Wekfest Seattle 2023 Part 1
What can I say about Wekfest? It's an amazing automotive experience that a lot of people look forward to every year. A show that consists a good quantity of well put together builds for the community to see & enjoy. They returned to Seattle last weekend, earlier than usual, and it was nothing but another dope event. A lot of attendees came through from Canada and out of state, and it was great to finally meet a few other car people in person.
I woke up at 5 am because as always, I do my best to arrive as early as possible to get roll-in coverage. I ended up rolling in with the homie, Alex Tran, since he was part of a booth. Vendors usually roll in around 7, so I figured that was my best bet. The morning was solid with the sun peeking out every so often, I kept having to adjust my settings for my shots. My adrenaline was pretty active for the first couple hours, but started to feel a bit tired around 9:30. Thankfully I'm blessed to have certain people in my life like Chelsey Pacheco who brought me coffee just in time before I dozed off lol. Thank you again Pochacco! Once I got that boost, I was ready to get my shit together for another long day. The whole event including the roll in was super active. From catching up to a lot of homies and making new ones, it helped me remember how much I enjoy this specific show. Thanks to the staff at Wekfest for always making an effort to hosting a dope exhibition in the PNW. Y'all are real ones! Enjoy the first part of my coverage.
The sketchy ass tunnel leading to the convention center loading dock was backed up at 7am for some reason. I used that time to get a peak of what was getting staged at some of the vendor booths.
Simple & clean R34 GTR on TE37SLs.
This was Alex Tran’s first time getting asked to have his E36 M3 displayed at a booth, and of course it was the show’s sponsor Toyo Tires. Very well deserved along with Kop Nguyen and his E92 M3 on BBS LM-R wheels.
Sergio Mendoza has had his Spoon Sports S2K tucked away at Renegade Motorsports for experimental purposes for quite some time now, but they finally brought it back up to display at their booth. If I recall, the last time I seen this car was at the Super Street x LeMay show back in 2019. Still looks great!
Clean 964 on RUF wheels. I don’t know much about Porsches, but this was nice!
Intec Racing surprised the community with something new this year…
A very sleek Datsun 280Z on Work Meister CR01s. This thing sounded so good rolling in, all from the HKS powered RB26 swap.
The SERIALNINE crew finally had a booth for WF, and they were able to bring down a solid amount of cars including this Toyota Mark II Blit tucking on MAEs.
Jake from SERIALNINE came down with his JZX90 Mark II on chrome Work VSKFs.
The C’s Customizing man himself, Cooper Boudia, finally pops out with his legendary DC Integra. He kept dying out because his battery terminals were loose, but I think he did it on purpose just to put on a show lol.
The Hiro’s Hotrods boys always show out when they can. Eric Anderson has the prime example of a perfect Wonder Civic, as I mentioned it already a few times.
Auston Corbett’s JDM CR-X SiR looking proper as always.
Austin Hironaka is always a mysterious one to some, but reality he’s the guy that does whatever it takes to get stuff done like towing his booth stuff with his award winning & magazine featured Del Sol. That’s some legit Hotrod shit lol.
Austin flipped the Hotelement earlier this year, but managed to get everything squared up and looking even better! The mag blue TEs definitely added a nice touch.
Michael Pham scored this ‘95 SE Integra a few years ago and did some nice changes to it ever since. Converted to a ‘98 front end, fresh repaint from Skreet Garage, OG bronze TE37s & CE28s, and a few little details. Loving the progress my guy!
One of my favorite builds that showed out was this RX-7 FD owned by Yifan. This thing stood out to me the most, and you’ll see why in Part 2 of my coverage…
Thomas Hatcher made some shiny changes to his TBSS including all the main components in his bay [that I didn’t get a shot of] and a custom set of Heritage Wheels.
Pretty sick second gen Toyota Soarer on Daytons.
Laguna Seca Blue F80 M3 on BBS RSII wheels.
Dan Pham made some minor changes to his tracked out F80 M3 by adding carbon Mashimarho vents and a brand new set of BBS LMs. He is now an official member of Team Overtake. CONGRATS BALLER!!!
F82 M4 on BBS LMs.
Another new member of Overtake is the famous content creator, Vinh Tran, with his Sayber Design A90 Supra on ZE40a. Even though it’s not a BMW, it really is lol. Congrats to you as well, brotha!
Dale Ibiaz has one of the most unique FK8 Type R, mainly since every single modified part came off of a Spoon catalog. He decided to run CEs instead of SW388s. Still nice though!
Sonic Grey Pearl FK8 rocking a full Mugen lip kit, Voltex wing, and bronze ZE40s owned by thatonesgp_fk8.
Vital Energy Motorsports debuted this crazy Lamborghini Aventador.
Jag Matto went all out on his Aventador with a full carbon body change and many other mods for SEMA last year.
Dream exotics for sure!
If the Aventador wasn’t enough, Jag had someone bring in his 996 Turbo that makes 1350 HP… Just draw dropping.
Team Menace always brings out a good amount of cars to Wekfest. This time was around 16 cars from what I can remember. One of them was Dan Nguyen’s ‘96 NSX that went through a full color change: Atlantis Blue Metallic that came off of an F80 M3. He did it right and got it painted instead of wrapped lol. Dan took home First Place NSX.
Time attack built RX-7 FD on RGIII wheels. The main thing that really popped in my eyes were the 326Power rotors and brakes. Nicely done in my opinion.
JDM front DC Integra from Canada sporting an INGS front bumper, concaved TEs, and J’s Racing spoiler.
