REsuper7のブログ一覧

Perhaps one of my biggest regrets after i crashed my car back in November 2014 was the fact that i never got a chance to drive it. Of course i drove the car here and there, but i never really drove it like i used. I'm talking about those drives that start before the sun comes up and ends up in some remote location such as High Point State Park or Bear Mountain. Having finished the build just in time for my favorite driving season, I just had to plan a fall drive with a couple buddies. I managed to round up a few guys who were just as eager and excited to get out there and drive. So much so that they were even willing to wake up at 6 am in order to get to the starting point by 7 am, just as the sun was coming up.



We met at a local gas station. I was the first to arrive and tagging along was my favorite little passenger, Naomi! The best part about bringing her was that she was just as excited about the drive as myself, although i don't think she really knew what she was getting herself into.



As usual, there's always one straggler, so we waited around for the slacker to roll out of bed and get to the starting point before we could head out, roughly around 7:45 am. Since it had been a while, i decided to stick to one of my favorite routes...back roads to Delaware Water Gap then to High Point State Park.



Luckily for me, my brother-in-law brought his camera along so i didn't have to worry about capturing the moment and i could just enjoy the drive and the scenery.





We were at the tail end of the season, but there was still plenty of beautiful scenery to be seen as the leaves held on to the end before falling down.



One of the BRZs had some prior obligations, plus the fact that we left late, so he had to break off and head back before we got to High Point. Although we were one man down, we still made the most of the trip up to the closest thing we can call a mountain in NJ (its sad, i know).



Around 11 am, we finally made it to our destination, and as always, the view was fantastic!







We hung out, chatted a bit, and just enjoyed the scenery, which was made complete with some cool cars!









And at the top of the hill stood this monument, marking the highest elevation in NJ

<

After we got done shooting pictures and enjoying the view, we headed down the mountain. We decided to stop at my favorite restaurant for lunch, Chatterbox Diner, before we split up and headed our separate ways. All in all, it was exactly what i needed to fully appreciate having my car back after what seemed like the longest 10 months of my life. I'm already looking forward to the spring drive, which i'm planning to be an all FD affair, so stay tuned for more coverage if you want to see some badass RX-7s.

Hello everyone! Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I still have a few updates from 2015 to share, so i'll be back tracking a little bit. One of my motivators for finishing my rebuild was so that i could attend First Class Fitment in October. FCF was the first car show i ever participated in back in 2014, so i was hoping to join in on the fun again last year. Luckily, the timing worked out perfectly and i was able to get the car ready for the big show. Although my car wasn't really built to be a show car, i somehow managed to sneak in. There's a lot of pictures to share, so i won't dwell too much on each.

The event is not a particularly big one, but what they lack in size, they make up for in quality, as there are a good number of clean builds and a decent variety as well.



Here's a cool aerial shot of the Princeton airport, the venue for the annual show:



First up are some cool VIP cars from the Liberty VIP car club:



Although there was no Ferrari F40 this year, they made up for it with a couple other cool exotics, like this McLaren SLR



And this nicely modded Ferrari 458 Italia



Although, if you ask me, i don't really go to car shows to look at exotics, even if they are modified. I'm more of a JDM enthusiast (obviously, hahaha) so i'm more excited to see cars like this Varis kitted 370z



I had only seen pictures of that Z on social media and assumed it was over on the west coast, so you can imagine how excited i was to see it pull up to the event.

Other JDM favorites include the NSX



The new WRX STI



And of course, one of my all-time favorites, the R34 GTR!!



The best part is, i even got to sit in the legendary R34 for the first time ever...oh man it was awesome!

And not to be overshadowed by his younger brother, is the R33 GTR...although not quite as popular as the R34, it will always hold a special place in my heart



Continuing with the old school theme is this classic Hachi-Roku...a cult classic



And of course, the not-so-new-kid-on-the-block,



And a few of the really nice builds that stood out to me:







And no car show is complete without at least 1 or 2 Integra Type-Rs...my childhood dream car



Besides the usual car show entrants, they always have a car here and there that stands out from the crowd...in this case, literally


And of course, how could i not share all the cars representing rotary power??









