Wekfest Seattle came outta nowhere this year it seems. It hasn’t even been a year yet since we last had an event in the Pacific Northwest but due to scheduling and a venue change, there wasn’t much of a choice than to come back a little earlier than expected. I didn’t mind though. For me, returning from a month-long stay in Japan left me with a bit of a hangover effect. I was so used to seeing so much cool shit there that I was worried it would leave me a bit jaded when I came back to the U.S. Having the first Wekfest event of the year in Seattle worked-out perfectly for me because this area always churns out some high-quality car builds. Obviously it wasn’t Japan, but hell, the PNW knows what they’re doing so I was ready to get back on the road to see some cars…

Another great thing about this trip was that it fell on July 4th weekend, which for us Americans, is a big holiday. This allowed me to hang out with friends and we even spent an extra day up in the Northwest. The weather was great, the sun didn’t set until like 9:30 PM, and we ate like there was no tomorrow. It was a blast. The only downside was that I wished I had more time at the show to walk around. This year’s event was a busy one. I mean, they’re all busy, but being that it was a holiday weekend, some of the regulars from Wekfest had family plans to attend to so we were short-handed staff-wise. I had to pick up some of the slack on the judging side of the show as well as having to MC the entire event. That didn’t leave me with a whole lot of time to shoot and do video but I still managed. I had enough to put a Vlog episode together but there was definitely a decrease in photos. That seems to be an ongoing theme these days since the events have become so busy the last few years but I gotta sacrifice somewhere to ensure that the show itself goes smoothly. Instead of trying to get everything, I devoted whatever free time I had into covering the cars that REALLY stood-out to me. In-between shooting these cars in detail, I squeezed-in whatever else caught my eye as I was walking back and forth…

You’ll see some of that here with purposeful detail shots of some builds which were my favorites this year. I’ll talk about the new venue and more of the show in Part 2. I gotta go run and get dinner so enjoy!…

Austin from Never Content’s “UFO” FD3S RX-7 running Fujita Engineering aero and white, concave, Advan GT wheels…

An R32 Skyline GT-R from Intec Racing pulling-up on Advan Racing TCIII wheels…

Austin’s white 180SX Type-X converted RPS13 on Rays Gram Lights 57CR…

A Graphite Gray Pearl Lexus IS300 sedan running a Modellista Qualitat front bumper, Qualitat sides, Vertex rear lip, and Vertex vented fenders. Wheels are the popular, and classic, Blitz Type 03…

Vinnie Nguyen’s stock-body NA1 NSX on double-staggered concave Volk TE37…

As I looked over the bridge of the Seattle Convention Center, I was able to see the fleet from Hiro’s Hotrods rolling towards the entrance…

Shows like this present a rare occurrence when you can see cars just cruising around without hoods. It’s not exactly the most “legal” but it definitely makes it easier to display a car without having to look for a place to store your hood for a few hours…

Eventually I made my way down to the street to try to get some shots of the cars pulling into the Convention Center and came across Mark Wang’s Ferrari 550 ripping through. One of the rare times you’ll see this amazing car on the streets of Seattle…

Auston Corbett’s newly-completed Honda EF8 CR-X SiR on 16-inch bronze TEs. As you can see, there’s quite a bit going on in the engine bay and I’ll show you guys more of it in detail in Part 2…

Austin Hironaka’s K24 supercharged Honda del Sol, one of the staples of the Pacific Northwest over the last few years, making an appearance…

There was a steady downpour throughout the morning which meant that it was pretty vital to get the cars inside as soon as possible…

Mark Wang’s Ferrari F430 Scuderia sitting on BBS forged wheels with a Kline Innovation exhaust…

This father/son duo made the trek all the way from Winnipeg, Manitoba for Wekfest in this Acura Integra that they’ve owned since it was brand new from the dealership. The car is a labor of love, still with its meticulously cared for original paint, as well as an assortment of rare Mugen pieces…

One of the builds that I was most excited to finally see in-person was this Ferrari 550 Maranello originally built by Garage Saurus in Japan before it was imported to Canada. The Ferrari is now owned by Mark Wang, who has left the build mostly unchanged from how it was assembled in Japan…

