2003 Hot Import Nights; Chicago - Super Street Magazine

Of all the things we do here at Super Street, traveling is one that can really wear a person down. That is, unless you're taking flights to cities that have a population of millions versus hundreds. It's almost a superstar-like lifestyle we live, except there are no bottles of Cristal being uncorked at the club, no groupies throwing their bras and panties at us (more like Hanes Beefy Ts or Fruit of the Loom briefs), and we aren't being paid to make an appearance. Taking those thoughts into consideration, we'd have to say that a total lack of luxury is usually forgotten about when it comes to the quality of the shows we cover and the kinds of people we meet there, for without those key elements, it would be much harder to close our eyes, dig into a hat, and pull out the short straw for a fun-filled weekend away from home.

This past July, Hot Import Nights struck once again at the McCormick Place, located just a few miles outside of downtown Chicago. For some of us, it was our first time stepping foot outside of the United terminal at O'Hare International, so we pondered the essentials: Good weather? (Wound up being much cooler than Los Angeles.) Hot women? (Does a 4:1 girl-to-guy ratio mean anything to you? And, yes, most of them were hot!) Enough decent show cars to make this trip a success? (Uh, yeah!) Surpassing all of our expectations, the convention center floor filled to capacity within minutes of the show's opening. Plenty of elaborate participator displays and large manufacturer booths, like DaimlerChrysler's get up with the new Dodge SRT-4, were there to show their support for our scene. We were surprised to see a number of JDM conversions, all cleanly executed, as well as this really cool '01 Civic coupe with a K20 engine.

One thing we must mention about Chicago that surprised us the most was the amount of support people gave us. Never before have so many people come up to us, thanking us for pushing SS out of our collective asses each month. We must say we were truly impressed, even though a couple of them followed us to the bathroom and waited outside until we were finished. At least next time around, we won't have any doubts about which trip to take up.