Import Face Off- Chandler, Arizona, December 13th 2015

To be honest, I originally never planned on going to Import Face Off because a) I was still suffering from laziness of starting winter break and b) the $20 entry fee, which considering all the money I already spent previously in the week, was rather significant. But, I am so glad I did.

For example, I got to meet @f7lthy_samurai in person, the owner of a VF Supercharged E93 M3, a Nissan Nismo GT-R (the one posted here before), and the once Alpha 9 GT-R, now a Liberty Walk Alpha 9 GT-R, the first in Arizona. And boy, do I look forward to seeing more of it. The GT-R was always a big car; the large wing and widebody kit just perfectly suit the car, and the Alpha radiator sticking out the front reminds us that this car is equal amounts of go as it is show.  It just looks amazing.

But this being Arizona and Import Face Off, one Liberty Walk isn't enough. @haugenracing's Liberty Walk Lamborghini Murcielago was also present for the show, as well as his Rocket Bunny Nissan 350Z (which I did not get any satisfactory shots of due to people/angles/yellow car in blinding sunlight with shadows everywhere), and his drift Genesis. Both of these cars were at SEMA 2015, and they were both spectacular looking. I always like wide body kits on wide cars, and the Murcielago fits this bill perfectly. I especially love the wing on it, too; rather than being massive in all dimensions, its size complements the sleek profile of the car. Both cars are certainly sights to see.

Being such a large show with huge prizes, it was also neat to see so many car clubs in one location. For example, Stoopidlow had a huge turnout, with around a dozen cars or so showing up. I thought I had pictures of every member's car, but I guess in my excitement I overlooked quite a few of their cars. However, I have photographed them before, and these include @tovar's NSX featured in Super Street, @atovar93's S2000 CR, @amrod86's Scion FRS, and @kdot_rx7's RX-7. 

I also saw Team SWAT (So What Any Time) bring out a large number of their cars. Because of my family's history with Accords (two 5th gen sedans, a 6th gen V6 coupe, a 7th gen V6 coupe, and an 8th gen V6 sedan, the one that I drive), Accords will always have a special place in my heart. The Toyobaru siblings will also never get old; they look so good in so many ways. And, the Impreza is a classic, you just can't go wrong with one (as long as you don't, say, snow drift it into a pole).

In addition to cars like the Liberty Walks, there were real show stoppers everywhere. Brain McCann brought out his amazing 350Z out, trophies and all, for us to admire, and man, it is a beautifully done Z. In addition, there was an ER34 Nissan Skyline parked nearby, causing many to stop, stare, and wonder how it even got there in the first place (because, you know, 25 year import ban). 

Of course, there were so many cars present I couldn't possibly photograph them all and know the owners/teams they're associated with. But man, was there selection. For example, Bourbon Street Wraps brought out their Maserati Gran Turismo S for display, and a group that hangs out at the local Fit Mob meets was also present for the drift events. This amazing Mercedes SL65 AMG, which won the award for best European car, I think, was also present to add variety. @asiantoretto's amazing 240Z was also present, and aptly parked next to the Liberty Walk GT-R. 

There were so many prizes, I couldn't keep track of all the winners, otherwise I'd list them here. Furthermore, I didn't even mention the drag racing anywhere above, there was just so much to take in in the few hours I was present. I can't wait for the next Import Face Off, because I'll definitely be there for the whole day for it.

Austin's '76 Celica GT

With Japanese cars appearing and sometimes dominating the world stage for the past 30 years, it's always good to revisit roots and see the beginnings of it all. It's a good thing, too, that so much interest is being put into older JDM vehicles now because there are so many gems, including this, the first generation Toyota Celica. 

The Celica, derived from the Latin world coelica meaning "heavenly" or "celestial", is the successor to Toyota's first sports car, the Sports 800, which, at the time, competed with some of Japan's other first sports cars, including the Honda S500 and Datsun Fairlady . Thus, its place in the family tree is quite clear. This car was meant to take Toyota forward as their next sports car. 

