Tag: LA

Automotive by Narita Dogfight
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Close-Up: J’s Racing S2000 – Autocon LA

I usually like to entertain myself at car shows by scrutinizing each car that I pass by.  Obviously, you’ve seen from my past coverage of any car show, that I’m fairly particular in the cars I post.  This makes for a less comprehensive view of the event, but I’ve always done my best to keep the site to a specific niche, and not posting just for the sake of posting.  That being said, I like to pick a car at each show that I like the best, and give it the imaginary NDF award.  At last weekend’s Autocon show, it was this S2000 here which received such a pretentiously made-up honor of the NDF Choice.

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight
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Event: Autocon LA 2015 V.1

I had the strangest sensation of déjà vu when we pulled into the Pomona Fairplex parking lot this past Saturday morning to attend Autocon.  I don’t know if it was a combination of the weather, which mirrored the overcast skies at last April’s event, or the fact that I was with Yuta once again, or even the time of year, but I got it (much like the three cups of coffee I just drank have given me over-caffeinated body shakes right now; not even sure how I’m able to type this without error).

That sensation, though, reminded me of just how much I’ve come to enjoy Autocon over the past 5 years.

Continue reading Event: Autocon LA 2015 V.1
Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Event: Nisei Showoff 2012 V.2

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Since there’s not too much left, I’ll go ahead and finish the rest of the pictures in this post.  Like I mentioned before, the day just didn’t really unfold like a typical car show day for me, so I got very limited shots.  I think most of these are going to be from around 6-7 pm in the evening, just as the sun was setting behind the hi-rises of downtown LA.  This was also when a lot of the show cars were leaving, which made it nice to get some solitary shots of each.  I’m always a little urked by how close together they park some of the cars; making it almost impossible to get a decent picture of them.  Especially when you have a lot of open lot space, you can give each car another foot of room or so and it would be much better.  I’ve never organized a car show before though so what the hell do I know?  I’m sure there’s reasons for it.  In a way I’m kind of glad I didn’t take many pictures, but rather enjoyed walking around and taking a close look at the cars – which is something I don’t often do.  The lineup of Honda builds, organized by Joey Lee from The Chronicles, was pretty amazing.  So in that sense, I’m glad I got a better look at them, instead of just taking pictures.  I’m sure he’ll have massive coverage, so be sure to check it out.  Click past the break for more.

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Event: Nisei Showoff 2012 V.1

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Nisei Week in Downtown Los Angeles; a time to celebrate the Japanese-American culture in the best way; good food, great location, lots of celebration, people dressing up in Japanese attire and of course the Nisei Showoff.  I wasn’t actually planning on attending this year for a few reasons, but because I sort of volunteered my car to help Yuta out, I ended up attending later in the day.  I had work in the morning all the way in Orange County, so I didn’t actually end up getting to Little Tokyo until a little after 3.  I had been driving Allan’s Fit because he had to drive my car to LA that morning to set up at the Wheel Flip booth.  Actually a really good thing because his Fit has great air conditioning, and it was basically the hottest day of the year.  So due to my time constraints, I didn’t get as much coverage as I usually do – which I don’t really mind as I wasn’t planning on going anyway.  The cars I did really want to get shots of, the Loi-Spec Integras, all left a bit early so I never got the chance to photograph them.  Not too big of a deal though as I’m sure I’ll see them at a Raceline event in the near future.  It probably didn’t help that the first thing we did when we go into the show was…leave the show.  I couldn’t help it though; I was starving and in Little Tokyo – I needed ramen and a beer.  If I were to be completely honest, it seems like the turn out wasn’t anything like the previous years; the lot was not as full, and the crowds just weren’t there.  This could be for a few reasons; one being that the Infamous Hellaflush meet was being held on the same day in Long Beach, and the other being that this event seems to always be ‘up in the air’ as to whether or not there will be a next year.  Why the Hellaflush meet was planned for the same day is beyond me.  It seems almost suicide for the ‘scene’ to plan two huge events on the same day, 20 miles apart from one another and tear people between which to attend.  Anyway, most of my shots were from later in the day as people were getting ready to leave, so I apologize if it seems strange.  Click past the break for the first part of the coverage.

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Close-Up: Subaru BRZ Concept-STi

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So, I finally made the quick trip over to the LA Convention Center to attend the LA Auto Show.  While it’s always great to see each manufacturers take on the cutting edge of automotive engineering, I really came to see one car; the Subaru BRZ STi Concept.  Of all the automotive topics discussed recently, Toyota’s predecessor to the now iconic AE86 has been the hottest.  Will it be Toyota or Scion?  What is the actual model name?  Turbocharged or naturally aspirated?  Will it use Subaru’s flat Boxer engine?  For quite awhile, consumers and fans were left in the dark, but finally some light is being shed on the details.  Check out some more shots of Subaru’s new member of the STi family past the break.

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Event: Nisei Showoff 2011 v.2

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On my way back from LA tonight my friend Adolfo hit me up and told me to cruise by his house; he was installing his Tomei camshafts and wanted some company.  We’re driving down to San Diego tomorrow (errr, today, it’s 3:31AM) to get it tuned, and wanted everything ready before the morning.  I know that’s  a random introduction to the second part of my Nisei coverage, but it’s also my excuse for it being late.  If this post gets pretty boring halfway though, let me apologize ahead of time.  It’s late, I should be in bed already, and have a lot of pictures to post.  I’ll start off with this gorgeous S2000 that was part of The Chronicles GENERATIONS line-up.  Joe has some great coverage of it up already so be sure to check out his site.  Click past the break for more.

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Event: Nisei Showoff 2011 v.1

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C-h-e-c-k.  Check.  OK, my keyboard still works.  Holy shit I’m tired.  Two nights before Nisei I was stuck at work for 23 hours straight.  Yeah that’s right, 23.  I never fully recovered, so on the morning of the show I was hating my life.  I remember a fairly large line when gates opened last year, so this year I showed up pretty early and to my surprise come 11 o’clock, there was only about 15 people behind me.  I guess it must have picked up throughout the day though because people were saying the turnout was good.  I had stuff to do in Westwood a little past 1 o’clock so I figured I had around 2 hours to take care of business; Wakayama Ramen lunch included.  Click past the break for part one of however many Nisei posts I feel like making out of the 400 pictures I took.

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Feature: Anthony’s Downforce NSX

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Of all the cars at the Cerritos Honda car show last weekend, I think I liked this NSX the most.  I spotted it early on and got to snap some shots before the crowds came.  It’s ridiculously clean, and although only has a handful of mods, they all flow together perfectly.  As I was wrapping my visit up, I was lucky enough to run into the owner; Anthony.  He’s a nice, laid back guy, and I’m glad I could talk to him for a short while.  I got some more info on the NSX, and he was kind enough to let me post up a little feature here.  Enjoy the shots!

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Automotive by Narita Dogfight

Event: Nisei Showoff 2010 V.1


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As you can imagine, summer days in Los Angeles can get pretty hot; and the day of the 10th annual Nisei week car show was no exception.  I have to say I was pretty surprised when I heard the announcement that this show would make it to it’s 10th year.  In 2009 it had been slated off due to real estate issues, and development was supposed to start on the old parking lot the show takes place on.  However, the car gods once again blessed us with one more year of show stopping, automotive eye candy.

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