called a “bump-in” there which is really weird because it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but that’s just what they call it. We asked why and no one could seem to give us an answer. We thought by the afternoon that most of the cars would have ‘bumped-in’ by then but there weren’t many exhibitors just yet. We stayed a few hours and then just captured whatever cars were there that caught our eyes…

One of the first cars that stood-out was this Mazda RX-3 Savanna sedan which had a pair of aluminum Kirkey racing seats and a roll bar. I didn’t get a chance to look under the hood but it likely had a Rotary engine lurking under…

AP2 S2000 in a light blue hue running what looks to be J’s Racing front wide fenders and rear over fenders along with a set of Advan GT wheels. The owner also used a different front cap for the wider front fenders since he was using an OEM bumper in an attempt to line things up. Ultimately it doesn’t fit perfectly but doesn’t look too bad. I like the attempt. Some guys just don’t do anything with the front bumper alignment when they get wide fenders and it just looks horrible…

Parked right by the entrance where cars were coming in was this widebody SW20 MR-2 with (if it’s real) a rare Abflug front lip and Volk TE37V wheels…

One of the builds that I remember seeing a couple years ago when I was at the World Time Attack Challenge was this AE86 Trueno rocking a pair of carbon fiber CBY fender flares…

We were told that this RX-7 won their “Hottest Car” award, which is equivalent to Best of Show honors. Definitely a really wild build but upon closer inspection was actually a very complete and thorough build…

JRacing Motorsports’ custom widebody Mercedes AMG GTS which was later covered with a giant sheet since it had a scheduled debut unveiling the day of the show…

Again there weren’t too many cars that afternoon so we left a few hours after watching them ‘bump-in’. The following day was a long one being that the show hours were 11 AM to 9 PM. I can’t recall the last time I was at a car show that lasted that long but it gave me plenty of time to shoot and walk around…

The centerpiece of the show was this large scale set-up of frames and trusses which had spotlights showcasing some of the shows more notable cars. Since this Rocket Bunny FD won top honors last year, it was parked on a platform right in the middle of the show…

When I say the car is ‘complete’, I mean it has EVERYTHING, including this 20B 3-Rotor Bridgeport engine set-up utilizing a Comp Turbo CT6X turbocharger which makes over 900 horsepower…

Full trunk set-up inside with twin subwoofers mounted to custom enclosures which have been wrapped in carbon fiber. At the center are two air compressors, an air tank, and an Accuair E-Level set-up…

The big wheel wells of the Rocket Bunny kit are filled-up with 19-inch SSR Professor SP1 wheels which have been paired with front and rear Brembo big brake upgrades…

Jake Markuse’s Mitsubishi Evolution on bags running an Varis V2 front bumper, Voltex side skirts, APR front fenders, APR rear quarter panels, and black SSR Professor MS3 wheels…

The “Hulk FD” may have won best of show honors the year before, but this year, Sam and I selected this white BNR32 Skyline GTR as our top choice of the event. The car just encompasses everything we love about show cars that are also driven hard and the attention to detail is just incredible. The exterior looks relatively simple but the body actually hosts OEM N1 front bumper/lip, side skirts, rear valance, carbon Abflug front splitter, custom side skirt extensions, Ganador mirrors, and a Rocket Dancer rear gurney flap…

The Skyline, built by Dahtone Racing, features a fully-shaved engine bay with an RB30 bottom head mated to an RB26 head…

A large Garrett GTX4294 turbocharger replaces the factory twin-turbo set-up using a custom thick-wall stainless exhaust manifold as well as a custom intercooler, intercooler piping, and cross-flow radiator…

The intake manifold is a Plazaman piece with the top throttle brackets removed since this RB engine is running a Dahtone Racing 6-Throttle Drive-By-Wire System with the DBW motor hidden on the bottom-side of the intake manifold. Here you can also see the custom hard-pipes for the radiator…

What made the Skyline even cooler was the fact that it had this cool display set-up by Motorsport Towing pairing the BNR32 with a full Voltex Mitsubishi Evolution on the tilted-bed of the truck…

One of the reasons why Australia is a bit cooler than the States is that they have road-legal S15 Silvias there. Seeing a clean one like this white Silvia on Work Meister L1 wheels is not uncommon…

Australia never got the ‘Scion FR-S’ like we did at home and instead got the Toyota 86 just like Japan. This 86 was outfitted with a full Aimgain widebody kit with its signature angular wheel wells sitting on a set of Work Meister S1 wheels…

This BNR32 looked a little nutty but I totally expected to see something built along these lines at a show like Hot Import Nights. It looks wild but the quality of paint was pretty great…

RB26DET set-up under the hood of the Skyline GTR. You can see here that the airbrushed flame job even ties into the shaved engine bay…

Quality airbrushing on the front face of the Skyline featuring a multitude of flaming skulls…

