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 | Another visit to BP VIP's meet

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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So I'm back again with some coverage to share with you guys today. I know the blog has been quiet these days, but that's because I've been studying almost every single day and was not active during this past 1~2 months. Last week was also Wekfest in San Francisco, the biggest car show in California, and everyone that I know of was preparing for the show, so SoCal was pretty dam quiet. All I saw on Facebook were updates regarding Wekfest and it was killing me because I couldn't attend it! There were some priorities I needed to take care of, so sorry guys for not being able to cover Wekfest :/ I'll keep you guys updated on facebook with all the coverages on the event once I take a look at them, but so far, I haven't seen any other than MotorMavens.
While not trying to think about Wekfest SF and seeing if any other event or meet was happening in SoCal, I realized BP VIP was having another meet at the place where they had it last time. It was definitely one of those meets I didn't expect a big turnout because of Wekfest, but I wanted to meet up with my friends and check out some rides.

Event Coverage | Import Showcase by Import Fashion

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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I felt as if I haven't gone to a car show for years! Actually..it's been only 2 months after attending AutoCon last year, but for some reason, that 2 months was a wait. I did go to car meets and stuff, but the atmosphere of a car show was something I truly missed. Luckily, my boy Alvin, owner of Import Fashion, worked his ass off to lock down a venue and create his own show for the enthusiasts. There were some complications last year when he tried to have his 1 yr. anniversary meet, but gladly things worked out well this year and the planned meet turned into an event.
Alvin is a close friend of mine in and outside of the car scene and our friendship started even before my blog was created. We actually launched our sites around the same time period, which is why I've been going to car shows and meets with him pretty often in the past. When I heard he was finally having his own show, I couldn't be any happier. His work throughout the months was appreciated by many because of covering both models and cars. I would say his blog's content was more toward models. According to Alvin, he will be featuring more cars this year, so stay tuned! I could go on and on about how awesome Alvin is, but instead of writing down my thoughts like I always do with coverages, I'll jump into the coverage on Import Showcase by Import Fashion.

Random Nightlight | Reintroduction: Carl's IS from BP VIP

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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I've been waking up with migraines almost every day because of work and studying. Consuming more than 3 cups of coffee at Starbucks and Korean Cafes is probably the reason why I've been so stressed and really irritated with small things happening around me. But I think it's been getting better after having a girlfriend and thinking positively, so that's an update with my life. For those who know my car, it's been the same since last year and will be going through a makeover hopefully by next month, but that's just a speculation.
Anyways, yesterday was the birthday of a good friend of mine, Carl Zamuco, owner of the IS from BP VIP I featured back in Feb. 7, 2011. After visiting his facebook profile page to write down Happy Birthday, I looked through my Flickr account to see the photos that were posted on his feature. Realizing how much of a noob I was back then with post-processing, I decided to re-edit a few photos I personally liked. All the full-res photos are gone because of my hard drive crashing, so I had to work with what I had... (ㅜㅜ) I'm still in the process of learning PP skills from various photographers, so don't expect some crazy edits (^_^) Thanks to my boy John Zhang aka 1013mm for helping me out!
This is not a feature, but to re-introduce Carl's IS with better PP'd photos. Enjoy!

NightLife | BP VIP meet

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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One crew I got really close with during this past few months is BP VIP. I've known these guys for quite a long time now, but never had a chance to actually chill with them because of being busy going to multiple events on the same day or just keeping myself occupied with automotive related stuff. For those who have been following my blog since day 1, I'm sure you saw a feature on an IS from this crew, titled Stylish IS. It was the only feature I shared on a Korean blog and got massive hits. If you did see it, then you know this crew is all about VIP rides, hence the name BP VIP; BP "Bippu Pride" VIP (good times + good people + sweet VIP rides). Along with Import Fashion, this past few months with this crew was a blast! I don't want to get into details, but let's just say every time I chill with these guys, I end up going home at 4~5am with a filled stomach and sometimes drunk :D
Last week during It's JDM yO!'s event, I ended up leaving early with our photographer Nick Schultz to attend BP VIP's meet at Buena Park. Luckily, the location wasn't too far from It's JDM yO!'s event so I decided to drop by. They've been having this meet for a few months now and Nick did cover it once for my blog (Click), but because I did have my camera, I did a quick coverage for you guys to check out the newly updated rides from this crew.

Event Coverage | So You Think You Can STANCE? by It's JDM yO!

