Seeing as he lives all the way down in Kyushu, I consider myself lucky to have caught Nozaki and his FD at Fuji during Seven’s Day. I didn’t get the opportunity to see him at Autopolis Super Lap and was excited to see the build up close.
Tag: Show
Event: The Return to Makuhari – Tokyo Auto Salon 2016 V.3
This week has flown by and I really haven’t gotten a chance to just sit down uninterrupted to edit and write. All last week I was in Tucson for work, and have been using this week to kind of catch up. I took the little free time I did have to spend at the shop working on the new motor and to start fabricating my dashboard. I don’t quite have all the parts collected to finish the head yet, so I should be concentrating on other areas of the car, time permitting. I have some work scheduled for it mid-February, and hoping to have a few open items finished by the end of the month. I’ve also been working to restock the site store by, and wrap up the new shirt design – mostly by way of email correspondence! We should have a few announcements coming within the next week or so. In the meantime, I managed to finish the edits from Tokyo Auto Salon and have one final post for you – check it out below.
Event: The Return to Makuhari – Tokyo Auto Salon 2016 V.2
I don’t want my last post on TAS to be misconstrued in any way. I started thinking about it after someone had commented on the Facebook page about it. I’m not trying to downplay TAS in anyway, it’s a great event. In fact, many people from all over the world plan their trip to Japan around that show. I am not in Japan as often as I used to be, and that means choosing dates wisely. It’s come to the point where the amount of opportunities I have outweigh the time I have to take advantage of them; and that’s something I am very grateful for. I’ve worked hard over the past years to put myself in that position, and am thankful for the friends that helped along the way. It would be different if I could devote 100% of my time to the site, but I’m just not in a place where I can make that a reality right now. I have a self-defined prerogative to share with you up to date information and coverage of what’s happening in Japanese Time Attack events, so naturally those are the events I align myself with. I’m glad this time I was able to do both, as there was a lot of neat stuff at TAS this year. I was especially excited about the handful of Super GT unveilings. If you have the opportunity to go I would highly encourage you to do so, and not to get discouraged by any of my opinions I throw up on the site. I’d never want to unintentionally discourage anyone from doing what they’ve always wanted to do. With that said, let’s jump into the second round of my selective coverage from the halls of Makuhari Messe.
Event: The Return to Makuhari – Tokyo Auto Salon 2016 V.1
I certainly didn’t plan to attend TAS this year. In fact, It’s been 5 years since I’ve purposefully started avoiding it. If you asked me why I’d honestly have trouble explaining; it’s a massive undertaking that showcases some of Japan’s best builds…so what’s the deal? Even as I type that out I’m squinting at the screen, eyebrows furrowed, questioning myself. Ahhh…that’s right, it’s literally just a giant car show and frankly, car shows are just not my thing anymore. The first TAS I went to was in 2009 – I went in 2010 too. 2011 was the first year I not only attended, but I covered it for the website as well; and it actually turned out to be my last. In 2014 my good friend Sekinei was well on-board with NDF and helped source some coverage of the show as he was attending anyway, and in 2015 I basically just didn’t post anything despite having coverage. I really just wanted to focus on our niche and at the time felt that anything else just contributed to a deviation of that (despite increasing traffic dramatically). Or maybe I just got jaded that it wasn’t a unique experience anymore; I’m not sure. So, you could say this year was sort of a fluke. I was going to be in Japan anyway to attend Evome on the 16th, and I had media passes for TAS on Friday so I wouldn’t really have to deal with hordes of testosterone crazed Japanese men in search of booth girls, and I literally had no plans on my calendar. Sounds good right? So why not return?
And who’d have guessed it – I had a really good time.
Event: Wekfest LA 2015 v.2
As the afternoon wore on, I kept making my way around the lines of cars with Kristian checking out the variety of cars at Wekfest. The show was coming to an end so we eventually made our way to the exit gates and watched everyone leave.
Event: Wekfest LA 2015 v.1
Whenever I archive photos from events that I attend for the site, I always save them by dates so when I go back to create and edit collections in Lightroom, I’m not scouring the thousands of files I have on my hard drive. That’s probably pretty common amongst most photographers, but in doing so it allows me to see just how many times I’ve attended a particular event. In this case, this was my fifth year attending Wekfest LA (amongst SF and New Jersey as well).
