Every year around this time, everything seems to happen all at once. We go from not having any major car events to having them back-to-back. Sometimes events even overlap. After I got back from Japan, I thought things would be slow so I can catch-up on life but then I wake-up and it’s already time for Wekfest San Jose. This summer season just zooms by and at a blink of an eye, it’s already fall. I think it felt especially sudden this year because our San Jose event didn’t happen until much later in 2021. It hasn’t even been a calendar year and here we are again at the biggest Wekfest show of the season. Should I even mention that Wekfest Los Angeles is this weekend?? Talk about a time crunch. This year was especially stressful because Kristian and I were busy putting a car together…

We purchased a Toyota GR86 back in January to help build the Battlecraft brand and our goal was to have the car together by the summer. Delivery of the GR86 didn’t even happen until March and the car just sat for a few months while we collected parts. I left to Japan to gather parts as well and the car remained completely stock minus an A’PEXi N1-X exhaust until just three weeks ago. I messaged Yasu one night and literally asked him to paint our Exceed kit and ship it immediately so we could debut the GR at Wekfest San Jose. We felt it was important to have the car out at both San Jose and Los Angeles Wekfests because those are two of the biggest shows of the year. We wanted eyes on the new Exceed aero kit since it was the first in the U.S. Now that Battlecraft is the exclusive distributor of Exceed Japan products here in the U.S., having eyes on both brands was key. Yasu was super helpful in facilitating the development of our GR86 and had the kit shipped to our door in just four days time! All the other stuff that we had collected for the car was already sitting here at the shop so Kristian and I essentially put this whole entire car together in less than a week. When we stood back and looked at the GR86 once it was ‘finished’, I honestly didn’t want to drive it to San Jose because I didn’t want to risk fucking the car up before Los Angeles. It came out exactly how I envisioned it. We just didn’t have time to do the PPF to protect the front end from rock chips and debris. I would say that 30% of me was against driving the car 6-hours to San Jose while the other 70% reminded me that this build was a business decision so we best not waste any opportunities. So I drove it. Fuck it. Kristian had already planned to go to a wedding in Canada that same weekend so he was unable to make the trip, otherwise I’d totally have tried to convince him to go. That way I could blame him if the car got fucked-up, lol. But alas, the responsibility was on me to pucker-up my butthole to make sure the GR86 came home un-fucked after the 700+ mile journey to and from San Jose…

Not a spoiler alert since I hope many of you have already seen the Vlog, but I made it just fine. The car came back with just some adhesive and light scratches from the temporary protection film I used. Overall, the drive was actually pretty enjoyable. The rear rubbed a little bit since we hadn’t tested it much after we trimmed the quarter panels and really had no idea how the new Exceed SSD coilovers would feel. There just wasn’t any time to test drive it. As it turns out, Kristian and I actually know what we are doing. We just lacked the confidence since we hadn’t put a car together in a while. I would say that this drive was the least sketchiest drive I’ve ever made for a car show long-distance. Would I do it again? I don’t know, lol… I’m older now and don’t have the energy to devote to these types of drives…

Wekfest San Jose is one of those shows that I never have to worry about. It’s always good. It’s the original and the Bay Area is the home of Wekfest so it just feels different than any other stop. We call it the ‘Super Show’ because that is how we view it internally. It is our ‘Super Bowl’, if you will. I’ll elaborate more on the show in the next parts because I feel like I’m giving you guys way too much to read already. You’ll have a good idea what the show is like after seeing just this first batch of photos. The quality is high and the variety is plentiful. Enjoy…

Since I work the Wekfest events, I was privileged with the opportunity to be the first car inside the venue. Unfortunately, I completely forgot I was bringing my car to a car show which requires a 1/4 tank of gas so I ended-up having to leave to burn gas. It’s funny because I always laugh at people that forget about the gas rule but somehow ironically forgot when it came time for me to do the same…

Junior Ngim’s DB2 Integra GS-R on classic Mugen M7 wheels representing ATS Garage making his way into the building…

Euros were very well-represented this year, as you’ll see a little later, with more BMWs and Porsches that I think I’ve ever seen at a Wekfest event…

Rallye Red Honda FK8 Civic Type R with Mugen aero, a Voltex GT wing, and bronze Mugen MF10 wheels…

BMW M2 on BBS RIA with front and rear StopTech brake upgrades…

A lot of people still aren’t sold on the new G80 BMW M3s yet but I don’t know, I kinda like them. Or let’s just say they have grown on me. I think it presents a very aggressive feel, especially when you combine it with Vorsteiner VRS front spoiler and carbon fiber Motorsport Grille. You can even see the two intake filters through the carbon kidney grilles. Add some 3-piece BBS LM-R wheels and you got yourself a pretty sick G80…

Cary’s E30 BMW coupe on BBS wheels and what looks to be a rare Zender front spoiler…

Jedh Wholegood’s BMW M3 was one of my favorites this year because of his parts selection and how his build is completely dedicated to that Japanese-tuned Euro feel…

The front lip comes from a shop called Laptorr in Kyoto, the sides are from 3DDesign in Yokohama, with both the rear wing and rear diffuser coming from Varis in Kanagawa. Should also mention that the car sits on Yokohama Advan GT wheels as well…

