Most of you will probably have noticed that I went on a little vacation for a week to Hawaii. It was a bit of an impromptu decision but I had been itching to get out of California lately. I’m so used to traveling I was honestly getting a little too comfortable being at home all the time so I wanted to get away. When Sara told me that she had to go to Hawaii to film a new project, I decided to tag along. This would not only provide me with the opportunity to catch-up with some friends out there, I’d also get to experience Hawaii from the point-of-view of someone who had lived their for half of their life. I grabbed all my camera gear thinking I might be able to see some car stuff out there but because of the current state restrictions, I found it difficult to host a meet or do anything car-related. After I checked into my hotel, I also realized that the WiFi was super spotty there so I couldn’t even get any work done—so I was forced to treat it like an actual vacation and did absolutely nothing…

And it was honestly pretty nice.

It’s rare for me to take a break but I told myself I’d enjoy my stay in Hawaii without having to think about car shit whatsoever. During my week there, all I did was eat, hang out with my friends, and do touristy stuff. While I was there, I received a message from John Naderi, aka Nads, from The Hoonigans inviting me out to a meet that they were hosting at their compound. It was a gathering specifically catered to Japanese vehicles so he wanted to see if I could bring my IS300 out to be a part of their line-up. I was worried that my schedule would conflict with their event but he told me it wasn’t happening until the Sunday after I returned. I told him I would try my best to be there and thanked him for the invite. It feels so strange being invited to an event because of my car because I’m usually just the media guy, you know?…

I was kind of excited. My car was already clean as well so all I’d have to do was get in and drive to Compton for the meet. And then I woke up late, lol. Of course. I set multiple alarms even but maybe because I was still on Hawaii-time so I slept right through them. For a brief moment I thought about not going because I didn’t want to be that guy who pulled-up super late to an event I was invited to but ultimately decided to jump out of bed and haul ass down there. I got there just as it was starting so I don’t think anyone actually noticed I was ‘late’…

I actually only pulled my dSLR out once while I was in Hawaii, and it was actually quite nice to not feel the pressure of having to shoot anything. This look-out point in Tantalus was so nice though that I just had to snap a photo. The rest of the photos I captured were candids that I snapped with my 35mm film camera. Whenever those get developed I’ll probably post them up on here just for the hell of it…

When I parked and started walking around at the new Hoonigans facility, one of the first cars that caught my eye was Steve Nakamura’s AE86 Corolla. It was a car that I had only previously seen in photos and never in person, so it was nice to finally give it a good look through…

Under the hood of the AE86 was a 16-valve 4A-GE utilizing a set of HKS cam gears and a set of FCR carbs…

Every time I see a set of FCR carbs I’m reminded by Der of how good they sound. They just emit this very specific sound that seems to be unique to Keihin carburetors…

Jacob Torres’ B-series Civic hatchback with a J’s Racing front lip and bronze concave Volk TE37 wheels…

Jonathan Wong cruised down to Compton in his immaculate EF SiR-converted Civic on Speed Star Racing EX-C Fins. You’ll be happy to know that JDM Wong has nice cold air conditioning now so he’ll pretty much drive this thing anywhere now…

I pulled up a little late, just as the event had started, and Nads was kind enough to give me a great spot right at the front entrance…

One car that I was pleasantly surprised to see was this BNR34 Skyline GT-R which once belonged to the late Paul Walker. Top Rank re-acquired this car after Walker’s passing and it recently sold to a private owner. The car still remains exactly how most of us remember it with a full C-West aero kit and Yokohama Advan Racing Sienna Generation II wheels…

It doesn’t look like much as changed under the hood either with a factory twin-turbo set-up still in place along with assorted aftermarket add-ons from HKS Japan…

I don’t know who owns this AE86 Levin these days and I don’t know if the new owner knews this but I’ve actually ridden in this car back when it still belonged to my friend JC Pepino. JC, if you don’t know, works for Work Wheels Japan and this Levin was imported to the U.S. after he sold the car to Elvis from Stancenation. Elvis held onto it for a couple years, put new wheels on it, and then later sold it. If you remember a mountain touge video I uploaded a couple years back, you’ll remember I rode along with JC as he ripped this AE86 around. It was a fun night but he was scared of getting in trouble for us recording everything and uploading it so I actually took the video down for a year or so. Fun times and I’m glad I get to see the car here in California…

Sweet and simple set-up under the hood of the Levin featuring a individually-throttled 4A-GE…

I love to see my friends getting back into Hondas again, years after they have gone and built all kinds of other cars. This 4-door DB8 Honda Integra Type R on Sprint Hart wheels belongs to Gene Tjin. I remember how excited he was when he first got this car and I’m glad he’s held onto it…

