GOOD OL’ BOYS
October 8, 2024
THE AUTO BUILDER
Featured
Too Cool
When Billy Durant approached Louis Chevrolet about designing a new automobile, Chevrolet was a famous race car driver whose exploits in the Indianapolis 500 were legendary. The year was 1911 and Durant, who could see the writing on the wall for his horse-drawn buggy business, figured who better to design an all-new, high-performance vehicle than a successful driver. Chevrolet, a company that was founded by racers and has produced some of the best high-performance vehicles ever to hit the pavement, has once again gone where no other manufacturer has dared to venture. With truck sales making up nearly 50 percent of their sales volume each year, Chevy wanted to create a Flagship vehicle for their pickup line. It had to be a totally new idea in pickups. But what was to be the angle? Luckily, someone at Chevy figured that since the Corvette holds that title for the autos, maybe the new truck should be equally as high performance. With that, the new Chevrolet Silverado Coolside II was born.
TRUCK OF THE YEAR
While attending the Goodguys Nashville Nationals, we happened upon this stunning Studebaker. Its owner, Jeff Wingo, informed us that during his high school years this same Studebaker served as his daily driver, providing him a ride to and from school and around town. Now a fast-paced computer consultant, Wingo travels around the world, which has allowed him a better lifestyle compared to his teen years. He also has two young sons, Grant and Jack, who love their dad’s cool truck. Let’s rewind to the summer of 2000, when Wingo made the decision to resurrect the tired and worn pickup.
Beyond Burnouts
Alright, so you wanna talk about the LS Fest West burnout challenge? Well, buckle up, ’cause we’re diving deep into the heart of automotive madness. This ain’t just your run-of-the-mill burnout, oh no. This is where the raw instinct of every gearhead gets elevated into a noble pursuit of creativity. Crafting the perfect burnout ain’t just about mashing the pedal to the metal; it’s about finesse, precision, and yeah, maybe a touch of madness thrown in for good measure.
Spotlighter
2004 NOPI Nationals Atlanta: Storming the Nats Car Show
Tuner cars, storm drama, and unforgettable moments from the 2004 NOPI Nationals at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The NOPI Nationals needs no introduction. Like Michael Jackson or The Rolling Stones, it doesn’t require an opening to get the crowd warmed up. Basically, they could cut out all of the fat and get right down to what the people came to see: all the hot cars scattered throughout the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story takes us back to the 2004 NOPI Nationals at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a year when thousands of tuner cars and fans turned the track into the epicenter of import car culture—even with Hurricane Ivan threatening to crash the party. It was proof that nothing could stop the energy and momentum of NOPI at its peak. Now, more than 20 years later, the NOPI Nationals 2025 are set to return. The passion never faded, the car show scene never slowed, and NOPI is ready once again to take the spotlight as one of the biggest tuner events in the game.
Author
Neil Tjin & Warren Shim-Quee
Photos: Gene Tjin, Warren Shim-Quee, & Ben Bodor
The Pre-Party in Miami
The adventure for us once again began in Miami at HP Racing’s NOPI Nats pre-party. The crew at HP did its usual fine job of playing host with lots of food, good music and great giveaways. We went to hang out for a few hours with some of the South Florida dudes showing off their rides as they prepared to make the trek to Atlanta the following night.
Road to Atlanta
The next day we headed out toward Jacksonville, Florida, to pick up some of our cars from the seaport. The guys from Vision Entertainment were gracious enough to ship two of our cars down to Puerto Rico for one of its spin-off events. We picked up the cars from the port, along with some friends from the Akina Speedstars, and started our drive to Atlanta.
Hurricane Ivan Looms
Of course, we can’t forget to mention that in the midst of all of this, Hurricane Ivan was moving through Florida and heading toward Atlanta! As you may recall, it was BIG news. Rumors were flying that the Nationals could be postponed or even cancelled.
Keeping a close watch on the hurricane reports, we anticipated bad weather, but persisted just the same so we would arrive on time. Which we didn’t. It was late Friday evening when we entered the Speedway—without a drop of rain on our windshields! The skies looked clear, so it appeared the NOPI event would be fine for the weekend.
Last-Minute Prep
Before arriving, we stopped a few highway exits away from Atlanta Motor Speedway to wash our cars and get them ready for display. The place was already saturated—not with rain, but with other tuners who had the same idea. We joined the waiting line.
Once that was done, we headed to our hotel for the night, only to discover that there was a slight dilemma with our reservations, and we had to call around to find more hotel rooms. Take our advice: Always schedule your hotel accommodations way in advance for the week of the NOPI Nats. And if you want to actually sleep in your room, stay as far away as possible from the track. Otherwise you get drunken antics, burnouts, engine revving and “SHOW ME YOUR HOO-HOOS!” at all hours of the night. Luckily, we found a nice, quiet hotel where we all got adequate sleep for the weekend.
The Saturday Morning Line
One trademark that stands out about the NOPI Nats is the colossal line that forms in the early morning hours before the show opens. Cars start lining up beforehand to get better parking for the weekend, and this year’s event was no different. So we cruised the caravan of vehicles, trying to spot some cars.
One of the cars that stood out was owned by Jon Jon “JDM hater” Guadalupe. We’d seen his car last year at the same event, as well as at the spring break Tuner Bash, so we were familiar with his car, but we had never met Guadalupe. We pulled him out from the show on Saturday and messed around with his car, so be sure to look for his ride in an upcoming issue.
Drama and Dedication
As the day progressed, Neil “The Book Nazi” Tjin had Team China Man working full-tilt. Raul Brenes, Ben Bodor, Gene Tjin (Neil’s brother) and Warren Shim-Quee apparently managed to stir up the usual drama with some of our competitors while there, but we won’t get into that now. (We’ll save it for Neil’s editorial.)
The Show Lives Up to the Hype
So despite dangerous tropical storm threats, it was another great year for the NOPI Nationals. We’d like to thank Clint Bartwell and Arturo Johnson for helping us with the gate situation. These guys made it a piece of cake for us to get the cars in and out, so we could get them photographed. The Nats had its share of subplots and a bit of drama, but once again the show lived up to the hype. There were thousands of cars on display and, considering the weather reports, more spectators than anyone expected. Once again, NOPI set the bar for others to follow.
