Let’s Look
December 7, 2022
THE AUTO BUILDER
Featured
FALKEN TIRE DRIFT SHOWOFF
THE FALKEN Tire Drift Showoff was a hit, to say the least. The event was held at Irwindale Motor Speedway on a beautiful, sunny afternoon. Thousands of people attended, which goes to show the outstanding marketing job that Falken Tire is doing to help make a difference in the tuner car movement. The company took it upon itself to give us a taste of what the Japanese market has been enjoying for so many years. Among the thousands of spectators, a healthy number of show cars showed up as well—and why wouldn’t they? This was an Import Showoff event, but this car show was a bit different from the norm. It was a JDM versus DTM show. In other words, Japanese against Euro. The cars that came out were very hot, with enough JDM and DTM on hand to kill you. All the heavy hitters and the big crews such as Team Hybrid, Flux, Tuningwerks Competition and Art-N-Motion came out to show their stuff. While this was a huge attraction, it was far from the main one.
SUBTLE STANDOUT
From the low-key approach applied to this ’55 Chevy, it’s obvious that Jack and Gail Jenkins’ reasons for building it were based around applied craftsmanship, when you take into account the subtle style it displays. While the bodywork and paint are flawless, there’s little sign of the modifications beneath it, or the effort that went into them.
A TRIBUTE ROADSTER
It all started with my buddy Dave Collins, a flooring contractor who happened to own a ’55 DeSoto sedan, complete with terminal rust. I told him I would be interested in buying the engine,” says Jim Moore, owner of this roadster. “He replied that if I would buy the entire car, he would sell me new carpet for cost plus five percent; this enabled me to haul the DeSoto hulk home and part it out without any complaints from my wife as she gained new carpet in the deal.” And so it goes in the world of hot rodding!
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.
