To your average non-car enthusiast, the notion of attending an art gallery is a legitimate suggestion. Appreciating the quality of exhibits displayed: paintings, sculptures, photographs and more, allows visitors to soak in the vitality of said items. For some, depending on which stage they’re at in their lives, these art pieces may even strike a sentimental or vigorous chord – providing a shot of inspiration for viewers to incorporate back into their daily activities.

If you’re a car enthusiast, the notion and feelings above might apply to you. However, these perceptions might not hit you when you’re at an art gallery; but instead when you find yourself wandering around at an invigorating automotive showcase.

In a way, car shows focused on modified vehicles are like art galleries, but for automotive enthusiasts. Stock cars are used as blank canvases, with the modifications carried out an expression of the artists/owner’s creativity. Sometimes, this creativity renders an owner’s vehicle as no longer a mode of transport but that’s perfectly fine. These type of cars should be viewed as static art pieces designed to stimulate your visual senses and should be appreciated with such thought, just like how one would admire a fine painting inside an art museum.

Similar to presenting a powerful exhibit at an art gallery – where all the pieces are selectively chosen to encompass a certain emotion, car shows which follow this formula also generate a similar buzz. However, carefully curated car shows where every single vehicle on display are selected on an invitational bases is more of an exception rather than the norm when it comes to arranging a car show.

With the above in mind, Black Label Invitational executed such thought. Ditching the traditional vetting method of screening each entrant application, the team behind Black Label – with their strong networks – elected to approach each vehicle on an invitational basis, ensuring the event would maintain a high standard of only the best modified vehicles in Melbourne. As a bonus, owners invited to participate at Black Label Invitational 2019 were not required to pay an entrant fee, a unique approach and one which really emphasised the event’s mission statement. Quality over quantity genuinely in action.

Picking up from part 1 of Skibeemo’s report, with a large-cappuccino-no-sugar in hand and having withstood enough of the freezing outdoor temperature, I briskly made my way back into the Melbourne Showground’s Exhibition Pavilion. Today was going to be a good day.

By this time, all of the vehicles from The Right Wrong crew were parked up. A blog I’ve been a long avid-reader of, The Right Wrong had an impressive array of clean Japanese vehicles displayed. A trio of RB-powered GT-Rs were the first cars which caught my attention.

Amongst them were Paul Phan’s Midnight Purple BCNR33. Better known as PT works and regarded for his phenomenal photography, the presentation of Paul’s Skyline GT-R – slammed on black Nismo LM GT4 wheels – was just as stunning as the photographs he creates.

Ben Wong, founder of The Right Wrong, was also representing with his flawlessly executed RE-Amemiya-kited FD RX-7. Clearly a favourite chassis within the group, FD RX-7s were well represented with three different examples, featuring three different hues and sat on three different wheels.

The Right Wrong’s display also featured a few S-chassis and Lancer Evolutions, all employing quality authentic Japanese parts.

Vinnie Kinezo’s black RPS13 – parked as part of The Right Wrong display – also happened to take out the prestigious Best of Show award. His 180SX honourably earned the title as part selection and overall execution were of incredible standards – thanks particularly to a tucked JZA80 Supra heart transplant, high mount BorgWarner EFR 9174 snail, respray in black and lowered on staggered Volk TE37 rims.

Vinh Mangalino, also known as Vinhman Photo, had three cars displayed as part of his wrapping business – Pinnacle Customs. Showcasing numerous forms of wrapping services the business offers, Vinh’s personal GC8 WRX wore vinyl inspired by Subaru’s Pleiades constellation. Also on display to demonstrate Pinnacle Custom’s work was a yellow S2000 and combo Version 2/3 Rocket Bunny 86, the latter completely wrapped in a light blue hue with metallic flakes.

Melbourne-based Youtuber, Clay Wong, was meant to bring down two of his vehicles for Black Label Invitational. Tragedy struck on the morning of game day as his NSX wouldn’t start, resulting in only his EG Civic making it to the show. Originally purchased from Adelaide with the K-swap already completed, Clay has since added his own touches to the Civic; debuting an exterior makeover at Black Label. The updates included ultra-rare spec Volk TE37 16 x 8 +15 wheels, Back Yard Special front lip, Nardo Grey paint job and other subtle touch ups.