One Shot: URAS JZX100 Chaser – TAS Spotlight
Tokyo Auto Salon has always been hit or miss for me. I’ve attended for three years starting in 2009, but recently decided to stop going. For me, my time is better spent fulfilling the niche […]
Event: Wekfest LA 2014 – The Spice of Variety
The day of Wekfest LA 2014 came really fast; so fast in fact that I forgot to ask Ken about getting a media pass. I had been so busy with my day job that […]
Event: Chiba Overrun – Tokyo Auto Salon 2014 V.2
We’ll get right back into the TAS coverage, as you can see in this shot there is a lot of ground to cover under the giant ceilings of Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan. […]
Event: Chiba Overrun – Tokyo Auto Salon 2014 V.1
It’s usually about this time in January when the internet is flooded with content from Tokyo Auto Salon. For good reason; it’s one of the most look forward to events of the year for […]
Event: G-Edition Show – Fuji Speedway
Well, I bet you didn’t expect to see coverage from the Stancenation G-Edition show on this site…and neither did I! I know this coverage is more than late, but it’s been kind of a fun […]
Encounter: ガレージ マック Fuji
Last Sunday, since we were in the area for the Minkara meeting anyway, we decided to stop by the Stance Nation meet at Fuji Speedway. Park and Matt were there as well so it was […]
Encounter: Shoji Auto Soarer
Shoji Auto may not have the best website, but they sure built a good looking Z30…
Encounter: サツカワさんの32 – あ〜ぼ〜ムーン
This weekend Sekinei and friends stopped by Fuji Speedway to check out the SSJ show that was being held there. Not typically where you’d find us, but there are plenty of great cars to be […]
Event: Autocon LA 2013 v.2
We pick up about 30 minutes before the general admission gates were opened, and the flood of people in line started to pour into the grounds. As Yuta and I left the […]
Event: Autocon LA 2013 v.1
This weekend I took part in a car show that, over the past years, has been growing tremendously. Not just in size, but in organization as well. Putting on an event of this size isn’t […]
Event: Wekfest LA 2013 – Long Beach v.2
Continuing my walk around of the Queen Mary grounds where Wekfest was being held, we pick up around 1:30 pm when the crowds started to get bigger. The tour of shows that Weksos organizes has […]
Event: Wekfest LA 2013 – Long Beach v.1
I can honestly say the last few weeks, for me, have been the busiest I’ve experienced in a long time. Losing a week in Charlotte for work, playing catch up back at the office, and […]
Encounter: Varis ワイドボディ 86
The Varis 86 dropped by Tsukuba last weekend adorned in the new full widebody kit offered by Varis. This aero kit in it’s entirety is pretty amazing; much more aggressive than their Arising line. – […]
Close-Up: グロスファクトリー Silvia S14 – TAS 2013
This year’s Tokyo Auto Salon has left an impression on us all; how the Japanese tuning and show makings are consistently ahead of every one else never ceases to amaze me. Hundreds of 86’s…err, I […]
One Shot: Tokyo Auto Salon 2013 – K-BREAK Aristo
As you’re all aware of now Tokyo Auto Salon 2013 has come and gone this pass weekend and, as usual, there were a few gems that stood out amongst the halls of Makuhari Messe. My […]
Event: Wekfest East 2012 – New Jersey V.3
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Well, it’s about that time to start wrapping up the show coverage. I was planning on posting the third and final round of coverage this weekend, but ended up working, as well as temporarily acquiring a vinyl cutter. The latter occurrence took up the majority of my Monday so I wasn’t able to work on getting the post up. Oh well, I have some time tonight and will do just that. We pick up mid-afternoon when the show was really getting busy. The turnout was really, really good for it being the first East coast show that Weksos has put on. I was very happy for everyone involved at the success of the day. I don’t really have much else to say in this post that hasn’t already been stated. In this post we’ll take a closer look at some of the nice Hondas at the show, as well as a look at the roll-out. Again, you’ll be able to see the insane amount of variety that these Wekfest shows provide. Just click past the break and enjoy the rest of the shots.
Event: Wekfest East 2012 – New Jersey V.2
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It’s 2 am on Saturday morning, I don’t have work tomorrow (edit – I DO have work today), and I’m stacked up on caffeine; I may as well get started on posting the second round of Wekfest East. Yuta’s civic was having some work done at a shop in Upland this past week, and this evening we drove up there to pick it up. While in the area, we decided to meet Kodi Chan at Maxim off the 60 in Rowland Heights. I don’t get to see Kodi that often so it was nice that it worked out that way. I ended up drinking way too much coffee though, and as a result am writing this right now. I’m sure I’ll wake up tomorrow…err..today, and read this and it probably won’t make any sense to me. I just thought for some reason you should know why this post will be comprehensively poorly written. Right. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get back to the New Jersey convention center to check out more of the cars at Wekfest. In this post, I’ll wrap up what I have left of the roll-in and get started on showing the masses of cars that were in attendance. I gotta say, as I look back on each car as I edit them, I’m finding more and more cool things I didn’t notice initially. I’ll point some of the things out as I go. Also, you can once again see the thought that went into the variety of cars showing. If you’re not familiar with the tour, not just anyone can come show. The Weksos staff hand pick out of hundreds, and sometimes thousands of applicants to ensure a great show. For now, click past the break to see part 2 of the coverage.
