"Hello?" I ask, picking up my office line.

Of the three ships Christopher Columbus used to set sail to the "New World", the Niña was said to be his favorite. The Pinta was faster but smaller, and the slower Santa Maria ran aground and was lost. The spunky little Niña not only made the entire First Voyage but two subsequent trips as well, and Columbus loved the Niña so damn much, he logged 25,000-plus pre-Industrial Revolution miles on the woody chassis and purchased a half share in her. Too bad he never got a chance to meet this Niña.inline_mediumwraptextright25706600/models/impp_0912_nina_mascunana_import_tuner_modelimpp_0912_01_z+nina_mascunana+front_shot.jpgTrue

Remember the old Cracker Jack snacks? You know, the ones with the "toy surprise inside"? How awesome were they? You had a popcorn-slash-peanut treat and hidden treasure, all in one box. I mean sure, you'd usually end up with some lame trinket like a plastic figurine or stick-on tattoo. But every once in a while, you'd get something cool and semi-useful like a whistle, scissors, or magnifying glass (sun-toasted ants, anyone?).

How old is she?
She's 20 . . . why?! Do you want to meet her too?

For an import model, there is no distinction higher than Miss Hot Import Nights--that is, other than the cover of 2NR of course. Gratuitous back-patting aside, when HIN picks a female to represent their shows for a year, it's kind of a big deal. Not only is she excruciatingly hot and into cars, she's also the successor to some of the hottest girls in the business. More importantly, of particular note to our readers, is that a role of Miss HIN is traveling to the far reaches of the United States for the HIN tour. Translation? Accessibility. For a nationwide legion of potential fanboy-slash-stalkers, odds are, she's going to be in a metropolis near you. Whereas ogling is mostly limited to the Internet, magazines or wet dreams, you can actually interact with this hottie in the real world . . . albeit, grounds for restraining orders and sexual harassment litigation vary state by state. Or so we've heard.

Besides movies, what else are you into?
Even though I can't read music, I truly enjoy playing music on the piano. I create my own music or I play it by ear. You should see me compose a piece. It's like Vidal Sasoon stopped by and gave me Mozart hair. Crazy. I love Brook Trout fishing. I also like reading up on quantum physics and The Prophet. I'm huge into the whole Ying and Yang and 11:11 thing. Nature is my first love.

Ahh, so desu ne, if you had to date one, which would it be?
Neither. But if I had to choose, Sukebe is better!

The Beyonce of video games, got it. At the photo shoot you mentioned a funny story about a cat...?
Yes! I had a cat a couple years ago. I named her Meow because that is all she did... she would meow inside to let her out and she would meow to come back in. This one night, I was getting ready to go out so I put my jeans in the dryer to get the wrinkles out and went to blow dry my hair. When I turned my hair dryer off I heard a strange thumping noise from the dryer. I opened it and Meow jumped out meowing and dizzy. I started crying hysterically and put her on the couch and watched her for a few minutes. Her eyes were crossed and her tail was in an "L" shape. The tail stayed that way but she never meowed again. I guess cats really do have nine lives...

Explains it. Ever been tempted to take one of your kids to Vegas and tear it up on the Blackjack table?
There was this one boy who loved to play cards. I was like, `Hey, can I take you to Vegas and win some money?' He's like, `Yeah, let's go!' I'm already decent at Blackjack, so together we would've taken over!

Up Close And Personal:
Beckie Joon

You might not think so, but picking a model can be quite difficult. I know what you're thinking: "What's so hard about checking out girls? I do that on the daily!" Ok, so I'm not saying it's rocket science or anything, I mean come on, no Miss America judge has ever taken home a Nobel prize for his efforts, but selecting one girl out of the masses is a challenge. It's like a kid in a candy store-how do you choose just one? And trying to pick one at the 2NR 10 Year Anniversary Party in Hollywood, CA, with models running rampant, is worse than a hungry Drew Carey let loose in Willy Wonka's factory.

Interview By Carter JungBlondes, as they say, have more fun. Why? I have absolutely no idea. Is it in the pigment, or lack thereof, in the hair follicles? Does the skull absorb less heat from the sun, thereby enhancing the fun factor lobe in the brain? Who knows. Besides, I know plenty of brunettes who can wild out like the best of 'em... and, if I do say so myself, as a black-haired Asian, I have a pretty damn good time sans any golden locks. But, never having dated a blonde, let alone interviewed one, I never had the opportunity to observe - first hand -- how much more fun a blonde could really have.

Interview By Carter Jung

Speaking of songs, for the last burning-in-my-loins question: How come every time I come around, your London, London Bridge wanna go down?Oh, Mr. Carter... I'm sure you can have that effect on me, but I'm saving my buns for someone special! Sorry, mate!

Anything naughty.
Well, I did get out of about two tickets by really flirting with the cop. That is not that bad. Oh, I know a sin! There was a bachelor party here from N.Y. and I talked the guy into not cheating on his fiance. He didn't want to party anymore and they hated me. Hmmm, naughty...I really can't think of anything really naughty. Maybe except for the way I flirt with a guy. I just club him over the head and drag him back to my den. You put me on the spot. I will probably remember a really great story tomorrow.

