Sunny Southern California…

For the uninitiated, California has two seasons – hot, and slightly less hot. For most of the year it’s the former, and despite Year 10 being scheduled at the tail end of October it was still over 90°F at Eibach’s facility in Corona. But every year like clockwork, we’ve come to expect Joey’s anniversary meets and the heat that comes with them. This was the tenth running, and its quite an accomplishment to make it into the double digits; in so doing garnering much praise and setting the stage for many high profile builds, year after year. The quality of the builds and the people attending rival that of any large-scale show, yet Joey’s meets have a more intimate, personal feel.

The event always has an air of laid back maturity to it, and it’s one of it’s best traits. Nobody shows up to one of Joey’s meets to do donuts like so many meets out there seem to always devolve into, because this is so much more than that. This is the event for the enthusiast. The time of year where the community comes together to celebrate the enduring power of automotive passion, and those who strive to preserve what is right and good about the hobby we all share and love. Its as much a celebration of Joey’s accomplishments as it is a celebration of his audience.

Most people associate Joey’s work with Honda’s, and that’s understandable, but that’s only part of what he does. The car world has lots of overlapping interests and it would be foolish to limit to just one. While most cars in attendance wore an H badge, there was plenty of variety for anyone not familiar with Honda.

Would a strictly Honda meet have an R31 Skyline? Raul of local Socal team Wild Cards, known for their collection of kyusha style cars, brought out his Calsonic-liveried HR31 Skyline.

People often forget about the R31 generation Skyline. Nuts to them. It may not be a GT-R, but it was still a culturally significant model with a racing pedigree that would foreshadow the R32 to come.

Japanese cars in the 80’s were always loaded with cool tech that was novel at the time. Tech that has only grown cooler with time, such as these Kenwood parcel shelf speakers that light-up to let everyone know you’re listening to some funky 80’s jams.

Which leads us right into this R32 GT-R from R-Rydes. With N1-spec headlights, N1 bumper vents and a Rocket Dancer wing there was a lot to like, but our favorite part of this GT-R was the Silver Moss paint; though its a color never offered for the R32, it really should have been.

Cody’s EG looked as good as always with a C West bumper and BattleCraft hood, sitting on a set of mismatched Type C’s.

EC Works, Group A, dinosaur tooth, mannequin foot, etc, etc; call them what you will, these mirrors are always good and a personal favorite.

Perforated vinyl. It’s not cheap doing a livery the right way…

This DC5 looked fantastic at BattleCraft’s booth sporting their trademark livery and mismatched TE37/Weds Sport TC05 combo.

Carbon headlight covers are a nice touch on this zenki DC5 front end.

There were more than enough cool cars to go around, with the meet overflowing out into the street.

eg-9910 — @typeonemarcus and @curryisadrink photo bombing @ap1_phil

Friends and fried chicken. Phil’s AP1 has always been a favorite, and it sees regular track use! Unfortunately, he recently destroyed his front bumper during an unintended off-roading session at Vtec Club’s season closing event at Buttonwillow, but we have no doubts the next incarnation will be just as good as ever!

Jose’s fast as hell DC2 is always nice to see on track, and it fits right in at Year 10.

Philip Robles’ car is a great example of a car that can do double duty as a show car and a dedicated race car. A veteran on the track, Robles opted for a Pandem kit on his EG to maximize function while looking great at the same time.

One-off touches like these separate Robles’ car from the rest of the pack, both on and off track.

Most people would argue that the EK Civic hatchback is better than the coupe, and that the kouki (facelift) is better than the zenki (pre-facelift)… This car, however, is a zenki coupe with a full Mugen kit and it looks great. The more rounded design of the zenki (pre-facelift) is my personal favorite, and this car ticks all the right boxes.

This Toyota Century was a pleasant surprise. In our current automotive climate where everyone is busy importing Skylines and JZX’s, its nice to see more niche cars like these making their way to our side of the world. This particular car came down all the way from Canada!

I have a soft-spot for four-door DC2’s, wouldn’t mind owning one someday!

Chris is another Vtec Club regular, and this is the first time we’ve seen his CRX with a J’s Racing front bumper. Combined with the DeepSeban fenders, which flow perfectly with the TrackLife cutouts, this car just gets better and better!

Speaking of J’s Racing, Brian’s EK was looking great as always. We’ve seen this car before on Exciting Hero during a Vtec Club event at Willows Springs, and we don’t ever grow tired of it. Besides, who doesn’t love J’s Racing?

