Do you live in the So. Cal area?  Are you a drifting fan?  Do you need something to do this Saturday?  Tired of me asking you all these questions?  Ok, well then I’ll get to the point.  The annual pre-season Formula Drift “Tech Day” is this Saturday (3-30-13) in Irvine, CA.  This is your chance to see more than a few Formula Drift cars up close before they make their competition debut in Long Beach next month.

In addition to checking out the 2013 competition cars there will also be a car meet with editors from Super Street, Import Tuner, and Modified magazine scouting for feature cars.  If you get hungry there will be a slew of trendy food trucks on hand, and if you are looking to score some gear there will also be giveaways and contests!  I’ll be there and I might have a few goodies with me to give away as well.  If you see someone wearing a shirt that says “Super HYPE Me” then feel free to say hi and there just might be something in it for you!

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Event Info:

Who: Formula Drift

What: 2013 Formula Drift Tech Day

When: Saturday March, 30 2013 10am-5pm

Where: 1733 Alton Parkway. Suite 100. Irvine, CA

Why: Because Drift Car

How Much: FREEEEEEEE 

Pro Tip: Show up EARLY! All the “high profile” cars usually have early spots on the schedule.  Plus showing up early will help you land a primo parking spot.

Need something to do tomorrow?  Live in So Cal?  Then head out to the town that Disney built, Anaheim CA for the SpoCom show.  SpoCom promises to fill Anaheim convention center with 300 show quality cars as well as other stuff to keep you entertained: models, DJ battles, dance crew battles, even a street b-ball tourniment.  It is all happening tomorrow (8-4-12) starting at 4pm.  The cool part is that when you are finished there, you can cross the street and head to Cars Land at Disney California Adventure! Yay!

Who: SpoCom USA

What: SpoCom Show Anaheim

Where: Anaheim Convention Center – 800 West Katella Ave. Anaheim, CA 92802

When: August 8th 2012 (Saturday). Doors open at 4pm

Why: Because car shows near Disneyland are AWESOME!

How Much: Can’t find any price info on the site but expect to pay between $20-$25 and probably $7 to $10 for parking.

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DISCLAIMER: I am about to present my opinion on an event that I was given complimentary access to.  Normally I do not do this type of thing when it comes to events.  The typical procedure is to give a short recap on what happened and direct you to a gallery of photos.  However, based on my experiences this time I felt compelled to share my thoughts because I think you would want to know.  So I warn you now, what you read below is a collection of my experiences, thoughts, and opinions on Hot Import Nights Los Angeles.  If you went to the show I am sure your experience probably varied from mine and you may agree or disagree with what I say below.  I can only write about my experience and try to be as honest as possible.

Over the weekend I was graciously invited to Hot Import Nights at the LA Convention center.  Admittedly it had been a while since I have been to a Hot Import Nights event.  In fact Pomona was the last one I attended and due to some last minute re-arrangements that show was downsized a bit.  I was glad to hear that they would be returning to the LA Convention Center and I had high hopes and expectations for the HIN team.  Unfortunately not many of those expectations were met and overall it was a bit of a let down in my opinion.

Things got off to a bad start when I arrived at the venue.  It is typically common practice at car shows (especially Hot Import Nights) to allow media into the show an hour before doors open to the public so that we can start taking pictures before the crowd gets in and more importantly, before the lights officially go out.  However this time that was not the case.  I showed up at the convention center just before 2pm (doors were supposed to open at 3pm) and the first thing that struck me is that there was absolutely no signage outside of the convention center whatsoever.  For a moment I actually thought I might have had the date wrong, I even double checked the flyer!  But sure enough I had the right day and place but no one would know it from the outside.  Anyhow I made way way into the lobby and saw nothing but a few security officers, a young man, and a few walk-through metal detectors.

I asked the  young man about the event and where I could find will call.  He told me will call would not start until 2:30.  I was a little miffed that I missed the memo on that piece of info but I waited in the lobby along with a group of other media and models who also missed the same bit of info.  To be fair, an email was sent out by HIN the night before informing media that will call would not be open until 2:30 but I did see that email until I had already come back from the event since it hit my inbox after 9pm that Friday.  Anyhow,  2:30 finally rolled around and will call was not set up yet and by this time there was a healthy group of online ticket holders wondering what they were supposed to do to redeem their vouchers.  Security finally created two lines: one for ticket holders and one for media/models.  However, that was about as organized as things got as the staff intermittedly bounced around between checking in ticket holders and media.  All the models were let in first.

