Southern California Car Shows

The introduction:

I've been attending import shows since late 2006. Mainly checking out the import tuner shows and finding myself going to the lowrider and then the DUB shows in southern California. It's been fun and relaxing just walking around taking pictures and now video!

Original article found at: http://hubpages.com/hub/auto-show-events

Visitors and car owners to Import shows and lowrider shows are predominantly Asian and Hispanic in that order. Event organizers and models are more likely to be Asian or Hispanic but it looks like some of the organizers have been bought out by bigger corporations. Yea, it had to happen now that these shows are becoming a bit more mainstream.

However, most of the models claim to have mixed blood. For example, Lisa Angeline is Mexican-Irish, Leah Dizon claims Chinese, Filipino and French while Alicia Ann Whitten... well, she basically claims.... Vietnamese, German, French, Irish, Dutch, Spanish, etc, etc, etc.... and you know what? That mix sure blended really well. Because man, they're HOT!

Crowd control as in security tends to be on the extreme end of things with metal detectors, body searches, police on horses and walking enforcement tours abound at these shows. I haven't seen a fight yet. Is it due to the enforcement or because guys attention are towards the cars and the hot import models?

Ticket prices are generally between $15 to $25. Parking usually is between $10 to $15 bucks. Food is insane at double to triple the cost of your average burger or drink and most of the time not as good. Just think of High School cafeteria food but at triple the cost. Yea...

The southern California modified tuner car show scene is in flux right now. The big car shows are SpoCom, Formula Drift, DUB and Lowrider. The scene used to be mainly Hot Import Nights, but they stumbled last year and now have merged with NOPI to become HINNOPI.

Since HIN has been loosing its touch for the past few months. There has been new events appearing like XDC Xtreme Drift Circuit, Lexanifest and RPM Events.

HINNOPI will be showing up later this year in southern California with a 2 day car show, so things are getting interesting!

In southern California, import tuner and lowrider shows start showing up February and by summer, there are almost weekly car shows! By the fourth quarter, the modified tuner and lowrider car show circuits starts to slow down and the big general car shows start to appear. First to appear is the Orange County International Auto Show, followed by the Los Angeles International Auto Show in November and at the end of December, the San Diego International Auto Show.

Original article found at: http://hubpages.com/hub/auto-show-events

The big shows normally don't have the go-go dancers or the import models. If they do, then it's separated from the rest of the show. The Orange county car show has the Hawaiian Tropics Bikini Contest and the San Diego car show has a fashion show and a b-boys contest above the convention center. The Los Angeles International Auto Show has a modified car section but none of the good stuff like a fashion show, bikini contest or even one Go-Go dancer or Import Model!

The Los Angeles International Auto Show does have the concepts, the exotics and well, it's in Los Angeles. If you have nothing else to do, it's cheap entertainment. Don't expect an import tuner show or a lowrider event.

Late December, the San Diego International Car Show is like a little brother to the Los Angeles Auto Show but without the exotics and the concept cars. Like a small brother, it wants to show up the big brother, so it has an import tuner section of the show upstairs! Yea!

What it has is a hall full of modified cars and lowriders. Vendors hawking their wares and a few models at vendor booths. Not a lot, but you can't complain.

What's the big deal? Well, there's always a couple of fashion shows and maybe a bikini contest thrown in every year. Always on Saturday, one early afternoon and one early evening, remember that! Then there's the hip-hop dancers and rappers in-between the fashions shows. It's pretty good!

There's also the regular car show downstairs for you guys looking to buy a car.

These are the car shows I know about in Southern California. Most have their own focus - from Japanese imports to European imports to Lowriders and the big shows that target the general public.

List of car shows in Southern California.

All Toyotafest - Car show focusing on Toyota vehicles from modified Scions to racer tuned Lexus vehices. Also showed old school Toyotas past and present. All Toyotafest was held at the Long Beach City College's Veteran Stadium in 2008. Parking was free! There was about four promotional models around the big lot.

Original article found at: http://hubpages.com/hub/auto-show-events

AutoCon - A car show in December in southern California! AutoCon is a charity toy drive / car show that was held in an underground parking lot in the City of Industry. Lots of hot girls posing for the photographers and a lot of modified cars! A very good car show!

Bimmerfest - Rows upon rows of BMWs in southern California.

Truck Jamboree Plus - Truck Jamboree is held every year in Irvine near the water park. I think all of the lowrider clubs in California attend this meet. It's pretty cool and laid back. The food is pretty good and not that expensive. Not a lot of models. Last two years, I haven't seen a bikini contest.

