I received a call from the gang at Slipstream Global Marketing and that's when I realized that particular day was a lucky one. It turns out they were asked to host a car show in the Cayman's and they wanted to invite me along as a media guest. You might think being stuck on an island that's four miles wide, 22 miles long, with a total elevation of 60 feet would have its pitfalls-yeah right-but when that island sits smack dab in the middle of the equator, you slowly start to think it might not be that bad of a deal. Now you might start to think covering a car show out there could be a waste of time; there would probably be ten cars at the most, and most of them not of the 2NR caliber since there are so few tuning shops on the small island. As I was flying out to the slab of dirt and palm trees in the ocean, I had those exact thoughts, but to my amazement, I was proven so wrong. I was jealous of the imports they have. While most of the time we dream of taking the ten-hour flight from LA to Japan to see some of the dope super cars Japan produces, most do not know that you can see most of these cars a quick one hour and fifteen minute flight south of Miami. Jumping on that little plane in Florida and heading South can land you in better weather than Japan, yet fill your eyes with the same imports.
On Saturday morning I expected a small show with semi-decent cars, but was surprised to find out the show was tied up in a 500th anniversary celebration of the Cayman Islands so more than just your average car buffs showed up at this event. Most of the island's residents came out to celebrate, making this one of the largest events on the island. Now for the car part: Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine that the Cayman's had some of the craziest imports that we can only dream of back home. From Skylines to every model of Evolution made and even Nissan's mighty miniature Pulsar GTi-R roamed the streets. In all honesty, why travel to Japan to see dope imports when you can go to the Cayman's for the same experience? While the Slipstream gang was off judging the car show I was busy watching some of the extra entertainment going on. There was every form of entertainment, from a 20-man steel drum high school band and freestyle hip hop battle to a live reggae band. Making a special guest appearance was Stephan Papadakis with his World famous FWD Civic and LJ Garcia who pulled his EK Civic out of retirement to show it off one last time. Also in attendance were the lovely models Lisa Kaye and Lorie Ho.
I was overwhelmed with how well the Cayman's first car show went off. After speaking to a few of the locals, it seems they just wanted a show to live up to the same reputation as what's presented in the States. I think they raised the bar, not by having an awesome selection of cars but by having all the cars entered in the show 100-percent streetable. A lot of thanks go out to Jim Liaw, Ryan Sage and Tim Wu from Slipstream Global, Tony from Tony's Toys and Angela Martins.
Executive Director for Quincentennial Celebrations for all of their help in throwing one heck of a show. Although all the photos aren't at the car show, they do show why you should visit the Cayman's. See ya next year!