Hopefully many of you have seen the Vlog episode about this event and have heard some of my thoughts on it. I was expecting a more polarizing response but I suppose people are familiar enough with this event, since its been around for some years now, and have already formulated their own thoughts on it. I was never even supposed to go to this event and was brought in last minute as a guest of sorts, so I won’t be too harsh about my criticisms, lol. I’ll actually be very nice about it, okay? Because overall, it’s a good event. Correction: it’s a very VERY good event—if you happen to own an S2000, an NSX, or an FK8. If you don’t own one of those models, you don’t have to give a fuck about this, because they don’t give a fuck about you either. And that’s as blunt as I can put it. I feel like it would have been necessary to call this the “Honda Homecoming” with an asterisk at the end, because it’s not really “Honda” vehicles as a whole. It’s just those three particular platforms I mentioned with a sprinkle of Integra Type Rs and display vehicles brought in by vendors.
What this started out as in the very beginning was an event exclusively for S2000s, operated by someone from the S2Ki community, and was appropriately named “S2K Homecoming”. It became a pretty big deal if you owned an S2000 and were a part of that community. Over the years the organizer of this event moved onto other vehicles including an NSX, and now an FK8 CTR, so it makes sense that the event would encompass the model of cars that he was interested in. As such, the event grew also to incorporate those models. For this year, the event was presented as a “Honda Flagship” event, sanctioned by Honda of America and hosted at their facility in Torrance, California. The website stated that “Honda Motors invites 250 of the most hardcore Honda DIEHARD FANS all over the world to come celebrate the S2000 20th Anniversary, as well as the NSX 30th Anniversary, and the rebirth of the TYPE-R.” That’s good branding right there. They want to sell you on the idea that it only appeals to the “most hardcore Honda DIEHARD FANS” but it’s only exclusively catered to the people who own those specific Hondas. Again, you can fuck off if you own a Civic or Integra, del SOL, CR-X, etc., lol. You’re not DIEHARD. You just own the other Hondas meant for peasants.
Now, it can be argued whether or not you consider the S2000 to be the “Flagship” of Honda. Most would say it isn’t. It’s a flagship if you own one, I’m sure, because that’s what you want to believe. You probably think the S2000 is greatest thing on Earth. But did it carry the torch for Honda the last 20 years?
I’ll wait.
Unlikely, right? But again, some would say otherwise. In my opinion, it didn’t. I don’t think it was ever meant to be the flagship, but again, it’s smart marketing to sell an event. I can’t knock the hustle. The NSX however, is Honda’s first and only supercar. It’s what the world would understand to be Honda’s true immortal super vehicle. It’s the face of Honda’s pop cultural relevancy. The only thing close to it is the phrase “Type R” and when we as automotive enthusiasts think of “Type R”, we don’t think of the FK8 chassis. It’s an amazing machine, but it’s not what “hardcore Honda DIEHARD FANS” consider to be the staple “R”. That would be the DC2 Type R here in North America, in most other parts of the world, the EK9 is also in that conversation.
How many of those were present at the Honda Homecoming you ask? Well…maybe 10-11 ITRs? I don’t imagine it’d be smart to bring an EK9 CTR that’s been imported to Honda of America so there were definitely zero of those, lol. Can you imagine just pulling up to Honda in Torrance in an EK9 with a straight-piped exhaust? I chuckle at the mere thought of it.
It’s a good sell by the organizer. And Honda of America bought it. The 250 people (and more) that bought tickets ate it up. The guy is smart so I give him a round of applause in that regard. From a business standpoint this was executed so well. As a car enthusiast who has helped carry Honda’s relevancy in our community for the better part of a decade, I would say that an event like this only builds a greater divide amongst the so-called Honda diehards. It would have been more accurate to say that this event was conceptualized for dedicated S2000 fans, NSX owners, and FK8 enthusiasts. But you can’t brand stuff that way or else it wouldn’t have that type of grandeur that you want when an event is hosted at Honda’s facility. Again, I get it.
I can honestly say that I know plenty of S2000-owners who aren’t Honda diehards. They just own S2000s and their friends own S2000s. Same with many who own NSXs. These are the same types of enthusiasts who generally look down on any other Honda-owner who doesn’t drive an S2000 or NSX. Many of you will understand what I’m saying, those who don’t mess with Hondas probably wouldn’t. But there is generally is an unspoken divide there. These are the types of events that fuel that sentiment. They are the types to think of Civic/Integra owners as the “ghetto kids”, not realizing that the Honda enthusiast community is built on the backs of Civic and Integra people…
Obviously not all S2000/NSX owners are like that. I know plenty who just love cars. But there are some “you can’t sit with us” types that make it unbearable to be around. It’s kind of the feeling you get when you’re at this event. Though its advertised as a “Honda Homecoming”, it’s not for every Honda aficionado. Far from it. To be fair to those who attended, it is a private event and space is limited, but the way they sell it just sort of leaves a bad taste in your mouth. I feel like most would have that feeling that you’re on the outside looking in.