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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Gawd dam it's been a long ass time since I updated my blog. I did attend a few meets, but didn't cover them because for this year, it's mostly going to be a chillaxing time with the homies rather than making myself busy with my camera like I did last year. Fyi, it has nothing to do with me being cocky because some of you guys think my blog gained popularity in some way and I'm using that as a backup source to slack off, but seriously, I missed out on all the good times just because of being busy covering events, going to companies, doing interviews, etc. last year. Don't get me wrong, I met a lot of people and the friendship is still there, but this year will be a time period to get to know them even more and have fun! One downside of being active last year though, is not being able to resist covering an event because I love shooting! So I was pretty dam excited to attend yesterday's It's JDM yO!'s competition event to meet some friends and hoping to see some cars that didn't come out last year. I did plan on going early but because of partying till like 3~4am almost every other day, I woke up at 12pm, got my ass ready in about 10 minutes, and rushed to the event with my messed up tC. The cover photo is when the competition was about to begin and the first runner-up was Milt's Z from Low N Slow. The story will continue so read along~

Nightlight | SoCal's Finest Rides #1

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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It's about time to share with you guys my favorite rides from Southern California. There were a few qualifications that needed to be met before I decided which cars deserved some recognition or already did, but worth another one. I can think of a few right now that are ridiculously gorgeous, but to me, it wasn't about what kind of parts a car had or which team it represented. My choices were based off on activeness, quality of the car, and attitude of the car owner. It might seem as if I'm going a bit overboard here, but I personally think that's what makes a car known and recognized by many enthusiasts. I'm not saying fully built show cars aren't worth a feature on Night Import or any blog/site. Of course those cars will be featured and get recognized, but the props really goes to the ones that actually bring out their show built cars to meets/shows to represent their team or just themselves. Please don't take this to heart to all of ya'll who own spectacular cars. I love em! which is why I'm going to write another article with cars I think are just way over the top!
Some of these rides you are about to see were seen numerous times on my blog, but if this is your first time visiting this page or haven't been updated with my articles and features, it will be worth your time and give you somewhat of an idea of what kind of cars I truly like. So, which cars did I choose? Let's get on to it. If you didn't click on the link provided on the fanpage, you'll have to click "Read More" at the lower right bottom to see the whole feature. I usually post a car photo as a cover, but because this post is somewhat special to me, I tried to keep that suspense and mystery for those who visit my site daily.

Event Coverage | AutoCon 2011 (Pt. II)

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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AutoCon is back! No no~ I'm talking about my coverage! But~! The next and exact date of AutoCon in 2012 will be announced through AutoCon's fanpage pretty soon so go ahead and LIKE their page. I've been seeing a lot of comments from those who missed out on this event because of work or family plans. That's why you need to mark this event on your calenders as early as possible and make an excuse just to attend AutoCon! If you have finals or something, that's a different story, but work? Come on~ missing only one day won't hurt you that much (^-^). Ok..I think I'm becoming those small Devils you see in cartoons where they sit next to your shoulders and lure you into the wrong direction, so I'll be the Angel and continue on with my coverage.

As mentioned in Part 1, AutoCon was more of a festival + car show. It wasn't only cars that took the spotlight, but also the attendance of more than 15 famous Food Trucks and side activities such as FREE Air Balloon rides all day long! How awesome is that? Have you ever been to a car show like this? I don't think so~~~~ I get a bit too excited after attending such an awesome event, so please excuse my over-exaggerations.

I personally think AutoCon was held at the right time and place because Christmas is coming soon and people will be going on vacations. It was sort of cumbersome to know that HIN was going to happen a week before AutoCon and I had to support both events as much as possible, but my priority was to fully promote AutoCon and that's what I've been doing since day one. I'm not saying I brought the majority of crowds, but out of all the events I've been helping out for this year, AutoCon was probably the 2nd event I fully supported after Sideway Sundays. I was very pleased to see the event packed with spectators and car show participants, and really appreciate those who kept the event threads I posted on forums active. Moving along, because we are all in the Christmas spirit, I decided to use the Domo display Kelvin made in front of his widebody Do-Luck Evo 9 as the cover. Tsuneo Gōda would be proud!

Event Coverage | HIN 2011 (Pt. II)

Night Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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Welcome back to Night Import! Hope you guys are visiting the blog often to catch up with my articles, because things are about to get serious! Just playing~ As long as I can entertain you guys while at work, home, in the bathroom, with your girlfriend, ... you get the point v(^-^)v
My last partly coverage on Hot Import Nights will be a good one because the photos I'm about to share with you guys came out pretty decent considering the short amount of time I had to cover the whole area when the lights were on during the award ceremony. By the way, congratulations to all the winners! It's always unpredictable to know who will win which category because judges aren't the same for every car show event. Each judge has a different perspective when it comes to certain makes & models, so hope no one was frustrated with the judging and stuff. It's all about having fun and enjoying the time spent with friends and family right? Let's get on with the cars and see what was up at different areas of the huge ass showcase lot. The cover photo for Part 2 is the well-known VIP team in SoCal, BP VIP. It's been a while since I got to know a few members in this team, and I was surprised to see some of their rides with a new look! Click on "Read More" at the bottom right to see their rides.

