Hot Import Daze - San Diego - Scorching

Ah, summertime in Southern California. The girls are wearing next to nothing, the guys are trying to scam on the girls, and there's a pasty British guy running around claiming he works for us, telling girls to remove their tops for a Super Street Presents Girls Gone Wild video. Life is good. Those Hot Import thingys are usually held at night, indoors, and under suspiciously dark lighting, with the cover of night having the same effect on cars as beer goggles have when you're checkin' out the ladays. That hottie with the Nissan Fairlady Z you were trying to kick it to may turn out to be a guy with long hair rolling in his Ford Fairlane in daylight. Hot Import Daze, on the other hand, are held in the brightest of bright sunlight, and there is none of that hiding-your-car-in-the-dark-corner-to-cover-up-your-crappy-paint-job stuff. You have to bring your A-game, motion lotion, and some C.C. Lemon to an event like this.

The girls brought out the big guns as well. Bikini tops and shorts were the order of the day-at least the order we placed at the door-and there weren't many disappointments, though our offers for suntan lotion rubdowns were resoundingly denied. Sending Greg Emmerson to a show like this was like dropping Nads in a vat of Juicy Juice. Seeing that he used to live in cloudy old England, we weren't sure how he would act with some sun exposure. But just as we figured, he ran around with his shirt off trying to soak up as much of the life-giving light as he could before he had to return to the confines of his cardboard box. Luckily, he knows how to take pictures, as we weren't sure he'd know how to adjust his camera for a sunny day. But as you can see, he didn't do too poorly. It's too bad we have to lock him back up.

Scene: Hot Import Nights; Chicago
For the second year in a row, Chicago continued to amaze me with its incredible vibe, not only because of the city itself but also because of its people. It's a quality Los Angeles lacks at times and other cities just do not have. Perhaps that's why I love venturing out to the Windy City-the people.

Once a year, Vision Entertainment brings the Hot Import Nights series to town and gathers all those great people along with the hottest cars. The night was filled to capacity, with an endless stream of heads motioning from one end of the room to the next. The hottest themes belonged to the JDM and drift camps, where plenty of Hondas strutted the standard-issue Mugen and Spoon gear, while the top US drift vehicles were on display at the Yokohama booth. With the music on full blast, both my ears and eyes caught on to the vibe of Miss Lisa, part of HIN's touring female DJ crew. For the first time, the Chicago stop of the Hot Import Nights series brought together the best of our scene's finest elements.