Dub Show Tour - Mix of lowriders, trucks and modified vehicles. Dub has shows in Staples center in Los Angeles and the San Diego Convention center. No bikini contest. Tons of nice looking models. Things sometimes get really nasty if your lucky enough to be in the right place.

Extreme Autofest - Have shows throughout the year. They set up the Urban Ridez Expo event at the San Diego International Auto Show. Events include bikini contest, fashion shows, B-boy battle. This is a import tuner show.

Hot Import Nights - HIN is back with old management back in control! There will be multiple car shows across the country in addition to Philippines and Guam for 2012!

LA Auto Show - This is a general car show held at the Staples center every November. Cost is $10, and don't expect the energy from an import tuner show.

Lowrider Tour - The Lowrider show is big. A lot of lowriders and a hopping contest. There is a bikini contest. Not a lot of models, but they are there. You just have to find them.

MotorMavens Mass Appeal - MotorMavens brings the newest car show to southern California with Mass Appeal! The first car show was held on December 4, 2010, and in association with Gymhkana, was a great blend of car show and track acrobatics!

Motion Auto Show & Expo - A new car show in Long Beach in August from the guy who created SpoCom! If you've been to SpoCom in the past, you know you gotta go to Motion Auto Show! This looks like another big car show that everyone has to attend!

Nighshift - The sister event of Hot Import Nights. Nightshift. This is an outdoor event. Bikini contests, go-go dancers, more hot models. Nightshift is making a return for 2012! First stop will be at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, California.

Orange County Auto Show - A car show for the general car buying population. The saving grace is that they have 2 bikini contests. One bikini contest on Friday evening and the Hawaiian Tropics bikini contest on Saturday afternoon.

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RPM Car Show - Modified tuner event from the guy who started Hot Import Nights. Looks good and from experience, has tons of models!

Redline Time Attack - Hit yourself up for some racing, just fill out the forms and get on the track all day. Usually, there is a nice small car show where you can just walk around under the blistering sun. Yea, it's usually FN hot.

San Diego International Auto Show - A car show for people looking to buy a new car. This show has partnered with Extreme Autofest's URE, so there's fashion shows, B-boy contests, bikini contests and modified cars at a seperate hall.

Showoff Car Shows - These guys plan the JDM vs DTM event in Chinatown every year and the Nisei Week car show in Little Tokyo. The Nisei Week car show is big and has a lot of models. The shows normally do not have bikini contests.

Sideway Sundays - A mix of drifting for amateurs and pros. In addition, a car show section right on the track! This drifting and car show event started April 2011 and is held at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, just east of Los Angeles. Been to the May 1 event and looks good! Hopefully every month the crowd increases for the next few months!

SpoComUSA - SpoCom has grown since this car shows launched a few years ago. SpoCom is now held in the San Francisco Bay area, Hawaii, and the big car show at Anaheim Convention Center! Bikini contests, hot import models, sweet modified cars, dance competitions. This is a great car show!

Streetlow Lowrider show - Heavy on the Lowriders! It's a smaller show than the Lowrider shows and is based in Costa Mesa. Not much models but the bikini contest is pretty good. I'd say it's wilder than most bikini contests!

Formula Drift - Total drifting mainly located in Long Beach and and Irwindale. There's also a side show with modified cars and hot import models. Sad to say, I didn't see a bikini contest.

Toyota Grand Prix - This is at the Long Beach convention center. There racing all day long. There was also a drifting event this year. Big car show inside the convention center and you get to see the Tecate girls and some hot models.

Battle of the Imports - This was held in Fontana. Man this was a far drive. There was some great drag racing, ca modified car show, and a bikini contest.

JDM Theory J's Gathering - Northern California import tuner show came down to show their love for Southern California. There was racing around the track in Fontana and a line of modified cars next to the track. A few umbrella girls and some really hot looking import models had attended.

VW Jamboree - It's all about VW cars. I mean, all about VW cars from every era! There's also a nice bikini contest in the afternoon! Food is great and lots of families and kids walking around.

XDC: Xtreme Drift Circuit - Drifting all day on the track. Car show right next to it. Lots of girls! Import models, Go-go dancers... and modified cars. Very good show.

DEAD/INACTIVE EVENTS/MIA

Autocrave - these guys have tons of models and bikini contest and focus on the import tuner crowd. Previous shows have been at Pomona Fairplex and recently the Eurocrave event in Long Beach.

