But by 8:00 a.m., the cops had already shown up and were kicking people off the street. By 9:30 every parking lot within a half-mile radius was full.
When asked why he was parking so far away, one enthusiast said, "I've been here since about 8:00. They wouldn't let us stay on the street anymore, so we just drove around in circles waiting to see what was going on. After an hour we were over it, so we parked out here."
Most people easily came to terms with the fact that the cops were not going to let us into the Eibach parking lot until 10 a.m. Masses of Honda heads roamed about the streets checking out each other's ride. We even saw a few barbeques already set up on the sidewalk. With a morning like this, a good day as inevitable.
Eventually the cops relinquished their authority over the street to the Eibach staff and the event was on its way. The next step was to park 400 out of the 800 cars that showed up within the boundaries of Eibach's lot. Around midday everybody finally settled in and the commotion had died down. It was time to kick back, relax and enjoy a day in the sun with our fellow enthusiasts.
From the second you walked through (or drove, if you were lucky) the gates, there was so much to take in it was almost overwhelming. Row upon row of clean JDMed street machines, washed, waxed, and waiting anxiously for that ever important nod from an approving peer.
The Autofashion USA guys had the beats bumpin' in their booth to keep us entertained. Vendors such as ICB Motorsports, MOB Works, Holeshot Racing, BDL industries, Techlogex, Laskey Racing, and Exospeed were peddling their wares. The vendors also contributed to a huge raffle, giving away tons of parts like Holeshot Racing RBC intake manifold spacers, Eibach springs, and BDL throttle bodies.
With nearly 4000 people attending the event, somebody was bound to get hungry. If you didn't bring your own food, there were hamburgers and hot dogs grilled up and sold for those who were too impatient to wait for the pizza.
Eibach bought 300 pepperoni and 100 cheese pizzas from Little Caesar's, most of which was eaten by the end of the day. Day turned to afternoon and was on its way to evening by the time things were dying down.
At this point, a keen eye would notice that the last people to leave were mostly the first people there. Passion for Honda is still alive, just like the good old days.
Splash&Dash
"I'm fed up with wiping dirt off my face and out of my nose after a day in London," says eco-artist Sally McCaffrey. "And most of that dirt comes from car exhausts." McCaffrey is working with Honda on its "No Choke" campaign to encourage people to drive cleaner cars.
London could cut its carbon emissions by the weight of four Big Ben Towers if one in five drivers in the capital chose a cleaner car. McCaffrey's graffiti-style artwork, displayed on Old Street in east London, was created using only moss, plants and other organic products.
"This street art is a plea for drivers to think about the cars they drive and what they are doing to the environment," McCaffrey says.
Honda UK recently opened a new $40 million logistics operation center in Swindon to supply parts to its car, motorcycle and power equipment networks. The new building provides the 106 Honda associates (and its partners) with a state-of-the-art facility, built by ProLogis, the largest warehouse developer in Europe, with support from Norwest Holst. The Logistics Centre includes a European Engine Centre sales and training facility. Additionally, the design incorporates all the latest building technologies with particular emphasis on reducing any impact to the environment.
American Honda has donated a 2006 Ridgeline to the Catalina Seabass Fund to use as a support and feed transport vehicle for special growing pens on California's Catalina Island. The fund is a non-profit group that collects white seabass fingerlings from hatcheries, then grows the fingerlings until they are approximately ten inches in size, when they are released into the Pacific Ocean.The entire project is designed to help save the white seabass, whose population has declined dramatically in recent years and remains near extinction. Over the past decade, Honda has supported the project through the donation of Honda portable generators and other marine equipment.
Speaking of Ridgelines, our pals at Rockford Fosgate felt left out of our recent Shakedown piece on said truck (sorry guys, didn't even know ya had one). Here's what they've done with their Ridge:
Spare a Thought - Seth Brunsvold writes to us from Phoenix: "On a rainy day in Phoenix, I lost my dream car. I lost control after over-steering and went over the median and into a pole. I walked away from the accident, but I was hoping one day to make it into the pages of your magazine. I don't see that happening anytime in the near future. I love your mag, but now it kills me to see all the S2K's and I can't help but think of what could have been. Keep up the good work!"
Seth, it may not be the way you hoped to get your S2K into HT, but we're observing a moment of silence. Dude, someone is very lucky not to have been your passenger.
Sin City Sols
Del Sol enthusiasts descend on the desert for the sixth annual Vegas Invasion.Las Vegas, a city rarely lacking for sun, made an appropriate gathering spot for over 50 del Sols and their owners from 11 states. The sixth annual Vegas Invasion (aka VIVI), April 7-9, began on a Friday evening as a record 54 Sols, many arriving in together in Sol Trains, met at the Sazio, an Italian restaurant in the Orleans Hotel and Casino for a Meet and Greet.
Saturday began with owners rolling into the reserved section of the Bonanza Lounge parking lot. From 11 a.m., and into the later afternoon, owners shared advice, compared mods and voted for the event's award winners. This year's award categories included Best Audio, Interior, Engine, Appearance, Best Sol, Honorable Mention, Distance, Dedicated, and THE Award, a new tribute commemorating a member who significantly contributed to the del Sol community.
Not excluding unmodified Sols, an award for Best Stock Sol highlighted the most pristine, and dare we say virginal, condition. Winning the title with his '95 del Sol VTEC, Christian Fritz happily declared, "It was the stock head unit that did it."
Raffle drawings provided a chance to take home prizes ranging from T-shirts to gift certificates from DynoJunkies.com, and as evening drew near, owners joined for a cruise to nearby Red Rock canyon.
A Sunday breakfast at the Orleans French Market Buffet brought the event to a close, with Solers already laying plans for Vegas Invasion VII.
Team Sol International thanks the supporters who made VIVI a success: participating members and Vegas Invasion planners, Team Sol Cal, AZ Sols, Team Sol Colorado, Team Sol MoKan, Team Sol Utah, RS Graphics, Dyno Junkies, and the Bonanza Lounge. For more information on Vegas Invasion or Team Sol and its chapters, please visit www.teamdelsol.com.