A handful of Nissan performance vehicles were in attendance to promote KTN Motorworks. Based in Braybrook, the workshop provides a range of mechanical and detailing services and has been operating since July 2018. Two white Skyline GT-Rs – BCNR33 and BNR34 – were amongst the vehicles KTN utilised to grab the attention of individuals passing by.

When it comes to art, two artists can have completely different visions despite commencing with the exact same blank canvas. In this case, both owners used an S15 as their starting point but the final products were distinct; one utilising gloss-red paint over a modern day Rocket Bunny body kit, while the other elected for a candy-apple red finish to complement the timeless Vertex Lang aero parts.

In addition to the red S2000 – which wore a lavishing Voltex Circuit Version 3 dress – that Jett Leow brought to Black Label Invitational, he also brought his other project car. Although unfinished in time for the show, Jett’s AE86 in its uncompleted state was already beaming with aura from every direction; thanks particularly to the fresh yellow hue covering all of its metal components, in addition to the tucked and smoothed out 4A-GE with open trumpets. The HR Workshop-built Trueno will be one to keep an eye on as I’m affirmative the end result will be stunning.

There are so many approaches to modifying a car, with the end style often established before a project even commences. However, at Black Label Invitational 2019, no matter which styled cars your eyeballs were staring at – hard tuned Japanese heroes, OEM+ Japanese cult cars, stance, VIP or even modified Euros – one element remained constant; every art piece displayed was of the highest standard. Jeopardising quality by displaying sub-par pieces for the sake of filling up the exhibit was definitely not on Black Label Invitational’s agenda.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you would’ve no doubt watched some of Hartnett Media’s automotive content on everyone’s favourite video search-engine website. Ben Hartnett, the director behind every video, had his very own murdered-out Golf GTi on display at Black Label Invitational. The bagged and caged Volkswagen was wearing Rotiform LAS-R shoes, with Aerodisk covers (also manufactured by Rotiform) present on the front wheels.

By now, the front doors to Black Label Invitational 2019 were swung open – complete with venue speakers blasting a combination of nostalgic and modern tunes. Walking around the Exhibition Pavilion with the additional hundreds of spectators and listening to 00’ bangers like Joy Enriquez – Tell Me How You Feel with the volume turned up brought a really nostalgic but electrifying vibe. I was in my zen.

Within the first few cars most spectators would’ve passed by as they made their way into the Exhibition Pavilion were the lineup of tastefully modified H-badge vehicles from Melbourne Honda Club.

Melbourne Honda Club brought out a range of immaculately prepared vehicles. B-powered, K-swapped, boosted K-series and most Honda motors in between could be found within the club. While I spent some time admiring John Tookie’s boosted DC5R which was wearing bronze Volk CE28N shoes, I also thoroughly admired this Japanese-delivered Championship White DC2R. Fitted with some rare parts including a discontinued and super pricey Spoon 11,000RPM cluster, Back Yard Special front bar, J’s Racing fenders, Spoon Twin Block calipers and magnesium blue Volk TE37 rims – this Integra also wore its original circular Japanese registration sticker.

Facing the opposite direction to Melbourne Honda Club was Vic Road’s Custom Plates booth. On hand were a Millennium Jade BNR34 GT-R and an NSX in Brooklands Green Pearl, used to promote the different custom number plate options Custom Plates offer to Victorian-registered vehicles.

The NSX’s owner – Blake Jones of Speedhunters fame – happened to be standing near his Fujitsubo titanium muffler equipped-Honda when I was taking these photos. We had a good chat about his Speedhunting journey and life in Japan, in addition to gaining some insightful knowledge about Japanese working culture. On the topic of Speedhunters, Dino Carbonare was also in attendance. Flying all the way from Tokyo to participate as a guest judge at Black Label Invitational 2019, I did observe online that Dino-san visited numerous workshops and tuners during his short stay in Melbourne. Fingers crossed that some of this content will end up as words and photos on Speedhunters in the near future.

With the Exhibition Pavilion now entirely filled with amazing entrant vehicles, as well as spectators walking the hall to admire all the rides on hand – the atmosphere inside was buzzing. The art gallery that is Black Label Invitational was now open with all the fine art pieces inside being appreciated, discussed, as well as providing inspiration to every individual and group who were admiring them. In the next and concluding post of Skibeemo’s report, I’ll round out my experience with all the remaining attractions on hand at Black Label Invitational 2019.