The death of Auto Salon – Australia’s previous indoor car show catered towards late model modified vehicles – was seen as a blessing at the time. A majority in the modified car community seemed to be relieved that the scene was now erased of a car show which only lured in a bunch of distasteful rides from their perspective. But when Auto Salon was laying in its tomb, I was shedding a tear; and so too were many others. You see, the enthusiasts who did enjoy Auto Salon and didn’t dismiss it as a show full of questionably-modified vehicles were those who truly believed in the notion that modifying cars is an expression of one’s personality. Yes, this can be in the form of creating a monster track car capable of blistering lap times with not a care on the car’s presentation or aesthetics; or it can be about the latter. This was what Auto Salon was all about – cars that were modified based on innovation as well as creativity – and mostly but not all, predominately designed to be enjoyed and driven on the streets.
When the element of competitiveness is introduced in any discipline – whether that’d be in athletic sports or simply applying for a job – the baseline gets raised. Standards increase as participants of that particular discipline strive to better themselves in order to gain a competitive advantage. This naturally results in the blossoming of innovation. The same phenomena can be applied to modified cars. I’m a firm believer that at the end of the day, one should build and modify cars for their own enjoyment but when competitiveness is introduced – in this case the opportunity to win trophies and gain assertive reputation – car modifiers receive that extra bit of motivation to push their creative juices to another level. While Auto Salon was resting in peace, a byproduct consequence occurred. The standards of Australia’s modified car scene took a dive. Don’t get me wrong, there was still a few nice cars being built within the modified scene from 2010 (the year Auto Salon was left to rest) but I felt that the push to innovate was somewhat lost.
In December 2017, the modified car scene’s lifeblood was shaken when Hot Import Nights came to Australia. Essentially America’s version of Australia’s previous Auto Salon, the show took place in New South Wales at the Sydney Showground and modifiers rejoiced. Although the Sydney show was seen more as a pilot event – so some natural teething obstacles couldn’t be avoided – a bunch of Australia’s best modified cars were on show including multiple builds which were popping their public appearance cherry.
Anyone who is remotely interested in modified car culture would’ve no doubt come across the acronym that is HIN. Hot Import Nights has been America’s premier automotive lifestyle car show, having been around for twenty years. Although HIN and other similar indoor tuner car shows contain a whole life style element to them such as import models, street style dancing and other urban youth lifestyle components – these type of shows have always single handedly been about the cars for me.
Japanese vehicles have predominately been the canvas of choice for modifiers in this environment. However, even from the start, modified Euro cars have always sat alongside but were less favorable due to their initial higher purchasing prices. The global modified car scene has entered various stages which has been a direct result of the wider automotive industry’s state. Late model modified cars require late model cars to be produced and sold so when manufactures dwindle the release of tuner friendly cars, the scene isn’t rewarded with as many refreshing chassis to unleash their creativity on. Therefore in 2017, more or less, the same chassis from 10 years ago are still being modified. The Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ are one of the more recent chassis available to Australian buyers and it’s great to see them being extensively modified.
Vouge Industries is the official distributor for Liberty Walk in Australia and fittingly, had a few bagged and wide-bodied cars on display including an LB-equipped Lamborghini Huracan and Mini Cooper convertible.
Modified cars utilise a similar cycle to fashion and clothing. What’s hot yesterday may not be cool today and what is ground breaking today might be seen as tacky in the future. Bolt on wide fenders, huge width wheels with copious amount of negative offset and nose scrapping air suspension has been the recipe to drop jaws over the past few years. Despite this – similar to Rayban Aviator sunglasses – some styles will forever be timeless. Clean cult-classic heroes lowered on forged wheels is sometimes all it takes to create aura; case in point is the below BNR34 GT-R sitting on Volk TE37SL rims and EK Civic riding on Mugen MF8 wheels.
Some OG readers might remember these two particular vehicles from 10 years ago. The S2000 is looking a bit different these days, having previously lived life as an all-out spotless show car.
Sydney is unquestionably Australia’s modified car capital. The quantity and quality is tremendous.
You know the passion is strong when entrants transport their cars over from interstate to be apart of Hot Import Nights. It was funny to note that the below interstate entrants all brought over FD3S RX-7s; the red and blue example making the trek from Adelaide while the white example arrived from Canberra.
Having your car displayed with a group of friends who share a similar style and approach in modifying has always been one of the more rewarding experiences of being a part of this lifestyle. Even if your car club doesn’t win any awards, you still get to hang out with mates and the presence of having all your shared styled of modified cars together is always eye pleasing. The element of themed modified car clubs also took a dive when Auto Salon was axed. I always loved seeing car club displays at these shows – whether they’d be the eastern state clubs such as Illusi, Elite, Garasi, Level and Agentz, or western and central state clubs such as Mobil, Dewa, Platinum and Sahau. Hot Import Nights Sydney brought back some of these elements and if the show is able to expand, the scene will probably seen an emergence in themed car clubs again.
At HIN Sydney 2017, the stance theme was evident from Rarest Rose and House of Stance with members from both clubs displaying their interpretation of how a stanced car should be done, while on the opposite end of styles, Rev Up brought out some of their member’s circuit-oriented cars – including a brand new Green Hell Magno AMG GT R. Zoomspeed had two of their members cars on display, a mega-dollar McLaren 720S and Ferrari 488 GTB.
Speaking of baller-cars, renown Sydney-based suspension gurus – Heasmans Steering & Suspension – brought a fleet of their client vehicles including Roland Lu’s wide bodied “5ENNA” NSX rolling on Advan GTs and two of Nico Tjen’s rides; the “BATM4N” McLaren 650S Spider wearings shoes from Vossen as well as his latest ride, the “BATMXN” Ferrari F12berlinetta.
A line up of traders and vendors were also on hand to show case their latest products and offerings. Peelable paint has been in the market for a couple of years now with mixed views but Halo EFX’s take on this product could be a game changer due to its incredible deep gloss and paint-like finish.
There were also a number of entrant cars displayed outside under the sun.
Although the purist side of me would purchase the Mugen S660 over the Liberty Walk rendition, the latter was easily my favourite vehicle from the entire show – it’s just so dam unique in Australia.
For a first event, Hot Import Nights Sydney 2017 was an easy success in my eyes. Australia’s modified car scene has been deprived of an indoor tuner car show for seven years so when HIN hit the shores of Sydney, it wasn’t going to go unnoticed. Although some people loathe these types of car shows, I’m a firm believer that they are required in the car scene to help push innovation and to raise the standards of modifying as without competitiveness, little motivation exist to think outside the box. Eugene Lee and his dedicated team deserve a pat on the back for assisting in the revival of this automotive sub-culture. At the heart of it, the team behind Hot Import Nights Australia also live and breath all things modified cars so the show can only grow bigger from here. Australia’s current state of automotive events to attend means there is an event for basically every niche, but an indoor show catered specifically to late model modified cars has been absent until now. If the stars align and Australia is blessed with a national touring Hot Import Nights which hits every major city – akin to that of the defunct Auto Salon – who really loses? No one. Who wins? Everyone.