Chris Lucero is always out and about in his Laguna Seca Blue, Spoon-themed, Integra…

Even with all the driving, he still manages to keep his Rotrex supercharged K-swap set-up very clean…

Jonny Grunwald and his TCP Magic widebody RX-7 found a really cool parking spot inside The Hoonigans’ ‘Burn Yard’ area…

It’s always great to see Tod Kaneko’s builds in-person, especially in 2021. He’s had this 240Z for as long as I’ve been into cars since the ’90s. I remember seeing this Z in magazines alongside his 510 and also at the annual Japanese Classic Car Show events over the years. It’s great that he has kept it completely as-is when he originally finished the car and it lives on today as a moving time capsule…

Under the hood is a HKS turbocharged L28 engine powered by a standalone engine management system that helps the car make over 400-horsepower—at least from what I remember about the car anyway…

One of the builds that I was happy to finally see in full detail was Scott Kanemura’s insane one-off 4Runner drag project. I last saw this build at SEMA in Las Vegas a couple years ago but it was so crowded that I wasn’t able to see all the little details…

Inside the engine bay of the now tube-framed 1993 4Runner is a stroked 3.4-liter 2JZ-GTE engine featuring a Hypertune intake manifold and custom turbo manifold…

From this side you can see just how the turbo manifold is routed and how the exhaust exits through the front passenger fender…

HKS components are used on this 2JZ paired with other pieces that are also a similar shade of anodized purple to contrast with all the mirror-polished engine parts…

A custom carbon fiber dashboard sits in the interior now with a full custom roll cage running through the chassis paired with Kirkey aluminum racing seats. Mounted in the dash is a Racepak digital display which you can see behind the Momo steering wheel…

As you have probably noticed from looking at the engine bay, the car isn’t quite complete yet and sections of the car still require some custom fabrication. The transmission is completely exposed here and will likely be covered when the car is finished…

The rear section has been completely cut-out with new rear wheel tubs to house the wide drag slicks. The center is wide open right now so you can actually see the rear differential when you look through the rear passenger window…

The trunk area hosts a Fuel Safe Systems cell with some Radium fuel components mounted in place to help deliver race gas to the 2JZ-GTE…

I absolutely love how he kept the build period-specific by having the 4Runner sit on a set of re-barreled and refinished Volk Racing Group-C wheels…

RB26-swapped Z32 300ZX with an interesting front bumper which looks to be using SW20 MR-2 corner lights…

Tommy Ha finally got his baller dry-carbon ASM front bumper painted and mounted on his ASM-EVERYTHING S2000 build. I think we were both collectively worried as to how or if the paint would match. Thank goodness he has an amazing painter which was able to get the shade of white just right. I also learned that spraying dry carbon is incredible difficult and you have to paint it multiple times in hopes that the paint will adhere to it…

I don’t know why I took this photo at this odd ass angle but I think Tommy was talking to me so I was trying to multi-task, lol…

Teddy Timoteo’s S2000 with a Mugen front lip, Mugen wing, Mugen hood, and Volk CE28N wheels…

Apex Blue S2000CR also running some Mugen goodies paired with a nicely contrasting set of white Mugen MF10 wheels…

Jerry’s Mugen SS-themed AP2 S2000 build with just a splash of Spoon Sports parts. I know some people don’t really like the giant smiley face Mugen SS front but I love it, especially when it has the 3-piece rear wing as well which is probably one of the best pieces Mugen has ever created…

Those same people labeling liking shit like that as being a “Mugen fan boy”. I’ll be the first one to tell you that I’m not totally in love with everything in Mugen’s catalog but some of the stuff just looks really good. Like who fucking cares what people like? Lol.

These guys roll everywhere together, which is nice, but sometimes I kinda wish they would not always park together because each of these cars deserve their own bit of attention. Sometimes when you put them altogether, people just lump them all into one and just glance. They probably want to park together though so I get it, but it’s not really fair parking next to Tommy’s CR, lol…

I had to get another shot of Jonny’s FD since it was in such a photogenic spot…

I do wonder what the new Volk Racing 21C wheels would look like without caps though. Or maybe the flat caps that you typically see on TEs and CEs. It might end up changing how the wheel looks as a whole…

Snapped one more photo of JDM Wong’s Civic as I was about to leave…

I ended-up only staying for about an hour since I had to get back home but I had a great time! Hopefully I’ll get invited to the next one and I’ll be able to stick around longer. Thanks to John Naderi for the invite and thanks to all of you for looking at these photos…