If there was one car that I took the most photos of on this trip, it would definitely be this Garage Saurus Ferrari, simply because it’s not a car I’ll encounter very often. It’s such a unique piece of Japanese tuning history so I took every opportunity I could to capture it…

Jeff Woodruff from Get Nuts Lab’s Nissan S15 Silvia which came together about a year ago. It features an all-black exterior but you can see the hints of green within which is a signature look for drift-spec builds coming from the guys at Get Nuts Lab…

The rain started to come down pretty hard at this point during the morning. Combined with the green underglow, the downpour helped to give off a very dramatic vibe…

The S15 features a 2F Performance Super Doof aero kit with Origin Type 3 fenders and Craftsquare mirrors…

If you’re wondering what the wheels are, they’re actually Rays-produced “Nismo 57CR Clubsport” wheels which are limited-production versions of the Gram Lights 57CR….

The Garage Saurus 550 features a full kit from them which includes the front bumper, sideskirts, rear bumper, and GT wing. The carbon hood and flares are also from Garage Saurus but are actually one-off pieces made just for this build…

I thoroughly enjoy the idea of Japanese-tuned Euros and exotics so seeing this car finally was a real joy. Though you might think that this is a one-off and there aren’t any else like it, that’s sort of true. This one in particular with the flares and hood are 1/1, but there are actually a number of other 550 Maranellos built by Garage Saurus running this aero kit in other parts of the world…

This was probably one of my favorite photos from the day. Here you can see just how much presence the Saurus 550 has with its low posture, widened exterior, and concave Advan GT wheels…

The best thing about Wekfest Seattle this year was that the border is finally back open again which meant that our friends in Canada could make their return…

That meant that we would have the opportunity to see some cars we don’t normally encounter like this BNR34 GT-R Skyline…

I didn’t get too close of a look at this R34. At a quick glance, it looked like it had 19-inch TE37s paired with some Nismo aero pieces…

Another great thing about having the Canadians in town was the surge of Honda Fit builds that showed-up. I don’t know what is in the water up there but these Canadians sure love their Honda Fits. This GD Fit, owned by Daniel Yeh, featured a J’s Racing/Voltex 3D GT wing, bronze Volk TE37 Sonic wheels, a custom front splitter, and is turbocharged as well!…

The front fenders are J’s Racing GT wide fenders but for whatever reason, Daniel didn’t have the fender extensions on the bumper attached…

Speaking of Canadian Fits, the guys from Yume Sports showed-up in Seattle with a real deal Honda Fit “GT2” time attack build from J’s Racing. This car was actually shipped over to North America and currently is being raced by the guys from Yume Sports. Not only was the J’s Fit there, but also the president of J’s Racing, Hisaaki Murakami…

It looked like the battery had died so the guys from Yume Sports unloaded the Fit GT2 off the trailer, pushed it under an awning to get away from the rain before gathering up all their strength to push it down the ramp for a jump start…

Nothing a little bit of teamwork can’t solve…

Eventually the Fit GT2 did start-up and they were able to drive it into the building for the show…

Randy Olivarez’s S2000 from Team Menace with black Desmond Regamaster EVO wheels, a JDP rear diffuser, and OEM CR front lip…

A clean PS13 Silvia coupe with custom LED taillights…

A curious kid stuck his head out of this import S150 Crown Royal Saloon to get a peek at some cars in line…

Minh’s E46 M3 coupe from Team Overtake was looking great as usual…

Would it be fair to add the BBS E88 to the list of all-time wheels that look great on just about any car?….