It would be really cool to be at the Honda facility to enjoy these cars with fellow Honda enthusiasts, to be able to go on the tour of their museum, meet the engineers behind the cars. That’s so cool—but you’re not invited.
You shouldn’t feel shitty about it, however. It’s probably not purely the intentions of the organizer to prevent anyone else from coming. Well, it definitely is to a certain extent. But I digress. It’s just a little too risky when it comes to hosting an event with the cooperation of Honda of America. It’s like having a social event with a major brand in hopes of building your reputation and you’re worried your dumbass friend is gonna come and say or do something stupid. If you didn’t attend this event, you’re the dumbass friend, lol. Again, it’s not lost on me why this wasn’t a public event. I would be worried some idiot would come do a burnout in front of the new NSX Type-S too. Or start revving right in front of a Honda executive. Imagine someone with an Itasha livery featuring an anime girl with some big ass titties just posted right in front of the Honda office, lol. That’s hilarious but no, please don’t do that ever.
I felt like the dumbass friend just being there because I had no idea why I was given a VIP pass, and I’m sure they probably regret giving me one now. The trade-off for me running my mouth is they’ll get some good photos out of it. Is it worth it? Probably not, lol. I am just at an age now where I appreciate transparency and I see things for what they are, so I feel the need to address them. It was probably an insane amount of work organizing this whole thing. From what I heard this was the last one they’ll ever do because it was so much work leading up to it, and I can appreciate that. But it was also probably quite a bit of unnecessary work by someone who enjoys micro-managing everything and constantly wanting to be in control.
Take it from someone who would rather do everything themselves to make sure things are done they way they want them to be done. I am also a psycho when it comes to stuff like that.
I just would have done things differently. If it was truly an event for diehard Honda enthusiasts, I would have taken the steps to make sure I could have involved more diehard Honda owners. You could probably screen certain cars and people to make sure they wouldn’t do anything stupid. Plenty of Civic and Integra owners are older people who wouldn’t even think to act up at Honda’s corporate office. Yes, Prelude and Accord people are in this conversation as well. Their inclusion would have made this event so much better and it would have shined a brighter light onto the community to the people upstairs at corporate. It’s just very obvious that there wasn’t an attempt to do so because it didn’t matter. This wasn’t really for the Honda community as a whole, though it is promoted in such a way that would lead you to believe that. Instead of “Honda Homecoming”, it should be called “S2K Homecoming: Championship Edition” like when Street Fighter tried to sell you another game but they only include four new characters—but also without Ryu and Ken. Because the main characters are obviously missing, you know what I mean?
Perhaps the secrecy around the event is necessary because you’ll be left with a “I love Hondas but fuck me, right?” feeling after you find out about it.
I am probably coming off like a supreme dickhead for writing all this down. This is what happens after I take a vacation and want to start writing again. It’s never a good idea, especially when it comes to diplomacy. Hondapro Jason is gonna get so much shit for extending the invite to me. If it turns out that it isn’t true that this was the last ever, I highly doubt I would be provided with another opportunity to go again. I’m just not the type to say the right thing just to say the right thing. The only reason I’m even saying all this is because I care about what I do and I’m always trying to give back to a community that has provided me very much with a decently comfortable life.
With that being said, this was an incredibly well-organized event. The backdrop is amazing obviously because it’s at Honda’s facility and everything was executed very, very well. It comes off a little crazy but you need that type of crazy for something like this. Like, not only do you need to own an S2000, CTR, ITR, or NSX, to register you have to provide a valid VIN and show identification. And then there are specifically timed “parades” sorted by color of the vehicles to come into the meet. It’s quite extravagant. I can appreciate it through and through because it isn’t easy to do something like this. The execution was almost surgical in how precise everything had to be. I love the idea of it. But the exclusivity of it all just leaves you wanting more. But to have more, they’d have to sacrifice some of that precision for the sake of inclusion and I don’t think they were willing to do that because inclusion isn’t what they were after.
