That's right, son!" Hot Import Nights comes back to the city where it all began-Los Angeles. Ask anyone about the automotive tuning and modification scene and the first thing they think of is the west coast-Los Angeles to be precise. I would guess you could also thank the Fast and the Furious movies for that too. The automotive scene and Los Angeles go together like peanut better and jelly, fat kid and cake, and import models and photographers. [Yes, I'm talking about myself.] Chrome, neon lights, mirrors, ice, bling and hotties are what you can typically see at any Hot Import Nights-and The Los Angeles Convention Center wasn't short on any of these. One of the finest things about going to an HIN show in Los Angeles is that the best of the best comes out to show off what they got-that's including the cars and the models. The show had something for everyone's tastes-from iced out to riced out. If for some reason that doesn't get your taste buds wet, then the booty shakin' on the main stage will.
The day of HIN Los Angeles started with phone calls to all our friends-we had to make sure that our peeps in the industry were going to be in attendance. Actually, we just wanted to see which models were working at which booths. We needed some company for the several hours during the show. We arrived right at 5 p.m. and the line of cars waiting to get into the parking structure had already wrapped around the block. We would recommend anyone interested in attending the show to arrive slightly before the doors open, because the line was ridiculous. As we entered through the doors into the Convention Center we were greeted with a gust of cool A/C-a much needed refresher from the blistering triple digit weather outside. It wouldn't be called HOT IMPORT NIGHTS for no reason.
The show featured an array of different tuning styled automobiles. There were a few clean JDM and Drift spec cars, but when we talk about cars at a HIN show, it's all about going over the top. The Scion xB seems to be the car of choice to "trick out," much like how the Civic EG(s) were back in the mid-'90s. It's not just about the exterior appearance with sick paint jobs, slammed suspensions, under neon glow kits and chromed wheels, but also the interior. Installing video game systems into your car isn't a new thing, but now with Nintendo Wii video, gaming in your ride just got a lot more interesting. We wouldn't recommend trying to play the Wii while driving, though, for obvious reasons.
There were also quite a few different on-stage performers at the show, along with appearances by models. Headlining on the main stage for HIN LA was hip hop artist Eve; on the other side of the Convention Center was the Boost Mobile stage, which featured acts like Seattle's own On-Fire Entertainment, an MC throw down and a B-boy and B-girl dance off hosted by extreme BMX rider Rick Thorne. Adult film actress and entrepreneur Tera Patrick was present, signing autographs and taking photos with fans. Unfortunately we couldn't get close enough to get any good photos because some guy wouldn't let us cross the velvet ropes... WTF?! No biggie; we just cruised around saying "hi" to our favorite models-Melissa Reign at the Babe Blvd booth, go-go Queen Jeri Lee (a.k.a. Mama Lee), Lisa Kim Fleming and all the other girls of HIN.
Hot Import Nights Los Angeles was everything you would expect from any other HIN city stop, but it's always something special when it comes back home.