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August 16, 2009
Goodnight Nisei Week Showoff, There Will be no Encore
By John Naderi
StreetFire.net
Import Showoff is arguably the OG import car show, precluded only by the Nisei Cruise of the late Eighties and early Nineties in LA’s Little Tokyo District. And for Showoff architect Ken Miyoshi it only made sense to bring his car show to the Nisei Week Japanese Festival a few years ago as the Nisei Week Showoff thus reuniting real import car flava with the Nisei Festival.
Back in the day the car quality at Import Showoff was second to none. The fake wheel and knock-off body kit crowd needed not apply. The shows were all about the cars. But in ’98 Hot Import Nights seamlessly blended the club kids with the car clubs proving it’s not all about the cars. Yet for some of us it was always all about the cars. While Ken may have diluted his original recipe with a few grains of rice over the years the Nisei Showoff has basically maintained the quality of one of Mr. Miyoshi’s old school Mainstream Productions. And one recent trend Nisei showcases is the resurgent Honda movement. For example, the engine bays of these Civics feature nothing fast nor furious, just shaved and filled sheet metal, tucked wire harnesses and built motors. Hit the jump to see more random observations from what might have possibly been the final Nisei Showoff. Say it ain’t so, Ken!
Continue reading "Goodnight Nisei Week Showoff, There Will be no Encore" »
June 16, 2009
What Show Car Style Do You Prefer?
By John Naderi
StreetFire.net
The SpoCom show took place this past weekend in Long Beach. Our complete coverage is posted over on StreetFire, but I wanted to share a few pictures of the cars on display. Check out the best of show: Lyle Engleson’s Auto Concept Elite 1975 Mini Cooper. The craftsmanship on this old Mini is remarkable with a custom widebody and a rear-mounted 408hp Borg Warner S362 turbocharged Honda K20Z1 driving the rear wheels. As much as I love the ACE crew and I appreciate the work that Lyle has put into his Mini this car just doesn’t do it for me. Do you agree with me or not? Hit the jump to see some other cars from the show.
