Somewhere wedged in-between my multiple trips to Japan is the annual Wekfest Hawaii event. People often ask me why I go to Japan so often in such a short span of time and my main reasoning behind it is simple; I have to go to Hawaii. It’s often considered paradise to many people but being that I’m not that much of a beach person or the type to just lay out and do nothing, Hawaii is very much just another stop on the Wekfest tour to me. I think it’s a beautiful place, don’t get me wrong, and I see why people absolutely love it, but…it’s just not my thing. I have some friends out there too that have either since moved to California or regularly visit from Hawaii and their perspective into just how “regular” Hawaii is to them has always just reinforced that mindset for me. Look at it this way, California is also known for its beaches and being close to the ocean too but I can’t even remember the last time I went to a beach back at home…

I appreciate why people like it so much, I’m just about my work, you know? I’m there to see car stuff and if I end-up sipping a cold drink on the beach while I’m there, it’s definitely a plus. Most of the time I just enjoy the travels for the food. I try to eat pretty simply at home, despite what I may post sometimes on my Instagram, but the fancy eating is usually reserved for traveling. I think it just goes with the experience of being in a different place other than home. But anyways, before I go too far off into a tangent, I went back to Hawaii expecting it to be a nice little getaway. Not in terms of getting away like a vacation but sort of just trying to escape my mind. I’ve been so adamant about increasing my workflow lately that I’m producing great content, but it has also taken up a lot of my energy. Going to Hawaii and staying at a nice Airbnb with the gang sounded nice. We’d cook at the house, relax, and then we’d have a car show as well…

I’ll tell you more about the show itself in the second half of this coverage. After Hawaii, I stayed at home for about a week and a half but I’m already back in Japan doing more coverage at Osaka Auto Messe. Most of what you’re reading is what I typed AT the show. This event is three days long so I have some time to sit down and get some stuff done on my laptop. Pardon if I seem brief at all but I’m literally piecing this coverage together whenever I have a chance to sit down at a loud car show. Hawaii was fantastic. Honestly I needed it. But I’ll tell you more about it later. Back to shooting and doing video in Japan, I can’t wait to show you guys this stuff as well. Thanks for all the support and patience. Enjoy some shots from Wekfest Hawaii…

Unlike the other Wekfest events on the tour, the Hawaii stop starts much later in the afternoon. Why? Well, Hawaii people are slow, lol. They just kinda move at their own pace so we had to adjust to their schedule and start the show at 4PM. The good thing about having the show that late in the day is that we have roll-in at around noon and we get a good night’s sleep before. At the other stops, roll-in usually starts at 7 AM so we usually have to be at the venue by 5 AM…

Hawaii loves their old school Japanese classics so you’ll usually encounter a few at the show…

Brian Calbero’s Mitsubishi Mirage disguised as an Evolution utilizes the engine and drivetrain from his old wrecked Evo IX mixed with Voltex aero pieces and an assortment of OEM Evolution body panels…

Alex Ching’s S13.4 240SX with a Kouki S14 face running what looks to be Origin Labo Stylish aero…

Don’t see PS13 240SXs with a S14 face but it somehow just kinda works. Nice touch with the 326power wing in the back…

Mike Matsumoto pulled-up to Wekfest this year with a bit of a new look…

In terms of parts, the bulk of it hasn’t changed much but he did polish the faces of his SSR Professor SP3 wheels and the entire NSX has been wrapped in orange vinyl since he was getting a little tired of the OEM red look…

Nice little 1960s Toyota Corona sedan looking real mint pulling into the venue…

The Abanes Garage EF drag car unloaded off the trailer and ready for display…

I’m sure by now you guys recognize my appreciation for the Lexus 2GS platform and I certainly enjoy the simplicity of this particular GS from PUREVIP on BBS LM wheels and front/rear Endless big brakes…

One of the cars that I was anticipating to see in Hawaii was this Infiniti Q45 with a JDM Nissan President conversion from Team Mansu…

Subaru WRX wagon looking sleek with a pair of Ganador mirrors and Volk TE37SL…

Dual angled exhaust set-up and a nice vanity plate…

I was excited to see this F50 because the owner had gone through the extensive work of not only doing the JDM President conversion, but he also went and converted the rear doors to open from the front, moving the door handles to the opposite side…

Chad Kobayashi’s Porsche 997 arrived at the Blaisdell Center for WFHI with a completely new look for 2020, sporting a new GT3R kit and a classic HKS livery…

Interesting choice to go with such a classic Japanese livery for a Porsche but hey, if it’s cool, it’s cool…

Ross from Spocom actually brought the car in as the rain started to come down pretty heavily during the early afternoon staging…