At some points while reading all of this, some of you will probably say, “well, the meets you organize are the same way. Like, you have to be ‘in the know’ to attend your stuff. So what’s the difference? Aren’t you being hypocritical?” Perhaps, but I’m not trying to sell anyone an idea that I’m including everyone. I’m also not making money hosting small meets or providing anything of cost. I organize meets for people that know about The Chronicles and that follow my journey/body of work. I stay in my own lane and remain a very niche ‘thing’. It’s not for people that want to be at something for the sake of being at something. Does that make sense? I think that what Honda Homecoming is after is sort of the same thing. It just gets murky to some when a particular automotive manufacturer is involved and the terminology offers a perception of inclusivity. If it was really Honda’s flagship vehicle returning to the motherland, you’d see a bunch of Accords driving around color-coordinated because that has been the real cash cow for the brand, lol. Who wants that? Sorry Accord people, I was once one of you and I don’t even want that.
Again, transparency in important.
This is all too long. To summarize;
- Honda Homecoming 2021 was a great, incredibly well-organized event.
- It’s not all-inclusive. Only specific models of Hondas are allowed.
- If you own an S2000, an NSX, or an FK8 CTR, this is probably for you.
- If you own anything else, please kindly fuck-off.
- What it actually is in reality is the original S2K Homecoming events, just expanded to incorporate the NSX, which was celebrating 30 years, and the return of the Type R with the inclusion of the FK8 chassis.
- The organizer of the event took the time to put this all together with great accuracy and hard work. Despite what some of us will think about its exclusivity and lack of major Honda representation, at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter. He can do whatever he wants with his time, it is his event, Honda of America supports it and all we can do is accept it or move along.
I think it’s good that we have such a diverse community, where we can have events like this that open-up a forum for discussion. I’ve never met Mike T., who is the mastermind behind this event, and from what I’ve heard through mutual parties, he seems to have a bit of a polarizing personality.
Some would probably say the same about me.
This is all just an opinion from someone who shouldn’t have been there in the first place. And for them allowing me to witness it, despite my lack of diplomacy, I extend a very sincere debt of gratitude to Mike from Honda Homecoming and even more so to Hondapro Jason for even thinking about me in the first place. Hopefully neither has any regrets about it. If this was the final event, I’d say it went quite perfectly and according to plan. It is undoubtedly one that I’ll remember.
Enjoy the photos…
I really didn’t know what to expect when I pulled-up that morning, but was delighted to see my friends from Spoon Sports USA. They had a whole display set-up for the vendor section of the event and provided me with a home base to leave my camera gear while I explored…
It’s been a while since I’ve seen the Spoon USA Fit, which was built for a SEMA event and spent a lot of time after that parked inside of a Honda dealership…
I knew so little about the event that I didn’t even know that there would be vendors there. I thought it was just a group of S2000s from what people had told me, so it was cool to see cars like the Science of Speed “Dream Project” NSX in-person finally…
Another familiar build came in the form of Jose Mejia’s FK8 CTR. I didn’t expect Jose to wake-up that early for a ‘car show’ since he’s a dedicated track guy, so this event must have been a big deal…
And then I walked-up to the CTR only to realize that Jose wasn’t even there. He had somehow tricked Angel from Art of Attack into bringing his car and Jose was nowhere to be found the entire day…
Front angle of the Science of Speed NC1 with its massive gold Advan GT Premium wheels in gold…
Another reason why I didn’t think I’d see Jose’s CTR there was because Global Time Attack at Long Beach was the following weekend so I thought they’d be prepping for it…
Being at this private event allowed me to finally see the new Acura NSX Type-S in-person and it looks way better than I thought it would. The new exterior changes to the front and rear give the whole car a much more different appeal…
I had to do a double take when I saw a set of Mugen MF10 wheels on an FK8 Civic Type R. I knew these wheels were in the works but didn’t know that they were finished already. Who knew we’d one day see a set of 18-inch MF10 wheels?…
Spoon Sports USA S2000 demo vehicles with the prototype Shredder top…
Here are a couple more photos of the NSX Type-S before everyone showed-up. A day after this, it was announced that Acura had sold all of its allotments of the Type-S, meaning that all 300 are now spoken-for…
This one is likely a corporate vehicle and won’t be going anywhere any time soon except to press events…
Had to get a shot of the car with the Honda offices in the background…
Specific cars that were designated for a special VIP area of the event where asked to line-up so they could do a parade entrance into Honda Homecoming once everyone arrived from the morning caravan…