Joe Rawket’s Veilside RX-7 on BBS E88s looking blue as always.
Thought this was a pretty cool pic of an Initial D inspired Hachiroku and Dave Kang’s Hakosuka.
Joe Cabaccang’s imported S13 with Ganadors and SSR Mesh wheels.
It’s a been a while since Huy Hoang brought out REDRUM. I think mainly since he’s been working on getting the car right to it’s full potential. After many years of completing this build, he finally got it tuned and properly back on the streets.
It’s been 4 years since the famous Jackie Law last attended a show down here. Not only was it great to see his car in person like the prime pre-covid days, but it was even better catching up with him about life in general and more car stuff.
Chris Dunbar brought out his immaculate E30 M3 that he spent about 2.5 years restoring. He ended up taking home the highly sought after ‘Judge’s Choice’ award.
Jeremiah Whipple’s EG popping out in the sun. IYKYK… There’s always something, but at least he made it to the show just in time lol.
Jaykee Vo’s R34 GTS-T that was helped put together by Skreet Garage.
Dru definitely gets down off roading in his wicked ‘86 4Runner.
Mel Diego’s Mugen equipped EP3 looking dope as always.
Here come the Honda boys…
Word on the street is Jacob Reyes already sold his minty EK, but he was still able to show it out one more time before it goes to the new owner. A lot of people were pretty stunned about him selling it, but he’s on to bigger & better things. Just know that the EK is definitely going into good hands 😏
Can’t go wrong with silver on silver. BJ Ta’s coupe always looks period correct with the M7s.
Tracked TSX rocking a full Euro R lip kit, Mugen grill, and polished TE37s.
I feel like Mikey Legaspi has been enjoying Isaac Lafountaine’s EK3 more than he has lol. Mike switched up the JLines and borrowed Anton Madamba’s mag blue CE28SLs. Looks way much better!
Ken Sugawara’s super clean Mugen out FK8 Type Parrr looking extra fire. Shoutout to his wifey, Sabrina, for handling the detail! Lol
Jeremiah wasn’t the only baller who registered 2 cars. He had Ascoe bring in his supercharged FA5 Civic put together with a full FD2 conversion and aggressive RG1 wheels.
Watching this JDM ‘90s Hino Ranger Hauler transport both of these S Chassis was a major flex.
The hometown hero, Terry Suvonnarith, finally showed out after a couple years with his legendary built GS-R.
Pow Prinpasert ditched the Mugen lip and CP-F wheels for a traditional Spoon lip and Club Edition TE37s. Honestly my favorite set up so far.
Terry casually bringing in his extra bumper with the FEEL’s lip, and Toto Deleon assisting with carrying some stuff for the display.
It’s been a while since Mike brought over his very well put together S2K sporting a Spoon front bumper, JDM AP1 headlights, and proper spec’d bronze CEs. I give him props for making the 8 hour drive from Idaho every time he comes up for the show.
3 different Toyotas that I’d love to own all one day…
Nic Buettner’s coilovers didn’t arrive in time for his GR Corolla, but it still looks great on MF10s lol.
Pretty clean JZX100 Chaser with a very unique paint color.
Daniel Yeh never fails to show up with his boosted GD3 Fit.
Jason T’s pristine EG hatch that he’s been building and refreshing for quite some time now. This car really is amazing to see in person.
Brian Madayag’s K-swapped EG hatch on CEs will never be an eyesore.
Nice pair of EGs with an OG Honda builder & #TheOpenPerspectivePodcast man himself, David Andrade.
Here come the rest of the LEVEL one crew…
Always nice to see this Supercharged J32 swapped EG loaded with a White Crow front bumper, First Molding Lip, J’s Racing fenders & wing, and shaved moldings owned by Chris.
Craig Bowman’s blacked out EG hatch with a BYS front lip, carbon hood, and SW388s.
It’s no surprise that Jackie Law brought down his newest project as well: Phoenix Yellow ITR equipped with many Spoon goodies. Love everything about it. Good stuff, baller!
This was Johnson Bui’s, aka Just Ps Garage, first time attending WF with his EK. Nice to see this youngin get a lot of credit for his build.
Holly Phan and her cool friend slid through in her S2000 slapped with a J’s Racing front lip, smoked JDM AP1 headlights, Spoon diffuser, Voltex wing, and Gram Lights 57DR wheels. This was Holly’s first time showcasing her car, and it’s safe to say she had fun!
Cole Marten from Throttle Thrashers Garage brought out his AWD 2JZ LHD R32 Skyline GT-R that he debuted at SEMA ‘21. This thing is beyond amazing….
Umer Khokhar was another Canadian homie I met along with Gal. His EM1 tied with a First Molding lip, J’s Racing wing, and bronze TEs. All he was missing was his EM1 twin Benny lol.
After many months of problems and repairs, Galileo Galang finally got most things right to make the drive down and show out at the event. I first met Gal last year at the Namsayin x Miir event, and he’s a real cool dude overall and his EG hatch is pretty fuckin dope. From the K-swap, to many J’s Racing parts, and Denji headlights, this car is proper. Since then he decided to go 5 lug and got some pretty aggressive CEs from the bro Tomas Burns. Execution on point! Everything seemed to pay off since Gal took home ‘First Place EG of the Festival’ award. Congrats Kuya! You deserved it!
It’s currently 4 am and I’ve been punching out this post as fast as I could before I go to work in a few hours. If you read any typos, mind your damn business. I’ll fix it later lol, but yeah thanks for reading. Stay tuned for Part 2!
