Hollywood, Calif.
Now that our 10-year anniversary issue is officially in hindsight, your 2NR crew has finally gotten to the business of celebrating! To help commemorate our past, and usher in the new decade of all things import, 2NR's extended family-some of the tuning community's most influential personalities and organizations without whom we couldn't have made it this far-and hundreds of you, our dedicated readers, recently mobbed Hollywood's Arena nightclub en masse, proving once again who really owns this town. SoCal's Team Hybrid owned the event early-on, packing the club's lot full of First Place and Best of Show winning rides that you've been ogling at on our pages for the past year, along with a miscellaneous handful of R35s, track-prepped EVOs and STIs, and even some pro drift cars (thanks, Victor and Takatori-san!). Even our own Import Tuner/TEIN/Rock Star Super Lap Battle Lexus IS F made its official debut at the event... more on that next issue!
Inside, the buzz was no different. Remember last month's 10 hottest models? Yeah, well Sasha, Natasha, Courtney, and Sunisa were there, as well as some Hybrid Hunnyz go-go-ing the main stage, and past and future 2NR cover models (including the model search winner; Jennifer Nukul, p. 74) scattered throughout, as captured for these pages by Sean and Tim of PureHotModels.com (thanks, guys!). The VIP list read like a "who's who" of the import industry - with Chris Rado, Stephan Papadakis, Dai Yoshihara, Calvin Wan, Tony Shagday, and more representing. Even 2NR original editor Ed Eng, Apl from the Black Eyed Peas, and Autocanon/Max Boost creator Dennis Caco dropped by for a toast and a quick tag of the official 2NR banner. And even though we implicitly instructed event coordinators Legend Entertainment not to allow them admittance, we hear a few editors of rival mags snuck past the velvet ropes to kick it. We're just playin', Johnny! Nothin' but love!!
In case you missed out, don't worry; we'll be bringing it all again, all year long, and giving you the heads up right on these very pages. Honolulu, Miami and NYC, lookout - we're comin' your way!
www.importtuner.com
News Of The Dumb
Two Wilmington, NC men, Anthony Mallette, 30, and Capria Kibibi Rouser, 28, were arrested and charged with vehicle theft and extortion after they allegedly broke into a woman's car, contacted her using a cell phone number they'd found in her glove box, and offered to return her car in exchange for a monetary sum. The amount in question:
$40. www.starnewsonline.com
By Th3 Number 5
-38-
The number of import models at the 2NR 10 Year Anniversary Party.
Japan Classic Car Show
If there's one unfortunate "catch" that comes with the lifestyle of tuning cars that improve with each new generation, it's that we're quick to lose track of our roots. It's something unique to the import tuning scene, where a car that's more than three generations old is widely considered, well... old. But the JCCS aims to nullify this notion completely, as evidenced by their 4th annual show, recently held in Irvine, Calif. With a roster comprised completely of J-cars produced prior to the '85, there were more old schoolers in attendance than we'd ever seen in one place. And these weren't junkers either-we're talking modified, fully restored vintage rides that would look out of place anywhere except in an automotive museum. First generation Civics, Accords and Preludes-we counted an easy dozen. Hakosuka Skylines-six. Original Corollas, RX-2s and -3s, Coronas, Leopards, Cosmos, Starions and more-more than we could count. Even an OG 2000GT, S600, Gloria, and FJ Cruiser made appearances, among other rarities. But the hands-down show stealers were the vintage Nissans and Datsuns: fully restored, retrofitted with any engine swap imaginable, and outfitted with only top-notch schwag the likes of which most of us only dream about. Click importtuner.com for the deally.
www.japaneseclassiccarshow.com