Spocom Hawaii 2023
Long time no post, as usual lol. This summer sure was a busy one, which included my annual trip to Oahu for the island’s best car show Spocom! This year’s event was more conservative since there weren’t many cars, mainly since the arena side is being renovated. Although, that didn’t stop a good amount of quality builds from showing out! It was the first time Team SMG didn’t even attend, so I guess you could say it was more of a fair competition lol. Jokes aside, it was another great event networking with new people and kicking it with the local homies. I didn’t take that many photos this time mainly since I was too busy living in the moment, but I hope you enjoy!
I arrived at the venue around 8 am, the same time as this Ubae Goodie Wagon pulled up. Pretty bummed they weren’t slanging any treats, but it was still a cool sight to see.
Lanson Minami’s 1UZ swapped Toyota Pickup looked like it was ready to climb some rocks. Reminds me of a Mad Max style with all the fab work.
Darion Rotolo’s widebody 240SX coupe on an aggressive set of Weds Kranze LXZ wheels.
Super fire turbocharged First Gen Tacoma lifted with a full Kings kit owned by @_bxader.
Clean LS430 fitted with a K-Break kit and SSR Professor TF1s.
Rudy Tabios’ EM1 definitely caught my eye, mainly since it’s so clean & simple dropped on Mugen M7s. Pretty nifty that it’s K-swapped, but I forgot to snag a photo of his bay. Very proper OEM+ build for sure.
Milano Red EG hatch with Chargespeed fenders & front lip, carbon hood, Live Sports wing, and Regamaster EVOs.
Shoyu_rice_burner’s boosted GS-R Integra equipped with a JDM front end conversion, Spoon lip, OEM optional side skirts and rear valence, and bronze TE37s.
Locals seem to love these newer gen Corollas. I haven’t seen a new GR one down there yet though.
This was my favorite one among the rest, for obvious reasons lol.
Bryent Delacruz’s Aimgain Q50 on TE37SLs. I wasn’t fully sure if it was his car or not since a woman drove it in. Turns out it was his sister who did him the favor of bringing it while his wife was giving birth the same day. We were able to chop it up during the show. Congrats again brotha!
Devan Otaguro’s UCF20 LS400 will always be one of my favorite VIP cars on the island. Him and his crew, Team Mansu, managed to win 1st Place this year. Congrats brotha!
VIP inspired Sienna with a custom kit on Aimgain G wheels.
Jr.’s super clean EK hatch made some pretty hefty changes the past year. He threw on a Mode Parfume front bumper, switched up the mag blue TEs to CE28s, and even added Hayward Performance ITBs to his K-swap. Again, I messed up by not getting a shot of his bay, but he did manage to take home the ‘Best Engineering’ award! Well deserved in my opinion.
Immaculate DC2 Type-R with quite a few Mugen goodies including a Gen 2 wing and MF10s owned by Nesto Baltazar. If I can remember, it even had a Mugen valve cover as well.
Not that many Hondas attended compared to last year, but one build I was glad to see again is Bryan Bonilla’s EF hatch. He made a few changes including switching up the SSR TypeX/C wheel set-up to some OG Regamasters. Love it!
Renee Douglass’ JDM front Integra on OG bronze TEs leading the pack.
Very clean LS430 UL owned by Mark Vallejo from PURE VIP. I dig the custom headlights and Leon Hardiritt Welle wheels.
Pretty rare to see a VIP LC 500. Randall Baniaga’s LC was breaking necks with the Work Emitz and carbon Aimgain fenders.
Cambered out RC 350 F Sport with a 326 Power wing and Weds Kranze Bazreias.
The same tow truck that was hauling Darion’s 240 came back with this crazy bagged Toyota pickup.
First time seeing a Nissan Laurel Club S in person. I like it! Kinda reminds me of JZX100 Chaser lol.
Pretty cool to witness more and more Skylines getting imported to the island.
Darren Polston’s Varis GTR that he managed to score from a Tuner Cult Giveaway earlier this year.
Shayne Javier went all out with his STi by adding a Varis kit and new wrap color. He took home ‘1st Place Subaru!’
Nhu Tran’s G80 M3 wrapped with a pretty unique color on BBS RS-GT wheels.
