Super Street and Toyo Tires have come together yet again to provide Southern California car enthusiasts with a reason to show off their best. To start every year, the notable duo team up for their Calendar Launch Car Meet hosted at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. It is here that they feature some of the best builds mated with some glamorous models from the tuner culture. While most of the country is dealing with winter and unfavorable conditions, SoCal’s typical weather in the low 80s brought the enthusiasts out in droves!
Car friends and clubs love to pre-gather and caravan to events so that they can park together, and the trains of like-minded builds also make it easier to see similar cars next to each other, where you can notice the smallest differences between them. Lines of automotive manufacturers such as Honda, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Datsun, Mazda, Porsche, BMW, Chevy, Ford, and so on … you name it, it was there.
The tuner world is so diverse and reaches way beyond Honda and Acuras from the yesteryears of the ’90s. Leading into the mid-2000s, brands like Mitsubishi and Subaru came into America heavy, finally granting such cars as the STI, Evolution, GT-R, and other JDM AWD turbocharged cars that hadn’t previously graced the United States. Over the years, the tuner world matured, and so did its taste for premium cars. Now you can see much of the tuner style built into cars from other brands such as Porsche, Ferrari, and Lamborghini, to name a few.
Every year at The SEMA Show, Toyo picks the top tuners and displays them inside its Toyo Treadpass. Many of those same cars were present at the Calendar Launch Car Meet. Parked close to the Toyo trailer and gettings lots of attention were Porsche heavyweights Bisimoto, in his new electric-powered 935—also known as K3V—and TJ Russell’s Porsche 964 Baja Cab in a new livery fresh from the wrap shop.
Positioned front and center of the display parking was Pterodactyltactics’ Huracan LP ST, which gathered lots of interest from the guests in attendance. Immediately to the right was Daniel Song’s Datsun Fairlady Z looking like the classic JDM icon that it is. Anthony Valenzuela’s 2001 Acura NSX has entered its current stage after three years of trying various setups. Sam Du’s Toyota Supra was also on display sporting its new look for 2020 and sitting on a set of gold BBS LM wheels. Michael Lee’s widebody 2018 Mercedes AMG GT R rounded off the east end of the display.
On the other end of the display was a stripped-out K-series engine-swapped EK looking well put together for a serious track and street setup. Adjacent to the EK was a JDM right-hand-drive Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V braced with a rare Varis ASSO version widebody kit. Equally as impressive was Jonathan Grunwald’s 1994 Mazda RX-7 with a whopping 720 horsepower in its current iteration.
One vendor who had a long line of adoring fans is Hansel of Leen Customs. If you follow Super Street and Toyo Tires, you would already know that Hansel’s lapel pins have become all the rage as he designs and sells his pins of the craziest and hottest cars in the game. Of course, the Toyo Girls developed their own lines of fans down the stretch, all of whom were eager to get those annual calendars signed by the charming models pictured inside of them.
The secondary parking lot filled up with some exciting cars as well, but without the Toyo Tire representation present. The first-generation NSXs came in strong with a variety of widebody, Spoon Sports, and clean OE-plus styles. This dazzling red Liberty Walk Huracan always had a crowd of camera-toting fans gathered around.
One of my favorite builds is this very humble ’92-’93 DB2 Integra GS-R. The high school dream car is hard to find in pristine condition nowadays, so finding one well-sorted was a treat for me on this day. Another favorite was the clean and no-nonsense track-focused 991 GT3 sitting on some Advan wheels and owned by the boys at Evasive Motorsports.
Checking out the latest and greatest in the tuning culture while hanging out with friends is always a great day. From friends that worked the event and brought their cars to fellow photographer buddies, it was a blessing to see everyone enjoying the lifestyle in good health. This calendar release was a great start to the new year, and I cant wait to see what else 2020 brings. See you guys on the next!
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