Event Coverage | The Pursuit III by Longo Lexus

Night-Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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Last Sunday was pretty hectic. I had to jump by a few places back and forth, do some quick errands, and then finally had some time to cover events. There were two major ones happening on the same day and time, but like always, I managed to take care of both v(^-^)v.
Most of the major ones that go on annually are definitely a must-to-attend and listed on my smartphone because no one has a clue on what cars will show up. This is true because when I attended Bulletproof's 11th Anniversary meet, I found out the Carbon Fiber NSX made its first appearance to the public. To some of you guys, it might not mean anything, but to a blogger who goes to events and meets almost every week and see the same cars more than twice, it's a pretty big deal and a moment not to forget. The Pursuit was one of those events I didn’t want to miss because of having an awesome time last year, but not having enough time to thoroughly look at the cars. This event is the largest Lexus based event here in SoCal, opening the drag strip for competition along with a car show, both held at Irwindale Speedway, CA, so missing such an event is a no no! The Pursuit III was somewhat the same as The Pursuit II, so I arrived at around 12pm, covered the event for about a good 3 hours, and headed toward Race Day Car Show in Burbank. That coverage will be up hopefully by tomorrow, but today, enjoy the beautiful Lexus and other make/models.

Event Coverage | Nisei Showoff Car Show 2011 (Pt. II)

Night-Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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Thinking about what I wrote on our fanpage, I made a minor mistake; our site has not been officially a year old yet. I did create this site back in June of 2010, but that's before I even had the title Night-Import in mind and was posting random contents. In a few months, I'll be announcing our 1 year anniversary and might do something pretty darn crazy, but that's just a thought so don't be expecting a surprise soon. The reason why I'm bringing this up though is because of so many cars I've seen throughout that one year period. Although Southern California is known for car events in the West coast, the cars you get to see at meets and events become repetitive, which isn't bad at all because you get to meet the car owners and build up relationships. I think that's how I made friends in this scene and now, those friends becoming a part of my life. Additionally, Nisei Showoff Car Show made me realize that it was not just the owners but the cars they owned played the same role. I've seen some rides so many times, but to be honest, I'm still impressed with all the work put into a machine that literally redefines the meaning of a car. It's not only meant to be driven, but to be a companion. Am I becoming Emo right now? Maybe because it's 7:15am and I'm tired as fuk, so back to the coverage before I say more random stuff.

Special Coverage | Lexus of Westminister Meet

Night-Import: Photography by Nick Schultz | Words by William Lee

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While I was busy at Sideway Sundays, our photographer Nick made it out to an annual Lexus meet at a Lexus dealership located in Westminister, CA. I've actually came across this event post on the Lexus forums and was planned to attend, but because I had to support an event our site was a part of, I missed out! Looking through the photo coverage, seems like this meet was off the hook.

Special Coverage | Cars & Coffee by BP VIP

Night-Import: Photography by Nick Schultz | Words by William Lee

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If you live in Southern California, crew BP VIP should sound familiar. I've known these guys for quite a long time now and featured two of their members ride previously; Norman's Previa and Carl's Lexus IS.
What is this crew all about? Its team name pretty much says it all.

BP VIP = BP "Bippu Pride" VIP (good times + good people + sweet rides).

Last week, BP VIP hosted their own Cars & Coffee at Buena Park and our photographer Nick Schultz was able to attend the meet for a coverage.

Event Coverage | Wekfest Los Angeles 2011 (Pt. II)

Night-Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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Woke up around 4am today staring at the wall thinking about various things. Then I catch myself laying my fingers on top of the laptop keyboard. For a hour or so, I had no idea what the hell I was doing and thinking. I'm speculating it's because of the massive amount of sexy cars I saw at Wekfest last Sunday and I had to stop with Part 1 yesterday. Let's continue on with the event!

Event Coverage | It's JDM yO! 1 yr. Anniversary Meet (Pt. II)

Night-Import: Photography and Words by William Lee

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Hope Part 1 coverage was enjoyable because it's about to get better. As much as I was impressed with the amount of cars and people, the location was one of the best places ever. There were 5 car show rooms inside the warehouse and each room was organized by different groups. I'll lead you guys through, so let's start it off.

Nightlight | Stylish IS

Night-Import: Photography by William Lee

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Carl Zamuco is one of those guys who loves driving low and at the same time, keeping the ride clean as possible. Being a member of the well known VIP crew, BP VIP, I first saw Carl's Lexus IS at the OC Food Truck Meet parked with couple of his friends/crew members. There were tons of cars at the meet, but Carl's ride stood out from all the Lexus's that was present.