Over the course of ten years, we've witnessed the tuning scene go through some dramatic changes. What started off as a subcultural aberration in the 70s turned into a full blown pop cultural phenomenon by the late 90s, and the last decade saw Corporate America, along with Hollywood, take notice on what was once an automotive taboo: import tuning. Thanks to the influx of non-endemic media and other factors, the tuning scene grew exponentially and thrust into the main light. Drivers from our scene were getting endorsement deals, tuners graced the silver screen, import models started to break into the mainstream, and OE car manufacturers and the public at large started to rethink import performance.

When it comes to models of the import sort, Falken Tires has the uncanny ability to pick some of the hottest. Case in point: Joyce Lex, Eri Moriyama, Courtney Day, et al. Besides picking the incredibly stunning, Falken selects girls with an actual interest in cars and, gasp, personality. Think your girlfriend, but hotter, and won't bitch when you talk about cars...so in theory, absolutely nothing like your girlfriend. If you've talked to any of the Falken models at a car show or drift event, you know what I mean.

Teresa Noreen is cool; I mean that both metaphorically and physically. We're in Malibu and the warmth of the day is quickly dissipating with the setting of the sun. I'm in jeans, a tee, and a jacket, and I'm freezing. Yet standing in front of the R34 is Teresa, posing like a pro in all of her 5-foot-6-inch goodness wearing next to nothing. Our photographer, Aaron, gets up to reposition a light, and Teresa coils up, chattering with cold. But unlike dozens of other divas (read: models), she doesn't complain. Not a once. Past girlfriends have screamed bloody murder when I've tried to turn down the excessive heat on a cold winter day.

Rhymes are fun. What better way to poke fun at your peers than by asininely using parallel syllables to jest. Tank goes with Frank like molester does Chester and beagle flows with Smeagol. Linking them is exponentially effective. Example: Carter the farter thinks he's so smarter. Not necessarily grammatically correct but you get the idea.

Jetlagged from two very long weeks in Japan, I sluggishly make my way to the studio. Inside the cove and surrounded by lights is our high End cover car, the red STI. brighter still is the welcome I get from Alicia Whitten. Super sweet, very chill and a girl actually into the same cars that we are, she's not even in makeup and her natural beauty is enough to knock me back six time zones.

Northeast of the main hollywood strip, I'm sitting in a small bar that's a tad too clean and way too crowded to be considered a dive. Despite the commotion, I'm mesmerized by the girl sitting in front of me, Corissa Furr, a girl that's as sweet as she is hot. "It's happy hour from 10pm to 12am," explains Corissa, "half-off drinks." Amazed that a girl who just today flew in from the East Coast managed to find the only bar in the greater metropolitan Los Angeles area to offer peak happy hour, we settle in to what could be the best post-photo shoot interview venue, ever.

Waiting in the changing room is Cora Skinner. Out of wardrobe and back in a slinky dress that barely passes for "street" clothes, the tall 5'9" beauty is as stunning now as she was in front of the camera. Even with a burgeoning career in Hollywood, we managed to wrest a few minutes of her time to talk about breasts (chicken), football (lingerie), butts (girls), red roadsters (S2000) and why even the biggest schmuck ought to go out and buy some Axe body spray (me).

It's been a long time since we've had a good 'small-town-girl-makes-it-in-the-city' type story. We're especially glad that girl's innocently bubbly and unspoiled personality belongs to Sammi Maben. She's from Golden, Missouri-a town almost smack dab in the middle of the country. If she were a little taller she would have gone to test the waters of New York but it's the City of Angels that stole all 5-feet 4-inches of Golden's goodness. She currently hosts BlackBelt TV and recently signed on to be one of the Toyo Tires spokes models. When talking to her after the cover shoot, we discovered that this golden goddess has a voice to go along with those pouty lips. She took a little time to give us a quickie interview in-between shoots for BlackBelt TV.

If you are a gamer who's into racing simulations then you'll know EA's Need for Speed Carbon is going to be one of the games to look out for in the coming months. Here's the bonus: This month's hottie (an Aussie who puts the C in Crikey and for some of them, puts the CRIKEY in crikey) flew into Vancouver so that the programmers could digitize her parts for the game's November release. Now that we've got the scoop that Krystal is in the game, it just feels a little more like we own the damn thing. We had a chance to ask her a few questions to get to know her outside of the digital realm.

Just a glimpse at Jocelyn's beauty and you'll believe that the "gold" those leprechauns were protecting was Ms. Ireland herself. She is a self-proclaimed motorsports nut and has won-by becoming the new spokesmodel for Magnaflow-the super lotto of open-wheel fandom by signing posters alongside the Andretti's at the '07 SEMA Show. Her modest Northern California upbringing coupled with her stunning good looks and "go-fast" interests make her a perfect fit for gear heads like us. If only they all came this way.