Check out how clean this last FD's engine bay is...amazing!



And last but not least, yours truly



This year SNTRL didn't have a booth, so Ted and i got recruited by Flipzco.

And lastly, some of my favorite shots other people took of my car at the show:









Until next year!

The day after ESR Warehouse Wednesday, I was invited out for a private event in NYC by my old friend, Edwin, at SNTRL. USDM FREAX were visiting from Japan, so Edwin put together a car meet/cruise through Times Square for them. When i initially got the invite i thought to myself, there is no way i'm taking my car into the city, but the more i thought about it the more i thought i should at least try it once. The reason being, during the rebuild, i remember thinking that i wish i had my car back and i thought of all the events, car meets, etc. that i would attend just so i could enjoy my car more. So after talking to Ted about when and where to meet, it was decided that i would attend. How i managed to convince my wife that i would be going out two nights in a row is beyond me, but she graciously agreed and didn't even really object at all. Ted and I met with three other people, including Brian, a photographer, a guy with a black NSX (i can't remember his name, sorry!) and Bea, Ted's friend, and we carvan'd out together. But first we had to stop for gas, which meant the obligatory gas station pic



Photo courtesy of Chinzophoto


Our first stop was Paramus at Darren's house (itasha S14), where we met up with a few more people, including drivers and photographers, who were coming to the meet as well.



Edwin made the event invite only in order to keep it manageable, especially when it comes to NYC where there are cops everywhere. How he managed to pull this off is still a mystery to me. Anyway, after a quick meet and greet, and a much needed bathroom break, we jumped in our cars and headed out. Darren led the group in his S14 (he's got some serious balls driving his drift car into the city, especially considering it's barely 2 inches off the ground!), which meant we wouldn't have to speed like crazy to keep up. I drove second behind Darren, but that only lasted until we got to the first meeting point. After we arrived, chaos ensued.



When we pulled up, there were already a bunch of modified cars lining the streets and more were pulling up by the minute. Soon we had the whole street blocked and you could hear people honking their horns angrily at us. We tried to stick together as much as we could, but after a few minutes of trying to figure out who knew where they were going, we had to head out. We had heard that Edwin (Mr. SNTRL) along with the USDM FREAX crew had already headed over to Times Square to wait for us to roll through, so we took out the directions he sent us in advance, and we proceeded to the next check point.

Here's a shot i took as we approached Times Square.




Our fearless leader being admired by NYPD captured by Chinzophoto


By the time we reached Times Square, our whole crew was scattered, so we had no choice but to just proceed on our own. Although we didn't get any group shots rolling through, the amazing photographers like Brian, Edwin, Praveen, and of course the USDM FREAX crew, captured some truly amazing pictures that i will always remember.

Ted getting some much deserved attention as he rolls through Times Square


How they managed such beautiful pictures in the midst of the craziness that is Times Square is beyond me. But I am grateful for their skill and perseverance. The rest of us had it easy as all we had to do was drive our cars.

Stevo, who i first met at the Nissan meet, another super nice guy by the way, rolling down NYC streets in style in his 350z


As i pulled into Times Square, i saw a tall, dark figure approaching my car to snap a picture, and right away i recognized him as Edwin, the man of the hour.

Chinzophoto capturing Edwin's dedication to street photography


And here's the shot Edwin got...amazing!


He came up to me afterwards and greeted me. He actually told me he was surprised to see me and wasn't expecting me to come. Our conversation was short lived as he noticed two police officers approaching us, so i had no choice but to drive away.

A few more shots of the cars that rolled with us. You'd recognize this white FD as the same one we hung out with at the Nissan meet the week before. The owner is the father of the guy who owns and runs Flipzco, a boutique clothing company.






