Prime's season closer event proved just how strongly people support Prime and all they do for car culture in the area. Originally the forecast called for *possible* rain in the afternoon and about 60 degrees throughout the day. That was absolutely not the case day-of and about 20 minutes outside the venue, it started to rain and it continued to shower us in a steady cold rain the entire event. Most people came prepared but I'm an idiot and came prepared with nothing but a flannel so needless to say I was soaked and so was my camera which will explain a fair amount of blurred water spots on some of the photos. Rather than scrap them, I'd rather include them for the story and to show you all some cool stuff instead of just posting three good photos.
Another New York event, another Starbucks rendezvous. I took my daily this time and linked up with Kristoffer Martin with his Aimgain RCFRS and Jason Yung with his turbo BRZ for some cold brews before heading down to the meet together.
The venue for this event was north of the city at a ferry terminal, tucked away from the main roads. This event served as a relaxed send off to the season so everyone could hang out one last time before starting to put their cars away for winter.
Being in a more relaxed atmosphere meant I had more time to pore over cars I previously haven't gotten to absorb. A car I was definitely most excited to finally get a close up look at after quickly spotting it at Street Icons was the ERC/RE Amemiya FC3S. Elite Racing Corporation (ERC) developed the exhaust and those fat OEM-esque front and rear fenders in order to house wide Volk GT-Cs. RE Amemiya aero complements ERC's work well to craft a truly special FC.
The lines on ERC's fenders look so natural, it's hard to appreciate just how wide the car is without another FC to compare it to.
There was a huge show out of exciting Hondas. This kouki EJ6 featured a mix of OEM aero, Seeker wing, and iconic J's Racing dolphin tip exhaust, all sitting on Volk CE28s.
Brian Cardoza brought out his Milano Red EM1 Si on RE30 representing Hasback.
In an ultimate flex, Brian also brought out his Milano Red EK4 SiR on Gram Lights and had them parked up together.
All the A90 Supra needs to look good is a lip and wheels to fill out the fenders.
Tucked amongst the crowd of Japanese cars was this 991.2 GT3RS. I'm not sure if it's factory or an aftermarket alteration, but the half cage and brakes were covered in a color similar to Cusco blue.
The best part was the center lock Advan GTs it wore!
Every Prime event, team Ronin always brings out some absolute heat! Joe Tobias brought out his GDB STI running an M Sports kit (made famous by Team Orange's D1GP cars) including wide body and a whole host of rare goods (other than the kit itself) like the Syms grille and ARC reverse hood scoop.
To compliment his extensive collection of rare and desirable JDM goods is a hit list of wheels from Japan's most notorious manufactures such as WedsSport, Advan, and Volk. At the moment, Joe's riding on TE37 Sagas in classic Volk bronze.
Josue Santiago ran a similar style to Joe: bronze Volks, wide body, World Rally Blue, but different formula. His GD STI wore a full Voltex kit including the boxy wide fenders, and a deep set of CE28s. The two as a pair are a tough combo rolling together.
I think this BRZ is the only member of Ronin that isn't AWD. Regardless, they fit into their build ethos well. This was the first time I've seen an Ings+1 N-Spec kit in person which looked good in photos, but even better in person.
Today while looking up the name for this color, I learned there's actually 2 different yellows the "bugeye" WRX came in. This one is Blaze Yellow which is a paler shade; the other is Sonic Yellow which is more of a mustard shade. Blaze Yellow quite a rare color making this one of the rarest cars in attendance.
Rounding out Ronin's representation at the event was this STI wearing a full Ings+1 kit over Volk CE28s. Ings+1 is definitely a slept on aero company for the GD chassis because people rarely run it but it looks incredible.
Alex Trentch brought his daily driver FK8 wearing a Mugen lip kit and TE37s. I'm sure he had a ton of fun driving home on R888s.
Crazy GT aero on R35s is always such a cool look, but a simple lip kit and some cool wheels, Volk RE30s in this case, are all you need for a stylish street car.
Willy's EK4 was without a doubt my favorite car of the event, and most events it attends. Its previous look was already perfect, but for this year he improved upon it further with a host of parts from various tuning companies for a unique style. The OEM front bumper was swapped for a J Blood half-carbon fiber bumper. At first I thought the hood was a Shift Sports item, but after doing some research, it's actually made by Veilside which is a company I haven't seen parts from in a long time.
Car Craft Boon from Osaka manufactured the widened and radiused front fenders allowing for the 17/16 reverse stagger CE28s Willy's EK wears.
Such a thoroughly pieced together project. It's been evolving steadily since getting into his hands and it only gets better and better. Also, you can tell how wealthy someone is by how many bars their Miracle X-Bar has.
Daniel Pacificador from Tough Club found some time between caring for his newborn twins to take his oldest son out for a rip in his big single turbo BNR32. Imagine getting picked up from school in this!
Daniel also lent Kevin Espinoza his STI for the event. This STI sits on air suspension (aired up in the picture) and TE37Vs under some modest flares by today's standards.
ASM aero and contrasting black hard top looked tough on this S2000.
I was able to grab a quick snap of Mei's FD3S just before he left. The Japanese import model was built by Next Mod and MS Auto Modify Service and is one of very few TCP Magic cars Stateside.
There were a bunch of DC2 Integra Type Rs but this JDM model was my favorite of the bunch. Not much is needed to make these cars look perfect; just a kevlar lip, Mugen MF10s, and Spoon Monoblock calipers improve the car's near perfect look from factory.
Most Aimgain kitted cars stray closer to the VIP side of tuning but Kristopher's FRS runs a functional stance on Advan TC4s on 265s.
This FC3S wore some RE Amemiya aero and interesting flares over 5Zigen FN01Cs. It looked like something you'd find lurking the depths of Minkara in the early 2000s.
Danny Choy's Do Luck/Amuse/Nismo/Top Secret Z33 came out bananas! I don't have enough pictures of this car.
After experiencing enough hypothermia, a few of us went on a drive through Bear Mountain to a ramen spot on the other side to warm our bones before heading back up to Boston. The last hour of the ride was kind of terrifying with rain pouring down at an alarming rate and pretty much hydroplaning the entire way home. My bed never felt more comfortable that night!
It's always a bummer around this time of year attending all these season ender events. Prior to finishing this article, I was preparing my drift car for the last drift event of the season and after that, I don't think there's anything else in the calendar until March. Hopefully I can travel this winter and experience some car culture in areas that are active year round. Everything's up in the air as of right now so who knows if travel will be open or events will be able to happen as we enter the winter months.
I'm hopeful.
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