This particular Celica, a 1976 GT model, is owned by Austin, a freshman electrical and software engineering student at ASU, who is also a part of our local ASU car club Street Refined. The condition this car is in is amazing, and its no wonder thanks to the attention and detail Austin has put into the car. He first found the car after 6 months of browsing Craigslist, attracted to its rarity, looks, and classic JDM nature.

The car was once lowered with underglow and a front splitter, however, it was raised back up and the underglow was removed. Meanwhile, the front splitter met an unfortunate end when it was ripped off by a water puddle.

The list of fixes and modifications is immense. The whole suspension system has been worked on, with struts replaced and adjustable A arms from Techno Toy Tuning installed on the front. The ignition system has also been reworked, with an MSD Streetfire ignition installed, an upgrade to a Thunder coil, and a conversion from points to electronic ignition thanks to a Pertronix kit. The fuel system was also worked on, with the in-tank fuel filter being replaced. The car now rides on sixteen inch wheels wrapped in Khumo ASXs, and the car has a 1974 "Smiley" bumper. For some extra engine audio, racing long/short headers are installed and hooked up to a 2.5 inch exhaust and a Dynomax muffler with an expansion chamber and no cat. The throaty sound is extremely gratifying to hear, with a deep sound that resembles a beefy 6 cylinder engine, and a pop that resembles backfire due to the extremely low pressure of such a large exhaust. The engine's audio wasn't the only audio enhancement, however. A completely new sound system was installed, featuring a 4x400W Fosgate amplifier hooked up to two 5 inch Infinity speakers by Harmon Kardon and another two 6x9 Infinity speakers. A 1000W Fosgate amplifier powers a 12 inch shallow mount Fosgate woofer. I got to hear the audio system in action with some very dynamic music from Clean Bandit, and the power of the system is clear. The basslines come out tight and strong, and the audio is superbly crisp. Austin plans on dropping in a Weber 32/36 carb in the future, as well as working on a rebuild 20r with a port polish and mid-level cam job.

The weather was perfect for taking pictures due to rainstorms earlier in the afternoon leaving clear and cloudy skies, perfect for the amazing Arizonan sunset. The light really helped highlight the lines, shapes, and proportions of this car.

This car has been on the track before, driven by a club member with two years of track experience. He complimented the handling and behavior of the car. Under acceleration, given the power and weight of the car, it pulls very nicely. The exhaust and headers make the exhaust sound heavenly. The appearance of the car is also excellent; both Austin and I noted that we really like how the design looks Japanese, yet it has US muscle car proportions and stance. In fact, I discovered that there was a liftback model of the Celica that very clearly resembled a period-spec Mustang from the rear. The first generation Celica surely a classic car near the base of Toyota's, and Japan's, sports car roots. It surely is a gem worth looking at and worthy of attention, a true, proper classic Japanese sports car.

Transparent Hood Experiment

As a kid, one of the coolest illustrations of cars for me were cutaway diagrams which showed off the internals of the car- the engine, the suspension, etc. Perhaps there already was an engineer in my brain at that time that drew me to those types of images, but it's always interesting to look at everyday objects from a completely different perspective. There's so much more to a car than just its external appearance, hidden away under all that metal and plastic, a whole different world.

Reaching the level of being able to draw those cutaways will probably not happen for me, but with the magic of today's digital photography and editing software, it's possible to achieve similar effects. I've seen plenty of transparent hoods from photographer friends, and I decided that this summer, I was going to try it for myself. Well, summer is basically over, and I hadn't tried out this photography technique yet. So, I put aside the moving-in-and-getting-ready-for-class stress and activities for one evening to take these pictures of my dad's Mustang.

I knew that the procedure is actually pretty simple: take two pictures of the car from the same position, one with the hood down and one with the hood up, adjust each picture accordingly, and then blend the two images together in Photoshop. Luckily, I have an awesome photographer friend who also gave me tips on making the picture look much, much better than my original result (I wanted to focus on the engine only but made the transparency too tight on the engine itself, he told me to make it a more gentle fade/transition). Thanks Alex Schreer for your help! I will definitely be taking more shots like these in the future. Seeing the metal vanish to reveal the engineering below both makes my inner-engineer and inner-child smile in delight.