Despite getting things started really late, to their credit the staff did allow media go to through security first and get into the venue before the ticket holders.  Although security itself was a bit, excessive.  I was forced to take off my belt and roll up my pants before I was allowed in.  Now, at some shows security does not check media at all which I think is a mistake, but forcing me to remove my belt, hold up my pants with one hand while trying to roll up my pants leg with the other hand was way too much.  I imagine that is why there was such a slow trickle of fans coming into the event if every single one of them had to go through something similar.

When I finally got inside (after 3pm) the first thing I noticed once I got inside was how small the event was.  Despite Hot Import Nights taking place in the south hall (which is the biggest hall in the convention center) they did not use the entire space and of the space they did use not much of it was occupied with cars.  I hate to make comparisons because I am not trying to favor one car show production team over another but to give you an idea of the car count.  To the eye it appeared that there was maybe about half the cars at HIN that were at Motion Auto Show in Long Beach earlier this year.

Upon seeing the amount of cars inside the show all I could think of was how people outside were paying $25 and in some cases $30 to get in.  At a casual pace a person could have seen all the cars in the venue in less than an hour.  There was a lot of potential space that could have been used for more cars used for other things, like a ring for luchador wrestling to promote a Mel Gibson straight to DVD movie, and a sizable area for people to sit and watch what appeared to be a starcraft video game tournament.  Really? Wrestling and gaming tournaments? 

I understand that it is always good to have other forms of entertainment at car shows just to provide some variety and make sure the show goers get their money’s worth, but there was entirely too much real estate given to things that had nothing to do with cars, and at a car show that is a bit troubling.

Even though things were a bit disorganized and the priorities were all mixed up, there were some redeeming qualities about the event.  Despite a low car count, there were a few really nice quality cars on hand that I had not seen at other shows.  Although the operative word here is “few”.  There were way too many cars that were near stock.  A “clean” car is one thing but when a car is 98% stock save for a set of wheels then I do not think it should be in a position where people have to pay to look at it.

I really wanted to come back from this show and tell you that Hot Import Nights is back and it will be worth your time and hard-earned money to visit the show when it comes to your town but I cannot do that this time.  In their current state I cannot “recommend” you check out their show but I would not discourage anyone from seeing it for themselves and coming to their won conclusions.  Although from my point-of-view it seems as if HIN has not abandoned the gimmicks, high ticket prices, and low quality show cars that were part of the organization’s downfall several years ago.  However, even after saying all that I will also say that I have not given up hope on HIN yet.

I think HIN can be saved if they take a good hard look at themselves, their past, and what the people really want.  The LA show over the weekend may have been more acceptable a decade ago but things have changed.  If you look at the shows that are really popular now Cannibeat, WekFest, HellaFlush, OneOfOne, etc.  those shows are all small and are typically not in big marquee locations.  Yet due to their quality and fair priced tickets people still line up in droves.  If HIN  can figure out a way to keep some of their flavor but make some adjustments that are more suited to what enthusiasts want today I think they can make it.

But for now they are not quite there yet…

The good news is that, like I said before, there were some pretty nice cars there and I did in fact shoot pictures of them so feel free to scroll through our Facebook gallery.  While it is a smaller gallery this time around I think you will still enjoy it.

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Do you live in southern California? Do you have absolutely no plans for the weekend? Then shame on you! There is plenty of stuff to do in southern California what the hell is wrong with you?!  Luckily I am here to help you out today.  In case you did not already know (which I am assuming you did not!) Hot Import Nights is coming back to the LA Convention Center in a big way this Saturday (July 7th).  Doors open at 3pm and stay that way all night.  I am expecting a ton of cars and a lot of the other stuff that made HIN famous back in the day: dance battles, DJ battles, etc.  So grab your phone and send out the mass text to your friends and take all the credit for coming up with something to do on Saturday.  Its ok I wont mind..  See you there!

What: Hot Import Nights Los Angeles

Where: Los Angeles Convention Center (1201 South Figueroa Street  Los Angeles, CA 90015)

When: Saturday July 7th 3pm-10pm

Why: You know you want to..

How Much: $30 ($5 off with flyer)

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I know it is a bit late but the full gallery from WekFest Long Beach 2012 is now up on the MotorworldHype.com Facebook page (like us!)  Even though the day started out with some gloom, the scenery, the cars, and the vibe of the show made it well worth visiting despite the crazy prep I had to do for E3 2012 this week.  Hopefully if you did not get a chance to make it out to the LBC for the second annual WekFest my gallery of 150 pictures will make up for your absence!  If you did go to WekFest feel free to post our own photos on our MotorworldHype Facebook wall or link them in the comments.  In the meantime check out a few pics and then hit any of the red link below to go to our gallery.  Enjoy!

