Archive for category JDM
Straight West Coast’n
I thought I’d share some pics from my trip to San Fran. Enjoy…
Here is a pic from our plane ride in.
Any time I travel to somewhere that I haven’t been before, I always take notice on the fashion and car culture that an area has. San Fran easily has both without over-doing itself. Here are a few random snaps I took just on the street.
This one threw me off for a sec. I can honestly say that I’ve never seen this swap done before, and I’ve seen alot.
Super clean Z on the street…
2-stroke on the street? Where I’m from, you only see these in the woods…
Playing with the wide lens…
While I was in San Francisco, I wanted to visit many of the designers and boutiques I had only seen on blogs. My first stop was at Black Scale, located right in Union Square.
Once inside, we were greeted by Rubin. He was super cool and was a major help in me navigating my way around town. If you’re in the area def check them out.
55 Grant Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94108
The store had a very clean look with a good use of space, considering they had 2 motorcycles on display…
1630 Post Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
Since we were in Japan town, we had to try the sushi and see how it fared against New York…
Ok, that didn’t last very long. After the first bite, I wanted to eat the plastic grass too…
No Rotas here…
LOL
Here’s a few pics of the shop…
Niki told me that they had recently gotten back from a race and all the
race cars were still loaded on the truck, except for this beautiful
Spoon Integra…
Some of the other cars being serviced…
Super clean Spoon EG
AE86
I caught this clean EG right outside of Autotech…
If you’re in the South San Fran area, check these guys out for all your Spoon needs!
Acutech
69 South Linden Ave.
So. San Francisco, CA 94080
The view landing back on the east coast…
Well, that’s it folks. That was my summarized trip to beautiful, laid-back San Francisco, California. Thanks for reading!
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Hate It Or Love It
I’ve noticed a recent trend in JDM styling. The make-over of older sport model cars. My first example, The FEED RX-7
The headlights are styled from the TVR Sagaris and the rearlights looks like the ones used on the Ferrari Enzo.
The Top Secret Supra V12
This one here’s a special gem. Not only does this car have unique styling, but also unique engineering. The donor motor come from a Toyota Century matched with two air-fiending, force-inducting turbos.
The Toyota Century is a large four-door limousine produced by Kanto Auto Works, Ltd. under contract for Toyota mainly for the Japanese market. The Century is produced in limited numbers and is built in a “nearly hand-made” fashion. It is often used by royalty, government leaders, and executive businessmen.
Elite Imports in Tunerzine
Toys R’ Us, New York City. If you’ve seen happiness on a kid’s face walking through any other toy store, think again. A little boy ran through the revolving front doors leaving his parents behind, completely ignored the staff photographers trying to get his picture because all he wanted do is indulge himself in the infinite treasures and rarities that lay before him. Giant Lego sculptures, a mini Ferris-Wheel, a real life looking T-Rex that moved around, and a life size Barbie house (hey, just because he was at a toy store doesn’t mean he can’t check out the chicks in the Barbie section)! Even if he couldn’t buy anything, this was one happy kid. Maybe you were so lucky in your childhood and that may have been you, but my first time going there was when I was 22 years old so unfortunately I never got to be that kid.
This past Saturday, I could almost imagine it though. Walking through that plain black front door of Elite Imports Ltd in North East Philadelphia, I immediately felt the drool running down my chin. Being an enthusiast of all makes, this place was like a gold mine. The showroom was full. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was a bunch of seats neatly organized on the floor, mostly Bride and Recaro. Look to your left and you have a rack of coilovers, some of which I have never seen, nor even thought about ever seeing in real life. A few pairs of Silvia headlamps and some JDM spoilers accented the setup pretty well. Look behind you and the combination of aftermarket and JDM OE steering wheels lined the top of the drywall like Christmas lights while some more suspension related components covered the rest of the wall. Residing in the glass casing straight ahead there was oil/radiator caps, various gauges, boost controllers, and piggyback ECU’s galore. And this was all before I even stepped foot in the warehouse.Nick Dalessio, owner, took me through the door into the main attraction and what I saw from then on was like a dream. Everything was so clean and organized I just couldn’t believe it. With a whole 24,000 sq. ft. at his disposal he had a Toyota Section, Honda Section, Nissan Section, and even a Misc. section for those other makes. Brakes, lighting, wheels, suspension, rears, doors, clusters, glass, bumpers, and MORE seats all divided up in their own dedicated spots. As we walked around the shop discussing things from school to automotive forums, something caught my eye in particular. It was a genuine EF8 glass top roof in pristine condition with immaculate headliner. Talk about rarity… I can’t remember the last time I’ve even seen one online without at least one crack! Front clips were stacked on giant shelves, one on top of the other, just waiting to be plucked by the massive forklift to have its contents put to use by some lucky enthusiast. Looking at the motors around the shop, in a clip or not, it was as if the engine had only been used for a couple short trips around town then shipped right over here. No leaks or stains anywhere to be seen on any of them. Being a technician at Honda, that kind of stuff in particular stands out to me.
With all of this product at his disposal, you must wonder ‘does he provide the service too?’ Well the answer to that question is quite simple: damn right he does! Back in 2001 is when the chaos started. Nick started his business called ‘Impulse’ selling parts and shortly thereafter decided to install them for customers as well. The time eventually came where he found himself so overwhelmed with JDM engine swaps and sourcing Japanese parts, something had to be done. Instead of trying to rely on other unpredictable importers, Dalessio took matters into his own hands and started doing the importing himself. That’s when he renamed the business ‘Elite Imports Int.’ and made the transfer from his puny 3500 sq. ft. facility to the 24,000 sq. ft. JDM parts mansion. He’s no fool though; to make sure his overseas purchases are top notch Nick flies out to Japan to inspect the product first hand before it ships off in the containers. So you can be sure you’re getting the highest of quality when you go to Elite. “This place is good right now, but not nearly where I want it”, Nick tells me. Honestly though, I really wonder how much better it could get? He’s got just about anything you could possibly need for your JDM obsession and if he doesn’t have it, you’re damn sure he’ll do what he can to find it for you. Elite isn’t named the largest importer on the east coast for no reason! So my suggestion if you’re on the right coast, get your lazy ass off the computer and go check out this shop because even if you can’t buy anything, I guarantee you’ll be one happy kid.-Sean Bradford
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