D1 Grand Prix - It's back! The first event was May in Anaheim stadium. There was drifting all day and with a car show right next to it. Tons of hot import models, lowriders, and modified cars all over the parking lot. No bikini contest, no fashion show which sucked. Food lines were ass long all day.

Dubfest - European modified cars. Tons of VWs for some reason. Some import models but this was mainly focusing on the cars. The show was in Irwindale at Toyota Speedway.

Dubwars - This is an all European import show. They also have a track where you can race other drivers. The only issue I have is that it's located in Willow Springs. It's a far and hot drive from Los Angeles. Wasn't much models. But a lot of leggy Asian girls walking around... with their boyfriends.

FunkMaster Flex - In Anaheim. A lot of the lowrider crowd were at this show and on the other side of the hall was the import tuner crowd. I was at the back of the crowd when the bikini contest started, but the girls looked good in their bikinis. Import models were really hot!

Lux5 Events - These guys are focusing on the exotic luxury segment of the market. This year's Lux5 event was in Santa Monica. Mainly a fashion show and some promotional models. There were a couple of women doing some acrobatics, and that was pretty cool.

Garage Keizo - Street Machine Battle - This was a new car show open to any Japanese imports only. It was in a small lot in Torrance. Last year was the first show and from taking a look at their website, there will be a round 2 this year!

Mega Matsuri- From the guys who created Nissei car show, they came back a week later with a smaller show and more modified cars. Same place and same location.

The Envy Expo - The focus with this car show is high end, high class. Thing is, there's import models! High end cars, shoes, concert, all that. It's at Pomona Fairplex. Update: July 18, latest info is that the Envy Expo has been canceled at the Fairplex.

Car And Model covers a lot of the shows in Southern California and the rest of the country. Pictures of modified cars and hot models.

Pure Hot Models focuses on the hot models! Eazy and correct description!

Babe Blvd is all about hot import models. All babes. All pages!

AutoImportCraze is similar to Car And Model. Tons of free pictures of cars and models.

SHIFTR another source for news on the import tuner scene, modified car pictures and more hot models!

Original article found at: http://hubpages.com/hub/auto-show-events

Streetlow focuses on the lowrider scene. There's also a Streetlow event in Costa Mesa every year. This is a smaller show than the Lowrider show that was held in San Diego earlier this year, but I think it's more focused. From watching the YouTube video of the bikini contest, it looks better! I want to go next year!

autoshowevents is a site that primarily photographs the hot import models, the modified cars and anything else at car shows.

Two model expos have come upon the southern California scene. These model expos are geared towards the fans and photographers who normally would attend import tuner car shows. Normally there is wall to wall import tuner models and gogo dancers! Bring your cameras and video recorders because these events want you to take pictures and videos of the models.

CAME: Celebrity and Model Expo was held on October 3, 2010 in Torrance, CA from 11am to 6pm. Pictures from CAME can be found at autoshowevents!

Babe Expo is on October 24 from 12 to 6pm at Falcon Hollywood. Babe Expo is organized by Babeblvd and will host all the Babeblvd import models!

Here's a list of some import tuner car clubs in Southern California.

Team Sadistic - http://teamsadistic.net/

Team Hokori - http://teamhokori.com/html/home.html

Team Transport - http://www.teamtransport.org/

Team Hybrid - http://www.teamhybrid.com/

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High End Performance - http://www.highendperformance.net/

Emperor Evo Club - http://www.emperorevoclub.com/

Scion Evolution - http://www.scionevolution.org/forum/index.php

RL2 - http://www.rltwo.com/phpBB3/index.php

Here's a list of some lowrider car clubs in California. I couldn't find some of the websites of the car clubs, so I put down either one of their myspace pages or a youtube page.

Nokturnal Car Club - http://nokturnalcarclub.org/

Street Clownin Car Club - http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=384084789

Head Twisters Car Club - http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.channel&ChannelID=231120195

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Just uS Car Club - http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.channel&channelid=47654731

Still Tippin Car Club - the webstie no longer works!

Ruthless Car Club - http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=437720187

NIGHTMARE CAR CLUB - http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=68411142

Ballerz Inc - http://www.ballerzinccc.com/HOME_main.html

Hi-Limits Car Club - I can't find any websites for this club!

Hitting Hard - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWmqht1LC1U

Cali Drifters Custom Rides - website gone!

Royal Riches - http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=127114038

High Image Car Club - http://www.highimagecarclub.com/

Original article found at: http://hubpages.com/hub/auto-show-events

Connected Car Club - http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=239848161

Latin Bombas Car Club - http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=111858651