Random NightLife | Dream Car

Night Import: Words by William Lee | Photos by various people

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Wow! It feels like I haven't logged into my blogger account for years! But seriously, I've been away from the car scene for quite a long time now, not because of already getting tired of it, but because of work! Fuck! Work! I know I gotta pay off those loans from college and ridiculous credit card bills, but it just pisses me off sometimes when I realize that work has been interfering with my time in photography and cars. I still love doing what I do as a hobby and want to be involved with it as much as possible, but when reality slaps my face, I'm sitting down in a office communicating with patients (ㅜㅜ) O well~ at least I get paid for what I do and will continue on with this job until I get into medical school, so I try to think positively every single day.....ok....I'm bs'ing about the 'positive' part.
Anyways, I decided to make this post to talk about what we all like to talk about; a dream car. Now, don't be confused with yourself when the word "dream" is used in the car scene. I personally define a dream car as a car that one can't afford at one's current state.
I sat down in my room, thinking for quite a long time, wondering what car would be considered as my dream car. At first, I thought of a Mazda Rx-7 FD3S and Acura NSX. Both cars are what I truly want to own, but I don't consider them to be my dream car. The reason being is because I can actually afford either one if I wanted to. Shit..if I knew about cars back then, I wouldn't have bought my current Scion tC for $22k (-_-;) But because I actually want to build my tC until I'm satisfied and because it's my first new car, I'm going to stick with it and then move on to either a Rx-7 or NSX.


John's Rx-7 is a perfect example of how I want my Rx-7 to look like. I might go with a different look, but want to keep it simple. If I want to go outrageously exotic, then my choice will be a RE Amemiya conversion kit.


Great example of how I want my NSX to look like if I get one. I don't care if I get a kit or not. A stock NSX is simply pure sex.

OK! Now to my DREAM car. Ready? and I'm going to talk about only ONE.


Photo by Bertjan Davelaar, Photo from Wallpaper site

Yea yea yea~ I know it's everyone's dream car, but there's no rule saying that I can't dream about having one, so don't judge me! As many of you guys know, there are a handful of Skyline GT-R R34s in the US that are actually registered to be driven legally. From what I've heard, going through the whole process of making it legal is a pain in the ass! But I personally think going through that shit will be worth it at the end because the R34 is one of the most sexiest looking and powerful car in its price range and class. I LOVE R34s!!!!!!!!

To be honest, I could've gone with an exotic such as a Ferrari Enzo, Pagani Zonda, Koenigsegg Agera R, 458, Lamborghini Aventador, and much much more, but I kept it in the Japan and Sports car class.

So, I want to ask you guys this question. What is YOUR dream car?

Event Coverage | Hot Import Nights 2012

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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As mentioned in my coverage, I attended Hot Import Nights right after LTBMW's 2012 meet. I was thinking about staying longer at LTBMW because cars were constantly coming in and the quality of cars were so much better compared to last year's meet, but realizing how much of a struggle I had at HIN 2011 when all the lights were off and tons of people walking back and forth in front of the cars I wanted to take photos of, I left at around 2:15pm to arrive a bit early and take an advantage of my media pass. The actual show started at 3pm, so going in at least 10 minutes earlier was good enough for me.

Now, many of you guys might not know this, but last week's HIN was supposed to happen at Irwindale Speedway along with XDC. What the hell happened? Irwindale Speedway filed bankruptcy, so the place is now gone! Well...not gone, but it's basically closed down. What HIN planned to do got fuked up and instead of cancelling the show, they decided to rent out a different place, which was at Fairplex in Pomona, CA. I'm just glad the show still happened because many enthusiasts missed out on HIN last year and wanted to attend this year's event. I enjoyed myself checking out some new rides when HIN was at Los Angeles, but what I really enjoyed was the overall mood of HIN because it brought back memories when I attended HIN back in middle school! Although I got into the scene last year, my first car show was HIN, so it was pretty dam epic to attend it again last year. I think I went right when the show started and left late because it was so fukin dark inside the convention center I had to wait until the lights were back on to do coverage.

So~ being excited while driving to Pomona, CA, I arrived, got in line to get my pass, and entered a building where HIN was taking place. What I usually like to do before I start a coverage is to walk around the whole area and check out the cars. After taking a quick glance, I walked around and took some snaps. While doing my coverage though, I don't know what the fuk happened, but I lost interest in the show within 40 minutes and this is when the show actually started. I'm not saying the car show sucked at all because it was actually dam good. Tons of models, cars, and people, but I think it was because most of the cars that did show were the ones I usually saw at other car meets/shows. I mean..I've been doing this for months now, so had no clue why this feeling struck me. Am I getting tired of this scene already? or is it because I want to see something new? Ah...fuk it..I don't know what the hell I'm talking about right now, so let's get on with the coverage. The lighting wasn't as bad as HIN in Los Angeles, CA but my camera has its limit, so I did have some difficulties taking shots here and there. Yeap~ the photos will be shitty! I tried to take photos of cars I've never seen before, but like I've just mentioned, most of the cars you will see today are the ones you guys have seen in the previous coverages.