Event: Wekfest East 2012, New Jersey V. 1 – Roll In
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I had first played with the idea of coming to New Jersey for Wekfest East back in June during the LA show. Towards the end of the show at the Queen Mary, I had been talking to Geoffrey and Kenneth a little bit about the turn out in comparison to the rest of the tour. LA had a great turn out, a close second to the Fort Mason show in San Francisco, but the home show is hard to beat. I had asked him about the general turn out and response to the rest of the stops, and they basically responded with an invitation to come see for myself. I’m in a pretty unique position compared to most people as far as traveling goes, so the idea wasn’t too farfetched. I’ve made it to the East coast and back in less than a day, so there was really no reason why I couldn’t make it work with a car show thrown in there somewhere. I’m not really affected by jet lag or time zones anymore as I fly quite often. In fact, I’m sitting in an airplane, writing this, right now on the way to Phoenix; on a non-car related trip unfortunately. As the show date neared, I was able to rearrange some things in my work schedule, so I decided I would make the flight out to Newark. The show was on a Sunday, so I elected to take a red eye on Saturday night to avoid an additional night in a hotel. I would land Sunday morning around 5am and shoot straight over to the New Jersey Convention Center in Edison in time to catch the roll-in and setup of the show. Leaving on Monday would give me a good night’s sleep and an opportunity to cruise into New York for a little bit; and by little bit I mean a good 35 minutes or so – I’ll get to that later though. Click past the break for part 1 of my exploits in the East.
Event: AutoCon 2012 – Los Angeles V.3
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I’m going to try and roll everything else I have left into a third and final, massive leftovers post of AutoCon 2012. I can only imagine how cool it will be – especially since I’m kicking it off with this fantastic coupe on Panasport G7s. As far as the timeline goes, it’s still pretty early in the day, and definitely still in the morning. The show opened to the public at about 12 o’clock, and that’s just around the time I said that I’ve had enough. I was fortunate to have a good jump on the show without too much foot traffic, so I really got a good look at the lot in it’s entirety before the gates opened. The lot was so big though, that I think even if I hadn’t I’d still be able to get some good shots. Recapping the show, I must say the entire roll-in process and media handling was a gigantic improvement over last year. Thanks to the AutoCon staff for another good show and I look forward to seeing this event gain in popularity over the next few years. Take a look past the break for a grip of pics that wrap up my coverage.
Event: AutoCon 2012 – Los Angeles V.2
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Man, I’ve been traveling a lot lately. I think I’ve flown about 3,000 miles in the past 3 days. Not normal, but I’ve been really busy at work recently. That’s probably the main reason that my coverage is so slow to come out – which I apologize for. I think just about all the other blogs have all but finished posting pics, but I’m lagging. I suppose that’s one of the side effects of doing this all on my own; I don’t have as much time as most people (running an airline is quite time consuming -_-;). With that said, let me quit wasting your time and let’s power through the rest of these photos. I’ll be making one more post after this and I’ll try to get the all edited and ready for upload in the morning. After 3 back to back 4am mornings, I have a feeling I’m going to be sleeping in tomorrow. I’ll start off round 2 with a few shots of this familiar Kouki S14 on Mag Blue Nismo LMGT-4’s – super clean build. Click past the break for more AutoCon 2012.
Event: AutoCon 2012 – Los Angeles V.1
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I’m sure by now between the roll in post, and other blogs, you’ve all gotten a taste of what AutoCon 2012 has to offer – so let’s just jump right into this. I’m admittedly not the biggest fan of car shows in general, but the thing I like the most about these annual shows is the chance to see various cars transform from the previous year, as well as getting the opportunity to see totally new and fresh builds for the first time. It’s also a great opportunity to meet people within the industry. I always make it a point to introduce myself to a few new people during each show. Not only to make new friends, but to get insight into new feature cars and stories; I can thank a lot of good material just from random introductions. I can honestly say that it is easy to see the growth of NDF simply by the reaction of others when I drop the blog’s name. I went from virtually no one knowing what Narita Dog Fight was and getting blank stares, to a good percentage of people who support it – and that’s cool to me. Alright, enough reminiscing – click past the break to see part 1 of Auto Connection 2012 coverage. It’s worth noting that I’ve been out of town all day, and will continue to be for the remainder of the week. So if the coverage is slow to post, I apologize.