The rear shows off more of the gold metallic flake paint job with some of the airbrushed flames running towards the rear quarter panels…

Rocket Bunny widebody S15 Silvia bagged on Work Meister L1 wheels…

Pandem widebody R32 Skyline with Work VS-XX wheels…

Nelson’s Subaru WRX Wagon bagged on Airlift suspension and custom carbon-look Work Emotion XD9 wheels…

Josh Goninon’s Precision 6062 turbocharged E36 3-Series coupe…

Grant Fulton’s E36 convertible with some Japanese styling sitting on a set of Blitz Type 03 wheels and a pair of red Bride seats…

Winning the ‘Hottest VIP’ award was Cooper Smith’s Toyota Crown wearing a modified Mode Parfume GaMu kit and BBS RS wheels…

Nick Starrit’s Skyline sedan on SSR Koenig wheels running some GTR-inspired body pieces produced by JSAI Aero…

One thing I learned while I was in Australia was how popular custom/vanity license plates were. HIN AU even had an award for ‘Hottest Plate’. This widened NSX for example, had a plate that said “FAP 2IT”, lol…

This Millenium Jade-painted RPS13 180SX owned by Bruce Van Ly looked great with Koguchi Power front and rear wide fenders and SSR Professor wheels….

It was cool to finally see the work of 20 year-old artist Hacaosuka Designs in-person after first spotting some of his work online. He makes these really intricate paper model replicas of real-life cars and created one of Bruce’s 180SX…

Falah Gatt’s freshly repainted ECR33 Skyline GTS-T with widened front fenders, and rear over fenders, as well as a front bumper, to give the Skyline more of a GTR-look…

Josh’s MK4 Supra with a carbon front lip, rear diffuser, and custom LED taillights, sitting nice and low on a set of SSR Minerva wheels…

One of my personal favorites of the HIN AU show was this JXZ100 Chaser owned by Benjamin Ashcroft. The car sits static like this on 326power coilover suspension and he also regularly drifts this thing. Hard to notice if you aren’t too familiar with JZX100s but he actually widened the front and rear fenders with metal flares produced by Ulterior Motives here in the States…

Parked right next to Ashcroft’s Chaser was an equally as black RPS13 Sil80 drift car owned by Jake Rice…

Since we never got these in America, I think this might be the first time I’ve ever seen a modified R31 Skyline Wagon in-person. Pretty fucking rad, especially with the mismatched SSR wheels…

One of the nicest overall builds at the HIN AU show was this 1965 Ford Mustang, also known as “The Animal”. I’d love to show you more of it but it was roped-off and I couldn’t get close enough to get better shots of it…

Pandem Toyota 86 on black Work Meister S1 3-piece wheels…

Frans Kusuma’s Honda Integra VTi-R looked like it could have been a Honda built over here in North America. I had seen some pretty nice Honda builds during my last trip to Australia but was pretty impressed to see this on the floors of the Hot Import Nights event. The Integra features a Mugen front bumper, Mugen sides, a J’s Racing hood, J’s rear wing, Ganador mirrors, and 15×8 Volk TE37 wheels. I later got to get a look under the bonnet as well and it’s also K-swapped…

Clean Phoenix Yellow Honda Integra Type R looking relatively simple outside with just a carbon intake duct mounted on the front bumper…

Autobody painter Theo Janssen’s B16A2 turbocharged EK1 Civic sedan on BBS wheels. I didn’t get a shot of the interior but he also has complete black suede reupholstered interior with red stitching…

Josh Nham’s B18C7 Type R powered EK Civic hatchback which has been repainted Milano Red paired with a classic set of SSR Type-X wheels…

Renel, who owns this Spoon Sports-themed Civic VTi-R, was actually one of the first Honda enthusiasts that I met when I first came out to Sydney a couple years ago during WTAC. He’s a good friend of Yonas so we actually hung out pretty often when I last visited. We’d kept in-touch since then so it was cool to see him and his car again…

Paulus’ turbocharged Honda S2000 wearing a set of Circuit Garage flares, Mugen hard top and a Voltex front…

One of the best-looking Hondas which was unfortunately stuck in a corner of the venue was this K24A-powered FD2 Civic Type R on Volk Racing CE28N in bronze. The owner takes a less-is-more approach leaving most of the Type R stock aesthetically, minus the addition of J’s Racing Air Intake Ducts and a Mugen (style?) carbon fiber hood…

Right next to it was another FD Civic sedan, this one also running OEM Type R aero but with the addition of FEEL’S Honda Twin Cam front wide fenders that provide adequate space for a set of front-staggered SSR Type-F wheels…

Were you pleasantly surprised by the quality of vehicles? Disappointed? Was it on-par with what you thought? Feel free to tell me what you think if you want. There’s still much more to come in Part 2 of 2. Thanks for looking!…