Wekfest New Jersey is the show for the North East. Regardless of wether or not I'm entering the show, it's a must attend. The quality of cars in the past few years has increased exponentially in recent years making it a can't miss event. If you're a participant in the event and bored waiting to be able to leave, you're simply not trying. I spent the whole day shooting and admiring the details on all these builds and was occupied from beginning to end. Events like this should be spent pouring over details, talking to owners, and enjoying being amongst so much passion and so many incredible builds.
As always, the event was very Honda heavy. Every Wekfest event I've seen has had a good amount of Hondas in attendance, but New Jersey is stand out. I think it's safe to say almost half the cars were sporting an H badge somewhere. Otherwise Lexus was a surprising amount of the field at this year's event. Everything from 90's models to VIP builds to F models.
This is a huge event so it'll be a 2 part installment to help your phone not catch fire trying to load 150 photos.
This zenki EK9 is flooded out in Spoon from head to toe.
Tony's VSM EK9 was featured in the Honda Collective coverage running a kouki Type R front end with a Mugen lip but here he swapped for a rare Backyard Special front bumper. With the Spoon hood popped, you can admire the TODA ITBs feeding the B series ripper. This car won Honda of the Festival which is easily the most competitive award at the show.
Joe Tobias won STI of the festival with his excellent GDB STI. Rather than fit the usual Voltex or Varis, Joe runs a full M Sports aero kit including their overfenders which were molded for a cleaner look. This is the same kit made famous by the Team Orange STI. Massive Endless brakes front and rear hide behind a set of fat TE37SLs.
Liberty VIP is always assured to be at Wekfest in some capacity and it's always exciting to see who's out from the group. The JZS147 is such a slept on VIP chassis. It may not be one of the flagships, but the 147 has quite a regal look about it that suits VIP styling incredibly well. Wald aero accentuates the GS's long body and helps it prevent any light from passing underneath it. Inside are classic turn of the century accessories with seat doilies, Junction Produce neck pillows and curtains, and an essential Fabulous steering wheel.
The USF40 LS has grown on me the past few years, especially the zenki models which have this handsome simplicity to them. They need very little outside lowering them as much as possible and filling the wheel wells with chrome to command a huge presence, in this case, Luxury Abstract Telums.
The UCF30, especially the facelift, will always be my favorite of all the LS chassis, especially dumped over OZ Junction Produce Scaras.
Love it or hate it, GT VIP styling is undeniably exciting! Black Pearl Complete aero looks wild along with custom fenders housing massive wheels. This chassis can really swallow some large diameter wheels.
I believe the aero on this is Aimgain but I'm not positive. I also believe the fenders are Aimgain as well housing Luxury Abstract Fatales.
I haven't seen this SC in a while and was stoked to see it still around and still wild. It was actually while I was looking at this SC that I learned my SC300 I had owned for a month might needed a lot more work than I thought and listed it for sale. Lot of weird emotions swirling... This SC is a true potion of JDM dream parts. Outside the car, BN Sports's Blister kit increases the dimensions of this car massively with Work Meister L1s taking advantage of the extra space. Obviously such big wheels would be wasted without more power to spin them so a big single turbo 2JZGTE makes it boogie. Inside is a parts list of all the stuff you want - Bride Low Max Stradias (maybe, I'm bad with Bride models), Takata harnesses, Cusco dash-dodger cage, Vertex wheel, and an AIM dash telling you everything you'd want to know.
The color on this EG was gorgeous. All the curvatures and crevasses in it's shaved bay really flexed how deep and dynamic the shade was.
This is, I believe, a Mugen complete car. I'm not going to pretend to know the entire Mugen catalogue, but this DC2 has every part that I know of. This was quite a special car to see in person as it hasn't been in the public much in quite some time. It was the cover car for the Import Tuner 10 year anniversary issue and has remained mostly unchanged since it was featured - and it hasn't needed to! I can't imagine the fortune it would cost to replicate today.
This JDM import NA1 NSX swapped the C30A for a turbo K series on full display under the rear clam shell. The half bumper looks to be an I's Impact item and the skirts maybe Garage Kite?
The Lexus Fs were in attendance heavy! This RCF was heavy on carbon fiber with plenty lightened exterior accessories, but the inside was what was the most intense with a carbon rear seat delete and those crazy carbon buckets headlining the rest of the carbon additions inside.
Novel's catalogue heavily accessorized this ISF utilizing their front lip, hood, and exhaust. An essential for ISF Sard wing sits atop a carbon trunk. Advan RSDF Progressives in machining & hyper black complete the look and match the grays of the paint and carbon well.
Wald's Black Bison half bumper generates a huge visual impact, especially with air suspension bringing it flush with the floor.
Love or hate itasha, there's nothing worse than half-assed itasha. This 4th gen IS was fully committed and felt true to the style. Not just resting on the craziness of the livery, Rowen's aero and a GT wing match the energy. Also shoutout for using a less popular Enkei model and pulling it off. RP01s are definitely slept on.
Back when the FK8 LE first dropped, this one became one of, if not the first, Mugen complete LEs. For this show, it ran Spoon SW388s, but they're just one of the many wheels in rotation along with the rereleased MF10s and MDCFs. Huge Endless brakes front and rear poke out beyond the 5 spoke Spoons. having a Mugen complete FK8 is more than just the common lip kit, that Mugen carbon wing and Mugen carbon hood are about $16,000 combined! The carpet is actually an FL5 item which does in fact fit with minor modifications.
Next to the LE was the same owner's FL5! The FL5 had Mugen's seats and accessories inside as well. Mugen hasn't released their aero for sale yet, but it's a safe bet this one will run their whole catalogue the moment it drops. For now, stock aero is accented with Regamasters and Endless brakes front and rear.
If you think about it, legit Mugen aero for the DC2 is not the easiest to come by, yet there's quite a few kits in attendance at most Honda-heavy shows. Maybe it's the importance the brand has always held that has kept these kits around and in pristine condition so despite their rarity, they're held in such a high regard and a high percentage of the produced kits have been preserved.
The Del Sol needs more love. It's basically just a fancy EG so there's no shortage of support. This JDM model looked excellent with a little aero, a clean bay, and a comfy looking interior.
Spoon builds aren't exactly unique, but a Spoon EP3 is. I hope to see more people take inspiration from this!
There was a cool aura about this EK. Bomex mirrors and a Mozcraft(?) lip are an interesting styling combination.
This EK feels like my EK but if it was a lot better. C West front bumper, EK9 rear, and Mugen wing style up some Mag Blue TE37s.
I don't know where this Eclipse came from, but it was an absolute time capsule. This was the closest I feel like I'll ever be to attending NOPI Nationals in the early 2000s. This might also be the first time I've actually seen a set of Rays G-Games 77w in person.
This is a massive event with a ton of coverage so it'll be a two part installment. There's a ton more sick cars so keep your eyes peeled for part 2!