After rolling through Times Square, we reconvened back at our starting location. By this time it was pretty late and the street was empty so there were plenty of places to park our cars. Cops rolled through a few times but never bothered us, probably because they just wanted to make sure we weren't making noise or blocking the road, which we weren't





After we hung around and chatted for a bit, everyone decided they were hungry and wanted some halal food, so we headed over to our final NYC destination.

Here's a cool group photo of us hanging out and chatting before going to get food.


Turns out the halal place was right outside the building of my new job! What a coincidence. I never thought i'd be parking my FD right outside of my office building.



By then it was already 1am and we still had a long drive home, so we said our goodbyes and headed out. I truly was a night i'll never forget. Ironically, i was actually dreading the event because i felt so tired after work it felt like a chore to have to go back out, but i must say, i'm really glad i did. I'll end this post with my two favorite pictures from the night. One is by Brian, Chinzophoto, and the other is by USDM FREAX.

Chinzophoto


USDM FREAX


Two very different style pictures but both capture the moment beautifully.

SNTRL x USDM FREAX ありがとうございます‼︎‼︎ 楽しかった‼︎‼︎

Before i sign off for the night, here is a video from the SNTRL x USDM FREAX meet/cruise, so if you want to know what it was like to be there, check it out.

As a way to motivate myself to finishing my car, i had decided that i wanted to get the car done in time for the 10/17 Canibeat's First Class Fitment car show. Well the week leading up to the show was filled with additional events, especially since USDM FREAX was in town visiting from Japan so people were putting together meets and events left and right for them. Ted, being the great guy that he is, insisted that i come with him to these events. Normally i hate going out in the middle of the week after work because i'm usually dead tired when i get home, but i think having finished building my car recently, i was a little more motivated than usual to take it out. So i agreed to go with Ted, not that he was expecting an answer from me because he basically assumed i already said yes, hahaha!

First up was Eat Sleep Race's Warehouse Wednesday event. Its basically an open house for people to come hang out and check out some cars. They have a VIP section with some food trucks and a nice selection of cars that were preapproved to park there. Of course Ted, the guy who knows just about everyone, got a spot in the front right where all the action was.



I wasn't able to get there as early as Ted, so he promised to save a spot for me. Plus i needed to finish putting on my stickers before Saturday's car show.

Not knowing what i was getting myself into, i jumped into my car around 9pm and headed down to the warehouse. When i pulled up to the street where the warehouse was, i could see tons of people walking out, presumably to their cars, and also tons of people walking in. I was late by about two hours, but judging by the number of cars and people still there, it wasn't ending anytime soon.



As soon as i pulled up to the street, there was a person standing their with a walkie talkie. He motioned me to stop and proceeded to radio in that a white FD had just pulled up. After a few exchanges between him and the guy on the other end of the radio, he tells me to pull up and the next guy will tell me where to go. From there it i felt like a celebrity being guided down the red carpet. Everywhere i turned there were people staring me down and taking pictures. To be honest, it was kind of weird. Most of the people i drove past were young kids, probably still in high school. Slowly i was guided around the warehouse where the main event was and eventually was told to park in the VIP area.



Not much happened after i got out of my car, but i will say it was definitely not my scene. First of all, i felt old. Second of all, i was probably the only family man there! And third of all, it felt like a club because they had a DJ blasting music the whole time.



I met up with Ted and we just sat around and talked for a few minutes before we left together. Since i had just eaten dinner, i didn't get anything from the food trucks, so really there wasn't much to do there.



I checked out the Eat Sleep Race "showroom", which was really just a small room not much bigger than a closet.



After we said goodbye to some of Ted's friends, we were off. Although it was nice to drive my car in the middle of the week, i don't picture myself going back to one of these events any time soon.

All the pictures above were taken from Eat Sleep Race's Facebook page since i didn't take any pictures that night.