After realizing it's been little over a year now since joining the 'scene', I took some time to look at my past, seeing what I've done so far and the changes that occurred around me since the beginning till now. This random thought and idea came up after talking with one of my inspirations, Ben Schaffer from Bulletproof Automotive. We were talking about various things related to the automotive community and one topic we discussed about was how I became involved with you guys. For those who don't know me too well or about this blog, I didn't start off by knowing car owners or even companies. Matter of fact, I didn't know anyone except a few people on forums. It was a network friendship/relationship and like many of us, it's not easy to approach those who we talk with online when it comes to an in-person situation, so most of my time going to meets or events was just... me and my camera! I had no intentions in the beginning to promote who I was or what I did because the reason why I started was nothing more than the passion and love I had toward cars. But constantly going out to meets or events was sort of a way to approach people. If I didn't know who they were, they knew me because of seeing me at least once a week. It's now to the point where people say "why isn't William covering this event," or "where the hell is he?" I'm not trying to put myself in the spotlight, but that's really what I've been noticing. I personally and honestly think I'm not a major part of this community nor created a positive image to Medias and Bloggers, but a natural behavior became a habit, and that's what brought me and my blog to where it is today.
I get plenty of questions from many of my friends and fans, and one question I come across pretty often is their curiosity on how I managed to go to events and meets constantly while not getting tired of it. I think this is what makes people who start blogs decide to quit within a few months because of repetition. You go out there and see the same cars, same people, same vendors, etc. But really, isn't that the enjoyment? This is why I decided to write this post, to show you guys some cars I've seen when I first started and how much it progressed throughout the year.
I still remember as if it was yesterday when I first saw Minh Nguyen's IS. I'm pretty sure almost everyone in this community knows Minh's ride because of its outstanding fitment on Enkei RPF1s powdercoated by Simple Wheel Werks. Wherever this car went, it was breaking necks 24/7. Not too long ago, he decided to get another IS and do something different. As you can see in the second photo, Minh decided to go VIP style and although I didn't get to look at his car in depth, I can already tell he did an outstanding job.
Alvin's G35! He is the owner of an automotive/import model site called Import Fashion. We go way back (only a year) when I didn't know shit about cars, but Alvin was already known as 'the guy' because of his Orange G35 on Orange VS-XXs. I don't even clearly remember how I met this dude, but we both had a connection and started our sites around the same time. Since then, we've been talking, meeting up, shooting at events, etc. Looking at how much his car changed within this year, I become speechless and dam proud.
How should I even start this... Milt..Milty..Camberd..Mr. Camberd...Candy..Gangster.. or as we know him as of today, Senator of Stance...
Milt's 350Z is one of my inspirations, not as a blogger, but as a tuner. I have to admit, the reason why my car is looking like how it is, is because of Milt. It's funny how I first him last year during Stance:Nation's meet. I was rolling up to the showcase lot and it was Milt instructing everyone to park here and there. He was looking scary as f*ck! I'm actually still scared of him and don't know how to act when he jokes around because... he just looks scary. Putting jokes aside though (sort of), Milt is an awesome guy. It was such an honor when he asked me if I wanted to join Low N Slow. Still today, I'm really thankful that I'm a part of Low N Slow, a crew that's known for its stance. Much <3! Now to the car~ Milt's Z was on Gold VS-XXs back then with not such an aggressive fitment like how it is today. It went through a paint job + modified quarter panels + change of wheels to fully polished Garsons done by Wheelflip.
Photo by Jimmy Ngo.
It's guys like Chris that takes VIP to another level. We've seen plenty of VIP cars in Japan with some insane stance. The roads over there are lowered .. wait.. slammed car friendly, so no matter how low a car is, it really wouldn't matter as long as a small angle is done at a speedbump, but here in California, where roads are terrible, horrible, insane, stupid, pot-hole friendly, driving a slammed car is almost nearly to impossible. That's why I give so much respect to those riding on coilovers. Now when you see a car like Chris's, how can you not be amazed?
From an ordinary stance to oni-camber, mad props to Chris on taking his ride to a level where jealousy, doubts, and hate becomes a common emphasis on VIP cars. He's definitely doing it right.
Steezy~ My boy Noel! When it comes to 'hellaflush', there are different types, and Noel took it to the 'cambered' level. Being part of Low N Slow, it's not a surprise to see my boys going crazier. From rocking proper offset SSR MS1s, these wheels were customized with an even wider lip and powdercoated face, all done by Wheelflip. Noel's killing it in the G game!
These cars just popped in my head, so give me a few more days till I update this post with other ones. The next article I plan on writing about are my favorite cars in the scene as of today,so stay tuned!
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