Click HERE for full gallery.

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I was starting to get some serious car show withdrawal so you can imagine my excitement when it came time for Motion Auto Show to come back to our home town of Long Beach and fill our convention center with rows and rows of top notch rides.  One of the reasons I really like the Motion Auto Show is because the producers of the show Pro-Motion and the shows architect Mike Morita go out of their way to create an experience that is a lot like the car shows we were used to from the early days of the scene and so far they have always gotten it right!  I also commend Pro-Motion and Morita-san for pre-screening all the cars that register for the show.  Back in the day I hated spending my cash on a car show ticket only to find the show full of cars that were damn near stock! 

Between the cars, the dance contest, models, and vendors the attendees of this years Motion Auto Show in Long Beach definitely got their money’s worth.  If you didn’t get a chance to make it out to the show this year I highly reccomend going next year.  In the meantime check out some pictures below and see our full gallery on our Facebook page.

Click HERE For Gallery

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The first round of Formula Drift is still two weeks away but if you want an early look at some of what the west coast based teams are building and you are in the southern California area then you will want head over to the source interlink offices in Irvine tomorrow (March 24th) for the official Formula Drift tech day.  Also, if you happen to own an awesome car or think you are good looking enough to be a model then you will really want to come out tomorrow since Super Street, Modified Magazine, and Import Tuner are also having a “casting call” on site actively looking for the next feature car or cover model.  Personally I am trying to see if I can get both gigs.  If I am lucky you will see me posing seductively on the hood of my stock E39 with the missing grill on the cover of the next Import Tuner! 

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Who: Formula Drift and Source Interlink Magazines (Super Street, Modified, Import Tuner)

What: Formula Drift Tech Day/Magazine Casting Call

When: Saturday March 24th 11am-3pm

Where: 1733 Alton Parkway Irvine, CA 92606

Why: Because Driftcar

How Much: FREEEEEEE

Pro Tip: Show up EARLY teams with the most anticipated (or complex) builds like to show up early and leave early so they can go back to their shop to continue wrenching.

Did you get a chance to make it out to Hot Import Nights at Pomona over the weekend?  No? Well no worries we have a full gallery for you to check out.  It was a nice show although a bit on the small side.  Those who are used to the grand multi-building typical presence of Hot Import Nights may have bit a bit dissapointed with the size at first but the quality of cars on hand was exceptionally high.  Not too many bondo-mobiles or crazy tacky conversions!  Check out a few of our pics below and you can see the rest in our Facebook gallery.

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The classic car show series is starting off their 2012 season at the place where all import car shows began, Pomona Fairplex.  Like the HIN’s of old you can expect to see hundreds of cars, entertainment, and models for your viewing pleasure.  Also, don’t be surprised if you see DJs at every corner and random b-boy battles erupting all around you!  If this sounds like a good time then hit up HotImportNights.com for tickets.  If you want a $5 discount then use coupon code “MWORLDHYPE”!

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What: Hot Import Nights Pomona

When: March 10th 2012 3pm-10pm

Where: Pomona Fairplex 1101 W. McKinley Ave, Pomona, CA 91768

How Much: $25 but use coupon code “MWORLDHYPE” when buying online for $5 off

Why: Because Showcar

2012 marks the year that Hot Import Nights makes its full fledged return to the scene which currently is sorely lacking some good car shows with the exception of a few.  This year HIN’s 14 stop tour starts at the Pomona Fairplex on March 10th.  Show-goers can expect some of the same flavor that HIN was known for back in the day: a club like atmosphere, crazy displays, crazier show cars, rows of import models, and other entertainment like fashion shows, DJs spinning, and dance contests.

It all sounds like a good time to me so I would reccomend checking it out yourself.  It would probably be a good idea to avoid the line and get your tickets early online.  If you want a $5 discount use coupon code “MWOLRDHYPE”.  That’s right, who loves you?!

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So to recap:

What: Hot Import Nights Pomona

When: March 10th 2012 3pm-10pm

Where: Pomona Fairplex 1101 W. McKinley Ave, Pomona, CA 91768

How Much: $25 but use coupon code “MWORLDHYPE” when buying online for $5 off

Why: Because Showcar