Jonathan Chow 12/27/18 Jonathan Chow 12/27/18

2018 LA Autoshow

New camera, new reason to take photos again, new reason to blue again! Here’s some pics taken at the LA Autoshow this year. Yeah it was a while ago, but it was only just recently that an update for Adobe arrived which can now convert the new Nikon RAW format, so good reason to post some stuff up!

Overall pretty happy with the camera, though I noticed that I do need to be more mindful with the autofocusing compared to the Canon. This was shot entirely using the 24-70 f/4 Z-Mount, so we’ll see how the 40 f/2 Voigtlander will fare in the next shoot.

Jonathan Chow 1/21/18 Jonathan Chow 1/21/18

Japan Trip / Rides 2

Second half of my ride-specific pics.

Oh look, the perfect car for everything, aka RS4 Avant.

S class rocking a full Lorinser kit!

Japan has some strange cars, but never would have expected a modded XKR! Looks like it would have come straight out of a catalog from the late 90's.

Tokyo is definitely the place to be for some perfect condition Euro classics!

This 901 seems more fitting going to a meet at Venice Beach than cruising Tokyo, but it works there too!

Admiring the beautiful bikes in this city when suddenly a wild Dodge Ram van appears!

American cars are far from popular in Japan, but whenever you spot one, it's always an interesting model.

Something timelessly classic about the Toyota Century.

Shy little guy

I think I'm in love...

And on the very last night, near our place, I finally ran into a proper R34 GT-R, though I spotted some interesting mods. It has some aggressive venting on the passenger side of the bumper but not the other side. But then it's also rocking Endless calipers and what appears to be BBS RE-MG wheels (!!!), so who am I to judge?

Jonathan Chow 1/18/18 Jonathan Chow 1/18/18

Japan Trip / Rides 1

So now that I've wrapped up the general travel pics, I gotta of course mention all of the amazing cars and bikes I encountered while in Japan. I didn't spot anything too exotic, but for such a metropolitan city that frankly doesn't require any sort of personal transportation to get around, there's an amazing amount of interesting rides. So, that said, here we go!

Subaru, please! If you're not going to give us a hatchback Impreza WRX, then for the love of God, please bring over the Levorg! Honestly I'd prefer the Levorg, and if I were going to push myself for a new car, this would be the one car that I'd immediately jump for.

Why yes that's a Lancer Evolution IX Wagon with an older diesel G-Wagon in the background. That's Tokyo for ya.

Jonathan Chow 11/26/15 Jonathan Chow 11/26/15

2015 LA Autoshow

Every year around Thanksgiving I try to make it to the LA Autoshow, the best car show in the US. Here's just a brief highlight of some of what was shown this year.

A Volkswagen interpreation of the Mystery Machine

Jonathan Chow 7/27/15 Jonathan Chow 7/27/15

Car Spotlight / Keeping Small Classy

Years of following the BMW scene has gotten me pretty burnt out on the slam-it-on-style-5's trend. Not that I feel it's become a bad look, it still looks "correct" when done right, but it doesn't grab my attention that much. This Roundie on the other hand rekindled that spark for me. Maybe it's because the Style 5's aren't actually BBS's but rather Enkei's that are ever so slightly different.

Brand new factory-correct paint sure doesn't help either. Unless it's a really early 70's color (bright green or orange), I've always preferred 2002's in darker colors just like this burgundy.

Great height too, not un-useably low or super cambered-out. Just right for a car built for looks. The car isn't finished yet so it'll be exciting to see where it goes in the future.

Jonathan Chow 7/29/14 Jonathan Chow 7/29/14

K.I.S.S. E30

It's very rare to ever see a car that looks complete, done, perfectly executed. This is such a car, finished in a subtle yet tasteful way IMO. S50, spotless cloth interior, and unmolested exterior with that just right wheel fitment.

Jonathan Chow 6/7/14 Jonathan Chow 6/7/14

JDM 8 Series

Ah the E31. Just one of those cars that even the thought of altering makes people freak out, and for good reason. Despite having been a commercial failure, to many BMW fans (and car fans in general), the 8 Series was one of the few cars everyone can agree that BMW got right. It had some of the sexiest styling that ever came out of the 90's, top of the line GT luxuries, and monstrous engines that just steamrolled over everything in front in a very Bentley style, but with the buttery smoothness that is known with BMW powerplants. So taking such an example of "perfection" and throwing on Japanese tuning styled pieces might be taking it too far for many, and personally I borderline agree with them, except in my eyes, this is that borderline where the owner took it up to acceptable and stopped right on the edge. It works, and works really well, but any further and such acts would have become verboten!

Jonathan Chow 6/3/14 Jonathan Chow 6/3/14

In The Moment / Track Ready E92 BMW M3

There are some wheel/car matches out there that just work so perfectly, and the latest one has definitely got to be E9X M3's on BBS F1's. Just fits so well.