If you aren’t familiar with this build, it’s the 997 from this area that used to have a Liberty Walk widebody kit…

A closer look at the HKS livery, which was actually executed quite well, along with the centerlock BBS wheels…

Rear-end of the widened 997 as it drove into the venue…

Arnold Bornios’ from Vision in Progress Racing car club’s 2001 Acura Integra Type R rocking classic Mugen M7 wheels and a Mugen Gen. II rear spoiler…

You’d probably know his brother Chris Bornios more for his UCF31 LS430 build but lately, he’s picked-up this Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro and has been putting in a lot of work on it. Hawaii loves their lifted truck builds so it’s fairly common to see trucks like Chris’ cruising around the island…

The Bornios brothers making their way into the show…

Nisa Duarte’s EK9 CTR N1 and Steve Perez’s S2000 pulled-up soon after with a fleet of Hondas following closely behind them…

This FK8 Civic Type R is one of the first that I’ve seen with a bulk of the new Mugen components that have been recently made available for this chassis. If you know anything about Mugen parts or FK8 Mugen parts in general, you know that it is not exactly “affordable” per se, so it’s crazy to see that enthusiasts are so into this car that they are willing to pay retail price for some of this stuff. This one in particular has the Mugen kit, taillights, steering wheel, and more…

Coming into the show, the heavy favorite to win top honors at WFHI was Nisa’s CTR N1, which was shipped over to Hawaii when Jeremy from RedZone and Nisa relocated to the islands…

One Civic that caught my eye was this Midori Green hatchback with J’s Racing wide fenders and a First Molding carbon front lip…

Nisa’s CTR looks relatively simple on the outside with just a full respray but there is so much more inside that I’ll show you guys in part 2…

This gray Integra looked great in gray with a Wings West front lip and Rays Gram Lights wheels…

Braxton Higa’s Civic has some new additions for 2020 including a switch to Work RSZ-R wheels and a rare Air Walker rear bumper…

I don’t believe this Acura TLX was even a part of the show but it looked great on Aimgain wheels as it pulled-up and parked in the lot by the back entrance…

Another shot of the Midori Green Civic from earlier. Wait until you guys see the engine bay on this build. His motor is actually Midori Green too and as weird as that sounds, it actually looks quite good…

A build that none of us were expecting to debut at WFHI was this custom blue-toned Civic hatchback running a Tactical Art carbon front lip and Mag Blue Volk TEs owned by Caitlyn Iha…

As it turns out, this build has been in the works for a while now and Caitlyn was excited to finally bring it out for Wekfest completed…

A different view of the Mugen FK8 CTR on Desmond Regamaster EVO II in white…

Steve’s AP2 is coming along nicely with a Mugen front lip, Mugen MF10 in bronze, and a Mugen rear wing…

Back angle with the Mugen rear wing. All it really needs now is a Mugen hard top but I imagine if you lived on an island, you’ll probably want the option of being able to put the top down when needed…

With the 25 year rule in effect now, we’re starting to see more and more imported R32 Skylines here in the USA. This one that showed-up at Wekfest this year looked pretty good on Work Meister L1 wheels. Hopefully with more of these coming in to the States now we get more good examples like this one to really hammer in that point that less is more…

It’s a rare sight these days to see a modified 2nd generation Prelude at a car show, no matter what part of the world you’re in. I was surprised to see this one pretty nicely done up with a 326power wing and lip kit. It’s yellow so of course the owner went with a “Fake Taxi” theme to let everyone know what his favorite website is…

You never know what to expect when it comes to weather in Hawaii. Most of the time you’ll get some good sunlight and warmth but then there will be moments of the day when it just starts pouring rain. I feel bad for the people that were trying to roll-in their cars that day and had to endure the rain. These people probably got their cars all nice and clean the day before, not know they’d have to wipe them down all over again once they got to the show. On the other hand, it is Hawaii and I’m pretty sure most of the residents there are already familiar with this unpredictable weather…

One of the Bornios brothers showed-up with a little too much gas in his tank and didn’t meet the 1/4-tank requirements so they had to go burn some of it off. Then it started to rain and his ITR was soaked. I don’t know how annoyed he was but I’m glad he did leave because the rain really made his Type R look pretty good as it was coming back…

I’m in the middle of a car show, literally, since I’m typing this up at Osaka Auto Messe. It’s getting pretty crazy over here since it’s so busy that I should probably get back to doing coverage and what not. There’s still part 2 of the Wekfest Hawaii coverage to come so I hope you come back to see it. Thanks to all who are reading this, you are appreciated. Thanks…