Matt Le went through some minor setbacks with his A90 Supra this past year, but that didn’t stop him from bouncing back! He managed to get a new front bumper and EVS Tuning lip just in time for the show. He even added some carbon hood louvers and BBS LM wheels. So fire! He will always be a winner in my opinion!
It’s been a while since I’ve seen Mikey Yeung and his ASM equipped S2000. Love the Renegade x APB Big Break Kit tucked behind the BBS RI-A wheels.
F80 M3 on BBS LMs representing Evasive.
VIP inspired Lexus CT and Prius. At first I was trippin out because I had a feeling I seen this CT in the PNW once a couple years ago at the Steep Streets ‘Bonded By The Build’ car show. Turns out I was right! Berlin Mai drove up her car from Cali just for that event. She moved down to Hawaii a year ago and settled in with her family. It was great to meet her and see the car in person again. Unfortunately she had an incident the night of the show and it was a major loss, but thankfully she’s alright and happy & healthy.
This cherry First Gen 4Runner owned by Jason Kaita was one of my faves. Super wet paint and proper build overall.
Loved this cream Toyota pickup.
This was the first time Dom Concordia brought out his JZX100 Chaser to a car show. I figured this was a perfect debut because a lot of people were appreciating it as well. We did a little shoot during my trip, so stay tuned for some fire photos.
Mr. JZfilth himself, Martin Phan, switched up his TEs and slapped back on the Desmond Wise Sports. He didn’t bring along the 2JZ crate like last year, but it’s all good! The booth was poppin all night, and Martin took home the ‘2nd Place Toyota’ award!
Lia Tengan was putting in work with detailing the cars, installing decals, and running the booth. One of the best JZfilth members ever!
Josh Harada came through last minute with his flawless 2JZ-ITB IS300. He got a prime spot right at the main entrance. This guy wasn’t even at the show, but he still managed to win ‘1st Place Lexus’!
When I got back to the venue after freshening up, I noticed this RSX right at the entrance. I thought, “Damn… this looks like something Mark Abanes would put together…” And sure enough it really was his car! Looks like I caught him right as he was installing the decals. All the fab work is nuts, and I’m looking forward to seeing the progress.
Boosted K-swapped EM1 on CCW wheels at the KJXFG Hawaii booth.
Bryan’s EF is something you need to see in person rather than me explaining it. So many unique details with this car. He took home ‘1st Place Honda’. Congrats and great to finally meet you brotha!
IS300 with a Vertex front bumper on Advan RGIII wheels.
Aysondawg’s GS300 with a Vertex Kit on TE37SLs.
Tommy Dolormente’s Toyota Pickup hauling an old school bike.
OSIxHI always has a proper display of old school trucks and cars.
Best of Show winner, Joel Uganiza, wicked STi engine bay. I admit I don’t know what I’m looking at, but I can appreciate a clean bay and great fab work.
Nissan Stagea on Rotiform Aerodisc wheels.
The famous #impicassobitches Leighton brought out his R34 Skyline that he freshly painted in time for the event. This was the first Federal legal R34 coupe to land in Hawaii.
Vlad Gaad’s Cayman GT4 on BBS RT88 wheels. He has an NSX as well, and hopefully he’ll sell it to me in the near future lol.
Aran Shintani made some conservative changes to his GT4 by removing his Marlboro livery and painted his TE37 Ultras black. It was a dope look, but I honestly like this phase more.
Flawless ‘69 Camaro on HRE wheels at the Hamada Financial Group booth.
It was great to finally meet Shaun Hamada after chopping it up on social media the past year. His R33 GT-R on Nismo LMGT2 will definitely be something I’ll always highlight. So dope!
And of course, I’ll always appreciate Spocom’s Bikini Competition.
Congrats to the homegirls, Alida Chhee and Tamiko Lee, for placing 2nd & 3rd place!
I’m so glad Alida was able to fly down from Seattle as well to be a part of the show. It’s been a long time coming and she finally made it happen! I had to take advantage of her presence by modeling with some Backyard Boogie merch!
Thanks for reading! Now that it’s fall up here, car show season is over. Time to brainstorm for next year. Until next time!