My favorite from my experiment, and also the picture that helped me get into the hang of making transparent hoods with the help of my friend. There's something magical about seeing beneath the metal to see the heart of the car beneath.

A closeup of the heart that lies hidden beneath the hood, glowing orange from the sunset.

Trying to be more creative with the angles so it's not just a straight-on shot or a close-up shot.

Scenery Around Coronado Island

While I love the desert landscape, with our mountains and sunsets, a change of scenery every once in a while is nice. Coronado Island/ San Diego Bay provided a perfect change for me. While I still think desert sunsets are amazing, there's something just as amazing as a sunset looking towards the ocean from a bay, as well as being able to see the evening light reflect off of the city skyline with glimmering water in front of it. The flowers that were around were also nice to look at, better than the usual creosote or weed flowers around here. And the ambiance from the island walkways filled with families and friends having fun just created a wonderful atmosphere that was peaceful and serene.

Now that I knew what I had to work with, on the second evening of our stay I took some more pictures. While for the first evening I tried capturing the nature/landscape and skyline of the city in the evening, on the second evening I tried to capture the mood of the place by photographing the people and areas around the ferry landing and bike trails- the carefree, happy, joyous atmosphere basking in the glowing evening rays of the sunset. 

The following day, the day before we had to leave, I decided I wanted to bike around the island. So, I rented a bike and followed the bike trails, as well as the roads to the beaches, to capture some of the daily-life scenes in the afternoon. It was great not having triple digit temperatures and a broiling sun constantly bombarding me like I would have encountered in Arizona if I did the same thing.

On the plane ride home, I intended to sleep the entire way since even though I was on vacation I was still not sleeping until close to 1am while waking up at 7:30-8am. However, just like on the ride to San Diego, I was woken up around 30 minutes before landing. I've always loved flying and being able to see the landscapes below and the clouds above. This time, I was sitting slightly forwards of the wing and the engine, giving me a partially-unobstructed view out the window (although I actually like sitting by the wings to watch the ailerons and flaps move, as well as watching the contrails form on the wings, so I was actually kind of bummed with where I was sitting). But, when I looked at the view below, I forgot about that disappointment and took some photos. It's amazing seeing the clouds at eye-level or below you. And, I could see the familiar desert landscape waiting for me below. 

Three years has been too long. I forgot why Coronado Island is such a nice place to visit. The weather, the atmosphere, the sights, it's a great place. But, my last sentence contains a key word: visit. After all, all the places I went to were really just tourist areas, places where people like me go to relax and escape. As much as I love Coronado Island, I wouldn't live there. While the heat wasn't so welcoming, it was still nice returning to my desert home.

Artsy, processed pics:

More pics:

Navy at San Diego

San Diego is home to a very large US Navy base, as well as Naval Air Station, in San Diego Bay and Coronado Island. Thus, there were plenty of naval ships to watch and take pictures of as they sailed in and out of the bay as well as docked. Here are the ships I saw.

USS Carl Vinson CVN-70, USS John C. Stennis CVN-74, and USS Ronald Reagan CVN-76, Nimitz class nuclear-powered supercarriers:

It's interesting seeing three supercarriers in port since only two are homeported in San Diego, the Carl Vinson and the Ronald Reagan (although the Reagan is moving to Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan to replace the USS George Washington as it returns for maintenance and is being replaced with the USS Theodore Roosevelt). I've tried looking up why the three carriers were in port at the same time but I couldn't find any information. Still, it was an awesome sight.

USS Mobile Bay CG-53, Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser:

USS Decateur DDG-73 and USS Stockdale DDG-106, Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyers:

Also, got to see a lot of these around, Seahawks flying about (I can't tell if it's an SH-60 or MH-60 though). I saw at least 4-5 per day flying up and down the bay.