Luckee Bounvassaana’s JDM-face Integra running the not-too-often-seen, boxy, Rando Sports aero kit. The kit is so bulky that it definitely needs a wing to even out the car and not make it so bottom-heavy…

Thomas Strom showed-up with his incredible ’97 Integra Type R build with some fresh upgrades…

He now has the rare Mugen front half-lip, Mugen sides, Mugen Gen. II wing, and First Molding hood to complete the exterior…

A quick look under the OEM rear bumper revealed a Mugen Sports Muffler…

This Civic hatchback looks relatively simple but is actually a full EK9 Civic Type R conversion inside and out…

I finally made my way into the building to get some photos and the first car I hit was Mark Wang’s Garage Saurus Ferrari 550. It was placed in a completely different area from other cars as there was a “Featured Car” display placed at the entrance of the show…

These front over fenders from Garage Saurus actually require the sideskirts to be modified to accommodate them…

The best-looking part of the front-engine 550 is the rear, in my opinion anyway, and the rear bumper and over fenders adds so much more aggressive styling to the factory lines of the Ferrari…

Thomas Hatcher showing some American spirit on 4th of July weekend in his turbocharged Trailblazer SS on Volk ZE40s…

I’m glad that Jer is so willing to take chances on the styling of his Civic but I was overjoyed to see his EG back with the OEM front and Spoon Sports lip. The Arios front just wasn’t doing it for me and made the car so front-heavy. Now it looks more cohesive with a classic look especially paired with bronze Mugen MF10 wheels…

He pulled-up this year stress-free with the Civic now running great with a fresh tune…

Brendan Taylor’s imported Nissan Stagea Autech Version 260RS. We rarely ever get to see these RB26-powered wagons here in the States so I always make sure to spend more time checking them out…

This AW11 Toyota MR-2 was one of the coolest builds in attendance at this year’s Wekfest Seattle, sporting a retro Fuji Film livery complete with color-themed SSR Type-C wheels…

Mak’s custom Sky Design widebody NSX with Science of Speed individual throttle bodies and Work Meister L1 wheels…

Kiko’s NSX followed, both running a center-feed intake scoop on their rear hatches…

It was cool to see Charles Wong’s R34 Skyline GT-R V-Spec with its full dry carbon fiber front end at the Yokohama wheels booth. The GT-R was actually down here in Southern California for a while after R’s Day but I was out of the country and unable to see it. Maybe some day I’ll have to go pay him a visit in Vancouver to see his collection…

Once Jeremiah cleaned-up his Civic, also parked in the “Featured Car” section, I was able to get some detail shots of it…

The engine bay has been cleaned-up, firewall studs shaved off, and resprayed to host a K24 swap. The yellow paint is contrasted well with the black accents and signature green hue from the XRP HS79 hoses…

Helping the 2.4L engine breathe are a set of Hayward Performance individual throttle bodies. This set-up with its current tune helps produce 276-horsepower with a solid 200lb-ft of torque…

A full-size CSF radiator is used to cool the K24 plumbed with -AN fittings and the as-mentioned XRP hoses…

Where the a battery tray once stood is an oil breather set-up which has been plumbed to the front-side of the K-series valve cover…

The interior looks rather subtle but includes some pretty unique bits like a Mugen steering wheel, Chronicles-edition Battlecraft knob, and custom tach which is integrated into the JDM cluster…

Bronze Mugen MF10 wheels with blue anodized center caps to pair with the signature blue Spoon Sports front brakes…

Cooper Boudia’s Integra hasn’t changed much at all in the last few years but that’s mainly due to the fact that he’s been busy operating C’s Customizing. It’s a small company started by Cooper himself which has started to make its footprint in the Honda community. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing him for years now and it’s great to see his growth. His display booths have been a highlight of the Wekfest Seattle events and a great example of how (and frankly why) you don’t need a foldable 10×10 tent to have a display…

The minimalist aesthetic extends not only to his display but originates from his well thought-out engine bay set-up…

The engine itself, if memory serves, is a B18C block paired with a B16A head. Accessories consist of Spoon Sports components, an ASC Speed Metal front strut bar, Koyorad radiator, and OEM air box with Spoon Sports filter…

The valve cover has been meticulously reconditioned in a wrinkle gray and the wire cover is a billet aluminum piece produced for his C’s Customizing brand….

There’s still some more to cover so I hope you guys return for more. This show offers some pretty fantastic builds so having just one portion of coverage doesn’t really do it justice. Come back next time and join us for Part 2! Thanks for looking!…