International Auto Salon - 04.02.2000

This show is also known as the SEMA show, especially to us SCPOC'ers, but it's also the show were Daven first received his ill-gotten reputation!

Last year's edition of the International Auto Salon was our official meet for the month of April 1999 and came very close to being this year's official meet as well.  If it weren't for next week's Fabulous Fords Forever show, that is.  The turnout for this gathering was incredible.  We had a lot of the newer members show up for this one, as there were only two members returning from last year's show!

The attendees:

We decided to meet at the same restaurant that Mike Mulgrew mentioned last year.  This time, most everyone was already there.  I waited for Lino on the 210N since he was already on his way when I left.  We met the other members and Dan, who's president of the newly formed SaPOC (Sacramento POC).  Once that was finished, we went inside to have a little breakfast.  Dan had to run out and get some supplies for his camera, so we waited for him to return before leaving for Fairplex.

the lineupthe lineup when we got to fairplex

Dave led the charge to Fairplex, and we got a few looks from a local yokel who caught a glance of me speeding and running a light.  Everyone else slowed a bit and I had to wait for them at the entrance to the parking lot.  As we entered, we pulled off to the side to wait for everyone to come though.  While waiting, we noticed an awful lot of rice passing us by.  And to think I was without my soy sauce!  Anyway, after we all got in, Lino came and snapped a few pics before we found parking.  On our way to the ticket booth, we did see a few modded imports and a Plymouth Prowler sitting in the lot.

When we got to the ticket booth (or right before we got to it), there were quite a bit of modded imports there.  Some had the typical body kits, others had turbo, chromed everything, video games, and the ever-present hoochies!  I had my video camera out and took some NICE zoom shots.  As soon as I get them converted to avi format, I'll post them.

Anyhow, we bought our tickets and went inside.  The first thing we saw was the Wings West booth and their 'spokesmodel' taking pictures.  We went ahead and cruised around, checking out the Nissan Silvia and Skyline.  Nearby was the Greddy booth, so we picked up some bags to lug our stickers and paraphernalia around.  One booth that caught my attention was the 'Tornado' booth.  Now, if you don't know what the 'Tornado' or Spiral Max is, it's a small metallic device that's supposed to create a swirling air effect when placed on top of a carburetor or in an intake tube.  Fellow member Jin Kim has dyno tested this item and documented the results: not good for the Probe.  It actually caused the cars to lose power.

is it me? or is this eclipse just plain ugly?nissan skyline (the blue car in the back is a sylvia)

tubo'd engine with venom injectorsyellow type-r integrathe integra's enginethe tornado/spiral max guy! stay away from this piece of junk!

The Turbonetics folks were there and had on display a few models of their turbochargers.  We also passed by the Borla booth, with Daven taking a shot next to a dual-exhaust Cougar.  Vortech was there, with a supercharged Cougar and a Civic.  Quafie, who's making an LSD for the Probe, had some of their wares on display as well.  I picked up some literature they had and made my way up to the McCloud Clutch booth and saw what they had.  During this time, the guys made their way to the other display area, to check out the other vehicles.

air intakesfor those who're on the juice - we salute you!yet another honda! damn!aem import dragster

ford focusvortech supercharged cougarvortech supercharged 2.5L duratec

nice wheelanother nice wheelcutaway view of a vortech supercharger

daven sucking up to a cougarthe magnaflow boothif yellow=speed, then yellow flame=out of this freakin' worldmama, don't let your babies grow up to be riceboys!

ugly eclipse with a borla exhaustthe superchips boothnow this sporty focus wasn't too badfocus in race mode

cutaway view of a beetle with wilwood equipmentthem's a lot o' wheels!cutaway view of a turbonetics turbocharger

more turbosthis coilover setup was for a honda accord - typical!a few offerings from the goodrich guys!a turbocharged rx-7

I came upon a Ford rep that happened to be there showing off a concept Cougar Eliminator (this car boasts an Eaton-supercharged 3.0L Duratec engine) and different Focus models.  I had to check out the Probe's replacement and was left wondering if Ford will really do this, or just tease the sports coupe world yet again.  Still, it wasn't half bad.  After joining up with the other guys again, we made our way to the other display area and checked out the toys they had on display over there.  One of the things that grabbed my attention was this kit car that had 355/30/17 Pirelli P-Zero tires on it.

these wheels look just like michelle's!konig monsoons!

unorthodox udp'sground control coilovers

dual exhaust neon?mcleod clutchesclutch masters!ford focus

zetec enginethe 2000 cougar eliminator concept cartoo bad a production probe never had this yellow!300HP 3.0L Duratec V6

underneath all that is the eaton superchargerthe eliminatorquafie boothquaife goods

Another toy that was nice was this Miata conversion.  The owner had converted the car to a one-seater, reminiscent of the Ferrari's of days gone by.  There was one area that had a guy with a brand new Civic, who just bought a ton of mods, having a crew install everything for him.  That must have been nice.  That new Plymouth minivan was there, the PT Cruiser, sporting a funky-looking pain job.  Stillen was also there, but Racer Phil was nowhere to be seen.

focuspt cruiserthose are some wide ass tires! yikes!yet another focus

can't remember what car this was on, but nice wheel!this celica sports a different fascia!celica gt-sanother damn focus

There were plenty of ZX2's on display and we saw some aftermarket cams that were available for the car.  What a shocker, because you couldn't find that for the Probe.  And to think, Ford is discontinuing that car in another year or so.  It was getting time to wind things down, so we decided to adjourn to the parking lot, but on our way out, I spotted one of the models that Daven had his picture taken with last year.  Not to be denied, we were finally able to talk D into having his picture taken with her.  He even showed her the picture from last year!  She was a very good sport about it too, allowing us to take many pics with her and D together.  That was great, but D's attempts at squelching his reputation were for naught.  D, you will always be our pimp!

what's up with the zx2 cams?that wing has to go!

momo accessoriesd giving a one-fingered salute to the tokico coiloversah, the fabled tokico illuminas!k & n cold air intakes

k & n filtercharger kitskyb adjustable struts - are they ugly or what?stillen brake kit and wheel - i'll bet it's not for a probe!coilovers and springs

Howard, D, and Dave had to leave, so Dan, JD, Andre, Lino, and myself went to a pizza joint in La Verne.  Actually, Dave led us there, then took off.  The food was okay.  We had a couple of pizza's, some beer, some soda, chatted about getting a CaPOC meet together, then left.  It was great to see Dan again, and to meet the newbies.  We had a blast during the show.

I guess that's it, until the next time that is!

Oh, before I forget, here are the Hoochie pics from the show!

now who said a bird in one hand.......?two more hoochies!darn! i wanted a close-up!since i lost my number, she gave me hers! =)

uh, so what are you trying to say baby?andre stikes again!lino turned out to be the hooch hound today!jd has a thing for blondes!

andre with yet another modelnice!jd schmoozingfor some odd reason, i'm getting a bit thirsty!

um, need a ride?d tried to play this one off, but it didn't work!double your pleasure, double your fun!lino in action yet again!

uh, where's the rest of the pit crew?nice pants!hmmmmmm

write-up by D. Tolentino