Past overdue is an understatement. We’ve known about Platinum VIP for awhile but the stars never aligned for a proper shop visit. Our first exposure to Platinum was through a mutual friend and longtime OG to the scene, John Tan of Crashed Car fame. John was launching his newest calendar project under T-pub LA and one of the cars within his calendar just so happened to be a Platinum car …continue…
I had a chance to visit the Fatlace Paddock during my summer trip to San Francisco this year. I was in touch with Kenny and dropped him a line when I touched down in the Bay Area. I didn’t stay long but I was able to experience some of the most amazing cars in person. The Paddock was simply awesome and I’m appreciative of the tour! Here’s some pics I’d …continue…
Shops come and go. Suffice to say, the ones that remain have persevered through the economy and freed themselves from the “fast & furious” bandwagoneers. These are the true businesses who’ve learned the formula for success isn’t just about selling but supporting and participating in the scene. On my annual trip to Los Angeles, I visited Evasive Motorsports, a shop that lives and breathes the scene since its inception back …continue…
Any old school enthusiast will know the name CEC. It’s the acronym and name of one of our scene’s longest running tuning centers in North America – the Claus Ettensberger Corporation. As a teenager, I remember flipping through the pages of European Car magazine and drooling over photos from featured CEC cars and ads. Oh, and we can’t forget about the rides customized for their celebrity customers – amazing stuff! …continue…
I think it’s safe to say that custom wheels are not a fad. Enthusiasts are demanding higher quality wheels with specs and offsets tailored to their own tastes and requirements. One of the premier players in this market is Rotiform, based out of Southern California. Their range of high-quality wheels have taken the scene by storm since their inception in 2009. If you don’t believe us, peep the 2011 SEMA …continue…
I was in Los Angeles last week and dropped by to visit Vince and Yogi at the illest boutique. As usual, I was greeted warmly by the staff and got to see the newest collection of apparel and gear. Unfortunately, most of their tees were sold out but was promised a restock would happen soon. If you’ve been following our site, we visited illest last summer prior to their store …continue…
This is our last shop feature from Galen‘s amazing trip to Japan. Of course, what trip to Japan would be complete without a visit to what could possibly be the best aftermarket parts shop in the world – Super Autobacs. I remember reading about this shop in a mid-90s issue of Super Street or Sport Compact Car magazine and dreaming about shopping their aisles. For those of us who may …continue…
The final shop visit took place in Nagoya, Japan. Backyard Special is still relatively obscure in North America where Spoon and Mugen are more popular. Nonetheless, we had to drop by to check out their digs. First thing we noticed, the shop was quite small but our guest photographer, Galen Wan, was able to snap a few worthy pics! Meaty tire/wheel combo on the dimunitive Honda Beat! Clean EK9 The …continue…
The illmotion x Stretch & Poke! collaboration coverage continues with a shop visit to acclaimed Honda tuner, J’s Racing! J’s has always been a favorite of S&P staff who have personally built cars with J’s Racing parts and aero! Guest photographer, Galen Wan, visited the shop to check out what was in their lot. Love the graphics and color scheme on the J’s Racing CRZ. Peep the CF intake! J’s …continue…
Good morning! We’re going to end this week short and sweet with a brief shop feature on three tuners we visited in Japan. We’ve got Feel’s and Seeker, respected tuners in the Honda game. Then we have K.Break for the bippu-fans out there. Hope you guys like what our guest photographer, Galen Wan snapped! Alright, here we go! A couple of FD2s at Feel’s. One’s for street and the other …continue…
Coverage in Tokyo wouldn’t be complete without a visit to one of our favorite shops – Spoon and Type-One! It’s been 12 years since S&P staff have visited Spoon so this drop-in was easily overdue. It’s quite evident the shop space has evolved over the years. The ever-so-clean shop is chock full of Spoon/Type-One cars. The boxes of killer Spoon parts are everywhere. The hydraulic lifts for the cars up …continue…
Our coverage in Japan with illmotion continues courtesy of Galen Wan. We visited Wald International, known for producing some of the illest kits and wheels for the high-end spectrum of cars (read: baller cars). Wald is also known as a fave amongst the VIP crowd and appropriately located in Osaka. We just drooled at this fleet ~ Love these Wald fenders. We hope you enjoyed the coverage of Wald International! …continue…
Twitter
Facebook
Flickr
Vimeo