Event: AutoCon 2012 Los Angeles – Roll In
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When I started the drive out to Arcadia for AutoCon yesterday morning, I had been under the strange impression that media will-call was at 9am; where I got that impression and why I thought it was perfectly normal I’m still not sure. When I got to the site and saw about 400 cars waiting to be rolled in I kind of figured I had some misinformation. Well, there was nothing else to do really so I thought I’d make the most of it though and start snapping away. The route into the Santa Anita grounds is through an underground route under an overpass to the Westfield mall that’s across from the park. So I just posted up under the shade of the bridge, and did my best to avoid the already intense inland heat. I talked to Justin from AutoCon when I saw him pass through and he had no problems with me starting early. I’m typically late to car shows, so this was kind of cool for me. The roll-in process was much smoother than last year, and it seems they were much better staffed this year. Grab a cup of coffee and click past the break for the first of many Auto Connection 2012 posts.
Event: Wekfest 2012 – Fort Mason, San Francisco v.3
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By now I’m sure there is extensive coverage of this show up on every forum, blog, and auto site across the entire internet – so let me first thank you for sticking with NDF. There are a grip of sites out there to get content from, but I want you to know that, although new, NDF is here to stay. From where we are now, we can only get better. So I’ve gone through hundreds of photos and it looks like I still have two or three posts left for this show. Most car shows I just breeze through because I end up seeing the same stuff over and over; but since I don’t go to shows in the Bay area that often (I don’t go to care shows that often anyway; although I may attend more than I think!), I really got to see a lot of different things not from So-Cal. Enough with the talk, let’s get into some more coverage! I got some interesting stuff in this post, so click past the break for part three of NDF goes to Wekfest SF.
Event: Wekfest 2012 – Fort Mason, San Francisco v.1
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According to the internet, there are currently around 800,000 or so people living in San Francisco; I think roughly half of them were at Fort Mason this past Sunday to attend Wekfest. Yes, that is a gross exaggeration, but the Weksos crew did manage to more than oversell the show. The massive following the show has garnered over the years resulted in an attendance number much larger than what was expected; so large in fact that the police and fire departments had to refuse entry to some people due to fire code regulations – which was obviously out of the hands of the organizers. Other than that, from the eyes of a photographer, this show was unbelievable. The venue is by far the coolest I’ve been to, the lighting is great, the people are all awesome, and the selection of cars was really well thought out. Before I start the coverage I’d like to say thank you to the guys at Weksos and everyone one else involved in the organization of this show – something as large as this isn’t easy to pull off, and the hard work is appreciated. Click past the break to kick this off.
Interview: The Wolves behind Wekfest – A Visit To Weksos Industries
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Every once in awhile, my life points me in the direction of some pretty great things. I have a passion for this industry, and above all, I enjoy sharing it with the people who share my same sentiment – sharing and networking have always been the heart of my blog. As a result of this, I’ve had the opportunity to meet some really amazing people. Last year, if someone had told me I’d be having conversations with the pioneers of the industry all across the world, I would have laughed; or chuckled at least. Well, it turns out it wasn’t such a funny concept. Getting a chance to meet the people behind the brand, or the builders behind the cars is something not everyone gets to do. A few days ago I had the chance to sit down with Kenneth Li and Adam Luong from Weksos Industries in San Jose, CA. We chatted for a couple hours about the current state of the scene, where it came from, where it’s headed, a little about Japan, and a little about wolf fighting. Click past the break to learn more about what Weksos is, and who is responsible for one of the greatest shows in the US – Wekfest.
Event Preview: Mugen CR-Z RR Pre-Production – Tokyo Auto Salon 2012
. So, as you may know, I couldn’t attend TAS this year because of my work schedule; but that doesn’t mean you won’t get an awesome view of the event on NDF. I’ve traveled […]
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.
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.
Event: Eibach Open House 2011 v.1
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For 7 years now Eibach Springs, with the help of some dedicated people, have been hosting the largest Honda/Acura meet in the country at the company headquarters in Corona, CA. Each year I attend, and each year I am blown away at the quality of some of the builds, as well as the sheer amount of people in attendance. Despite the rain in the morning, thousands of Hondas stormed the gate and filled the side streets even before the show officially began. If you’ve been before though, it’s to be expected. I tried to get the best coverage possible, but with this many cars it’s pretty tough. Click past the break to enjoy the new gallery feature of NDF.
Event: Nisei Showoff 2010 V.1
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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