Mark Munoz’s Civic was the only E-AT in attendance and one of the few non-FK8 Civics at this event. He was there because he was provided with a spot in the as-mentioned VIP area by a friend…
I believe there are currently just two sets of these new 5×120 FK8-spec Mugen MF10 wheels out in North America right now, both sets being mounted on an FK8 at this event. What better place to debut the wheel than at an event which featured the new Civic Type R…
At around 9 AM, the flood of S2000s began to cruise into the Honda facility in Torrance, starting with the Silverstone Metallic owners. Each group of cars that came in were all color-coordinated and directed into different areas of the facility to be parked…
With the groups all color-coordinated, I began to shoot only specific ones that stood-out to me based on their visual modifications…
The “Spirit of Motorsport” AP1 S2000…
This AP2 had a nice aero package featuring a Sorcery front, Voltex sides, Voltex over-fenders, Voltex rear wing, and more…
Another interesting aspect of this event was seeing so many of the Honda Access 20th Anniversary front bumpers. I didn’t think that these would be popular since its design is definitely unlike any other but S2000 guys probably love them…
After the silver group came in, it was time for one of the most popular colors to come in, the Spa Yellow group…
Some DC2 ITRs started coming as well. Some modded and some just incredibly well-kept like this white one…
DSR Andy came down from the Bay Area in his black DC2 Type R on bronze Mugen MF10 wheels…
A Phoenix Yellow ITR which remained relatively stock-looking just lowered and riding on Mugen MF10…
After about 10 of them came in, I wondered if there was supposed to be more but DSR Andy told me a lot of people either didn’t come or they couldn’t make it since the event had been rescheduled a couple times…
The FK8s came after the S2000s and it was a bit alarming to see so many of them in one place…
They too were color-coordinated in the order of arrival. Being that there aren’t nearly as many exterior options for this chassis compared to the S2000, it became difficult to sort-out which CTR was which. They all just blended together after a while…
Eventually I noticed that the FK8s that didn’t have OEM wings were separated and parked in their own section. I heard the volunteers pointing out which ones had ‘big wings’ to one another so they could direct them to their own area…
Every car that came into the facility via the early morning scheduled caravans were instructed to have event-specific plate frames and decals on their vehicles.
It was like a school field trip where you were tagged so they wouldn’t lose you…
The most popular color of the FK8 CTR chassis would definitely be the classic Championship White
Many of them had Volk TE37 wheels…
Some had TEs and a Mugen rear wing…
This one had a Mugen front lip, sides, rear wing, and mirror caps…
This guy seemed happy to see me, unless he was chucking the deuce at someone else, which would make this very awkward…
It’s been a minute since I’ve seen a Team Iczer decal on a car…
Cool to see the name around since it was one of the first car clubs that I recognized from San Diego when I first started getting into cars…
The number of Champ White FK8s coming in just seemed endless…
Kevin Mach’s CTR with white TEs up front and CEs in the rear…
Some high-polished TEs and good ride height helped to set this one apart from the crowd…
Of all the rear wings currently out for the FK8 right now, I gotta say, the Mugen one is probably my favorite since it flows so well with the car and has a bit of an ode to the Integra Mugen Gen II…
Another incredibly popular color for the S2000, Formula Red, was next in line for staging…
CR front lip on this one paired with Almighty Grey Desmond EVOs…
The ASM and ASM-styled fronts were plentiful on S2000s at this event…
One of my favorites from the day was Edgar Mendoza’s NFR Mugen SS AP1 paired with Mugen MF10 wheels and signature teal Project Mu brakes…
Soon after that, the Grand Prix Whites rolled-in…
I love the Mugen SS aero package so you’ll find me taking photos of them often. This one also has the Mugen hard-top…
Voltex aero is yet another popular choice for the AP2 so I was certain I’d see plenty of them…
The owner of this one choice a full custom Repsol livery and bronze Volk CEs…
Great ride height and wheel/tire fitment on this GPW S2000 with Voltex face. It was so good that I had to snap two photos…
Jonathan Liu’s custom widebody work and Sorcery front helped set him apart from the plethora of white S2000s…
ASM front, hood and rear over fenders on this AP2…
Once the GPW S2Ks were parked, the NSXs arrived. The first group being the Formula Reds…
Since there weren’t too many of the NC1 NSXs, they also came in with the color groups designated for the original NSX…
That’s a whole lot of reading and photos so I’ll stop here. The photos became a bit more diverse in Part 2 where I get some shots of the cars after they are parked and I cover more of what I saw in the vendor area. Again, everything stated is my opinion and mine alone. I appreciate what this event is, for what it is. Don’t let me words detract from the effort that was put into it. I hope you guys enjoy the content either way, thanks for looking!…