PSM Dynamic widebody BMW M6 Gran Coupe fully aired-out while waiting in line during roll-in…

Dan Lee’s Rauh Welt Begriff Porsche 993 “Skull Leader” complete with RWB wheels…

Jimmy’s “street cup” style 991 GT3RS getting a little bit of 3-wheel motion as it angled into the driveway of the San Jose McEnery Convention Center…

Riko casually cruising by after unloading his AE86 Levin off of the trailer…

Emil Orencia’s Varis widebody Subaru WRX STI paired with a Voltex GT wing and Rays Volk TE37V SL wheels…

Sheldon Hall’s ’92 Acura NSX running Wings West front lip, Wings West sides, Gruppe M over fenders, APR GTC-300 spoiler, Seibon carbon hood and gold-faced BBS LM wheels…

This BMW E30 coupe was beautiful running a rare complete MTechnic or “Mtech 2” aero kit and Jongbloed 305 Aero wheels…

Nismo-styled BNR32 Skyline GT-R on concave-face Volk TE37 wheels and what looks to be a Top Secret G-Force hood…

A Phoenix Yellow FK8 Type R LE running a variety of APR aero add-ons and bronze Volk TE37SL…

Thomson from System Motorsports brought-out his beautifully-executed Porsche 997 GT3RS on BBS E88 wheels…

Christian Dumlao’s black Civic hatchback show/race build rocking the familiar “SAN JOSE” front banner that he once had on his LS-powered fox-body Mustang drag car. This Civic always looks amazing, especially considering the car is black and he tracks it. For this event, he switched things up a bit by having a custom-painted valve cover, gray-coated engine components, and Spoon Sports SW388 wheels…

Another look at the System Motorsports 997, showing a perfect example of how ride height and wheel selection can make or break a build. This thing just sits perfectly…

Pulling-up right behind Thomson was Aidan’s Signal Yellow 991.2 GT3 on Yokohama Advan GT Premium wheels with some Manthey Racing components added-on…

Yet another great example of simple execution with proper wheel and ride height combo…

Can’t go wrong with the Sergeant front bumper paired with any lip but the Exceed lip flows best. Plenty of bias in that statement of course, lol…

The Darkside Racing Phoenix Yellow Civic Type R LE adorned in full Mugen aero components and bronze Mugen MF10…

Love the way the Mugen rear wing looks on the FK8. The bronze and yellow pair nicely also…

I don’t get too many shots of the rear of the DSR Civic but here’s a look at the custom center bumper-exit exhaust…

Riko eventually made his way back around to get in line to roll-in…

He probably had to pop the door open while waiting because it was a cool 90 degrees that afternoon. With the door propped you can see the fabrication work within and just how bare the AE86 is…

Rare to see a complete Junction Produce Lexus GS these days but every now and then, you’ll see one that is executed well at a car show. These are probably kept inside and maintained seeing as how few are building luxury Japanese cars this way in these times…

This custom painted AP1 S2000 wore complete Spoon Sports S-Tai aero, complete with Mooncraft hard top and all, paired with Volk Racing ZE40 wheels…

Darren Valle Jr.’s wrapped F80 BMW M3 sedan rocking a fat 305-wide Mickey Thompson ET Street S/S tire wrapped around a Weld Racing wheel in the rear…

Devin Hui from Speed Element cruised to Wekfest San Jose in the Bains Tuning R34 Skyline GTR V-Spec-II Nür on Volk Racing 21C…

Crazy to see such a mint V-Spec-II Nür on the streets of San Jose…

Don’t let the “Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid” graphic distract you from the fact that this Civic Type R was running Varis Arising-I aero…

Sam Cao from Garage43’s Itasha-styled Porsche 991 GT3RS…

Sam also owns this Lamborghini Huracan STO on HRE RC103 wheels…

Back down the ramp on the streets of San Jose was this JDM FD2 CTR-converted Civic SI running rarely-seen Seeker Japan Ultimate front widebody aero and Advan Racing wheels…

Full Voltex widebody Subaru WRX STI running front and rear Alcon big brakes behind Volk Racing TE37 wheels…

Alvin Tu’s Garage Vary ND MX-5 Miata bagged and sitting on Work Meister M1 wheels. Rear wing looks to be 326power…

Back inside I caught a glimpse of Andrew Eng’s FK8 Type R and LS-swapped FD RX-7…

Also got another look at the Rallye Red CTR from earlier with the Mugen aero package and Voltex wing…

Yellow FD RX-7 running a Fujita Engineering front with Ridox-style carbon sides up front and Leg Motorsport carbon rear side deflectors. Front fenders also look to be FEED with an additional vent added up top…

Fender-rolling specialist Anthony Lezada aka “therubdoctor” and his NA2 NSX…

A Honda Beat owner using all 656cc of his engine to get up the ramp…

Diego and Mono with their BMW 2002s enjoying the sun while waiting to get staged…

Closing-out Part 1 of this series with a rolling shot of the ice cream man passing through…

I actually shot way more than I expected so this series is actually going to be three-parts in total. Stay tuned for much more Wekfest San Jose coverage! Thanks for looking…