Andrew recently finished up a B18 swap on his EG. Having won the Coolest Car award at Vtec Club’s NorCal vs SoCal event back in June, it’s great to see the car at Year 10, and with a new powerplant to boot!

This S2000 is yet another Canadian national making the trip to sunny southern California. This car shows how the right mix of parts and execution can make a car so special.

Imagine throwing a meet and having Spoon bring their Super Taikyu S2000? This is the very special thing about Joey’s meets. Being able to amass such a following while still being a down to earth, approachable guy is what makes events like this possible.

We here at Exciting Hero like DA Integras; one of us actually own a DB2 GSR, and it’s a rare to see one with aftermarket aero. For whatever reason, most DA owners keep their cars OEM. We’d love to see more tastefully done cars like this. This DA was looking good with the lesser-known Kaminari front bumper mixed with some Mugen bits.

This beautiful Mercedes 280SE has been at previous events hosted by Joey, and it’s yet another unorthodox car to see modified. It looks incredible every time we’ve seen it.

Good to see that white four door still making the rounds!

Alfredo’s EA-T Wonder Civic reminds me how much I really, REALLY like this generation Civic.

Southsiiiiide Auto Custom from Japan built this car last year and brought it to Year 9, and it remains one of our favorite Shuttles with many hand-made touches setting it off.

Beautifully executed EF civic…

with a just as beautifully executed engine bay!

This is one of our favorites of the show. It’s possible that the entire Mugen catalog is on this car, and while the kit definitely isn’t for everyone, it certainly works for us. So much so that I’ve got a Mugen wing on my own Civic! There’s just something about it that’s so unlike most aftermarket EK Civic parts while still looking great.

The EK4 mid-wing seems like a relic from the past now, but I remember these being on almost every EK Civic back in the early 2000’s. Again, they may not be for everyone but in this case it only adds to the quality of this build. Back in the Gran Turismo 1/2 days, a Mugen Civic demo car just like this was a secret prize car, and one that helped me to like Civics way back when. This car is basically a 1:1 replica of Mugen’s own demo car, and I’ve got a huge place in my heart for it.

Like Mugen? Of course you do. As if the EK4 above wasn’t enough, this car shows just how high the bar is set at Year 10. Catalog cars like these are everywhere at this event, each one of them built with tremendous passion.

The Del Sol gets a lot of flack from Honda enthusiasts, and I can understand from a certain point of view. Looking at it as a successor to the CRX, the two differ so much they may as well be from a different family of cars; the Del Sol was clearly meant to steal away MX5 Miata owners who might want a little more practicality and reliability than an FR roadster, but that’s selling it short. It’s a lightweight and nimble golden-era Honda, and a true two seater that shows great potential when modified.

This wild NSX was positioned near the entrance to Eibach, offering a taste of what Year 10 is all about.

Tommy recently acquired a Shift Sports hood for his EK. It’s definitely a good look.

BattleCraft’s booth is always one of the most interesting things about Year 10 because it’s always nice to see what Kristian and Yuta are cooking up. Moui’s car looked better than ever with the recently added BattleCraft hood, wide fenders and C West side skirts.

Kam’s Levin, now sporting a TBO bumper to match the TBO hood. The TBO bumper, despite it’s curves, manages to flow well with the wedge-shaped 86’s body, and I’m a fan of anything with N1 style vents.

From Year 9 to Super D to Year 10, this car remains stunning, and is among the best 86’s in North America without question. There is nothing about this car that we don’t love.

As the event began to wind down and cars were being loaded up, we got to see the cars of the meet that drove here under their own power head out. It’s one thing to see a car parked, but it’s refreshing to see them driving on the road home. It keeps things realistic. These cars don’t exist in a bubble. This isn’t fancy exhibition hall where owners spend the whole day ahead of time parking their car; people drive here in the morning and leave as the sun sets that same day.

USDM front DC2’s may get a lot of hate from some people in favor of their JDM counterparts, and it seems to stem from the notion that they’re inherently more difficult to make look ‘cool’. Cars like this ’97 ITR are a special case, however; pre-facelift ’97 DC2’s in the US are the rarest of the rare. This one not only retained its US front, but it’s also been tastefully modified. Most Type R owners recoil at the thought of modifying a surviving ’97. This one is modified. I argue it’s all the better for it.

… and off goes Spoon’s S2000, ready to race Super Lap Battle. The meet was all packed up at this point, and another year in the books for The Chronicles.