NightLife | 2012 LTBMW Meet & Greet

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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Good morning everyone! I think that applies to those who live in the US right now, but wherever you are, welcome back to Night Import (^-^)v It's been a busy week like usual with car shows and meets. You know how it goes down in California, especially after winter, so expect a lot more coverages this year. I really wanted to focus more on features, but the time to actually go out during the weekdays and do photoshoots is not working out, so my apologies to all the car owners I promised to shoot their rides. It will happen soon, so give me a bit more time! But in the positive side for all you Night Import fans, a coverage should be good enough during your break time or if you don't have anything to do.
Last week, there were 2 places I needed to stop by to do coverage; LTBMW's Greet & Meet and Hot Import Nights. I was unsure if I had time to stop by LTBMW's meet because I got a sudden call on Friday asking to work on Saturday, so my time schedule got pretty fuked up. Luckily, I ended early and had time to grab something to eat and head down to LTBMW's meet. Yeap~ I promised myself not to attend 2 car meets/shows this year, but it's not working out because I fuking love cars. :D
Let's get on with the coverage.

NightLife | Spring Kickoff Car Show & Meet

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee
It feels like my life is getting busier every week because of needing to do several things within a time period. I'm feeling old now as well because sooner than later, I'll be hitting the age of 25. My apology to some of you guys who are older than me and had to read what I just wrote, but you should know that aged-feeling once you pass 21. Blah~ anyways, out of nowhere, I realized I needed to be more involved with the automotive scene. It's not to the point where I need to attend 3 meets or events on one day, but just going out there. I felt as if I needed to bring something more to the table so that people can look up to Night Import or just appreciate it more than other blogs out there. Naw~ I'm not trying to be competitive. All of the bloggers or just blogs in general should be a family rather than hate on each other. You know what I mean? Most of the stuff I post up on my blog doesn't have that exclusiveness yet, but one day, and I know for sure that day will come soon, Night Import will be your automotive source for features and coverages v(^-^)v

Last week, while thinking about what to do before heading to a KBBQ session with a few well-known photographers, I headed out to this meet called Spring Kickoff, which was at Racer's Edge Karting in Burbank, CA. I heard it was organized by Garrett, but not 100% sure. This event was a mix of a car show and meet because it sort of had the vibe of a car show. I'm talking about vendors being present and the actual Go Karting place being opened for spectators and participants. There were no trophies, but people had an opportunity to participate in the raffling.

NightLife | Night Import's "Collaboration" Meet

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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It's been around a year and 3 months since the official release of Night Import to the public. Starting out with knowing the basics as an automotive enthusiast, I've studied cars as if I was reading a medical book, trying to memorize every single make and model out there, along with its pros and cons. On top of that, getting to know the aftermarket companies in the US and Japan to see what they brought to the automotive table. I've been to more than 250 meets/events last year to learn and understand the community, and throughout those times, cars became a permanent part of my life.
Getting to know cars was obviously a priority as a blogger, but what I realized through those busy times of doing coverage and going to events was not only the cars but the importance of people. It's the people in the scene today that makes this car scene enjoyable and memorable. I started out without knowing anyone. Just Stance was the first blog I started as a photographer, but even back then, I didn't know anyone because the site's main traffic source was from the east coast. After deciding to have my own blog, it's then when things changed tremendously. The random people I came across at meets/events became friends and through those friends, I was introduced to various things in the automotive world. Last year, my blog had its first meet at JIC Magic. With only 2 weeks of notice, the company's lot was filled with cars. It was a small gathering of enthusiasts and I couldn't be any happier.
This year, I wasn't planning on doing a meet or an event. The pressure and stress one gets by organizing one is something I observed last year and I didn't want to go through it. I mean..it's all good if you have a good turnout or just a few of your close friends showing up and have fun, but having to find an area where cops won't bother you is like the worst task to deal with. Long story short, I came across an underground parking structure that belonged to a close friend of mine in the car scene. If you guys went to my meet, then you should know it was a part of Descanso Spa. If you didn't come, it's in a small town called Tujunga, CA. When I first saw this place, I was speechless! The lot was pretty dam big and had great lighting. The owner and I had like a 5 minute talk and he said I was more than welcome to borrow the lot for a day. Even after hearing the good news, I was still undecided about having a meet, but because many of you guys asked for it, I made it happen.