JAE 2009 Photos

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Ever since I recovered from last years  Japanese Auto Extravaganza at Mersea Island in Essex, I have been looking forward to JAE 2009. The combination of cars, mates, beers, bbqs and sunshine makes it such a laid back and enjoyable weekend that its hard not to love it. JAE 2009 had a new home (Wicksteed Park in Kettering, Northamptonshire) but was superb! Unfortunately this year I was unable to camp due to other commitments on Friday and Saturday night but seeing as the new home of JAE is only 20 minutes from home I was back each day.

JAE 2009 had sensational weather on Friday and Saturday with Sunday being a little cooler and overcast (see the PS13 photo above) but was still warm enough for mid-September. Friday and Saturdays awesome weather meant that BBQs and Beers were on the go all day each day, which as JAE is a static show means that its a great chance to unwind and take a weekend to relax with mates and chill out.

The quality of cars at the show this year was simply amazing with some stands (like those crazy Scots @ JDMyO) rocking only awesome cars with no duds whatsoever! Seriously, I loved their stand and as I was on the next stand over spent most of Saturday staring and drooling…. The trade area was pretty small and weak this year with only a few stands such as Tegiwa, Sumo Power and Banzai really showing some hot cars (Banzai had the new Mugen FN2 Civic Type R on their stand). In truth the trade stands served a purpose and didnt detract from the event at all, but it would be nice to see some more traders next year.

The new venue worked well, apart from having monster speed bumps on the entrance and exit with good facilities on site and plenty of space for campers and stands. Seriously though, for next year please run a route across the grass so that those with low cars don’t have to scrape on EVERY bump! My Civic isnt actually that low yet I scraped on all the bumps apart from one.

So what did those of you who attended JAE this year think? Leave a comment or drop me an email.

If you would like to see the rest of my JAE 2009 Photos click any of the photos above or here

South Mimms Honda meet 09/08/2009 was EPIC!

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Just before leaving home to attend a Civiclife staff meet before the regular Honda meet began, I saw that the number of attendees was up to over 140 on CL alone. I reckon the actual number of Honda’s was over 200 and filled the whole corner of the South Mimms car park. With the superbly high turnout you would expect a few great cars but in truth there were tons!

Meeting up with the regular Mimms attendees was superb with the Honda Culture crew showing some of the fresh Honda’s that they are known for and those crazy Northern bastards who take on the epic trip down South for this meet every time! It was good to see some people bringing their kids to the meet and letting them get their 1st experiences of a truly laid back meet.

Car of the show for me was Welz’s clean EF, and to be honest it seemed that almost everyone who I spoke to seemed to agree! If you want more info on this car check out the build up thread on CivicLife here.

As always, click the images above to see the rest of the photos taken by me yesterday or click here. I have more photos to edit but to be honest I wasnt feeling the photography yesterday – was more in the mood to chat to people than be anti social and go into snappy mode!

South Mimms Honda Meet tomorrow!

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My EM1 is running better than it ever has since I owned it, and I can’t wait for tomorrow! For those of you not lucky enough to have been to a South Mimms Honda meet here in the UK, check out the links at the bottom of this post for previous meet photos. Its always such a good atmosphere, so laid back and there is ALWAYS a solid turn out! Over 150 different Hondas are expected tomorrow (I’d actually take a guess that over 200 will show up) and its always a great chance to catch up with people that I only ever see at these meets. Honda Culture will have a huge group at the meet tomorrow, and as always I’ll be rocking my HC shirt to show the love!

If you are able to get to South Mimms tomorrow night I seriously suggest you take chance to see the UK’s best Honda’s all in one place. Check out the list of attendees on CivicLife here

Honda Culture MK Meet 19/07/2009

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Tonight was a night I have been looking forward to for a while now, as it was the latest Honda Culture meet over in Milton Keynes. I always enjoy these meets as they are so chilled out. Its as much about standing round and catching up with mates as it is about the cars. Thats not to say the standard of cars in attendance isnt high, but the cars are only part of the reason that you go – which is a unique thing for me these days!

The superb “summer” weather we have been having lately put paid to the planned BBQ a few of us were looking forward to, and perhaps even kept away some of the less hardcore HC members as the number of people today was not a match for last time. For the Record, when it rains we have a back up location that is covered (and also a great place to take photos) so even if the weather outside is frightful – the HC meets are ALWAYS delightful!

After the rain got a bit heavier, we moved to “Location B” which meant the camera could come out again!

Even with less people at the meet, tonight was great fun and as always – I can’t wait for the next Honda Culture meet! Keep an eye out for Honda Culture this year – things are ramping up nicely!

As always, click on any of the photos above to be taken to the rest of the photos on my Flickr account, and if you would like any of these (or my other photos) as high resolution wallpaper, please let me know via email or the comments below!

Japshow @ Santa Pod 2009

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Yesterday was an early start for me, but it turned out to be well worth getting up early for. I was planning to meet up with the guys from Honda Culture but actually arrived at the meeting point about 30 mins before they were due to arrive. Normally this half hour period would be a great chance to grab some much needed sleep, but on this occaision I actually ended up meeting up with a few of the guys from CivicJordan.co.uk who had also arranged the same meeting point. Within an hour about 30 Jordans had arrived along with about 35 cars that were due to be on the HC stand. Not a bad start to the day! Seeing such a gathering of Jordans was a true joy to behold as it is rare to see so many together.

On arrival at Santa Pod, I was expecting there to be a huge queue to sit in but I was pleasantly surprised at being able to stream through and straight to the Honda  Culture stand. As soon as I took my 1st stroll around the show with Lex from AceImageUK it was clear to us that this was going to be a good day.

I was truely impressed with a number of cars at the Japshow this year, and even being as unbiased as possible 2 of the best cars at the show for me were on the Honda Culture stand – namely Tegboys EK9 and Sundip’s VIP Accord. If you havent checked out Tegboy’s EK9 build up then you seriously need to do that right now, because for me (and many others) it is the best EK9 (and possibly best Civic in general) in the UK right now. More pics of Sundip’s slammed Accord will be posted on here shortly.

I was pleased to see the drift action pulling such a huge crowd, but would like them to put on a better track for the skidders next time. One of the best and most unique things about Japshow is the quarter mile action, and yesterday I was loving the mix of competitive runners, RWYB and Jet car runs. I will post my drag action shots in a different post later this week.

Thats it for part 1, but in part two I will be taking a closer look at the Quarter mile action as well as the other (non Honda) cars at Japshow.

If you would like to see the rest of the 1st batch of photos from Japshow then you can do just that by clicking this link – Japshow @ Santa Pod photos.

South Mimms in the Sun!

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Very few people get as excited as I do about the South Mimms services on the M25, but when you have been to a host of Honda meets at this particular location – you know how good the day will be! Yesterday was no exception, in fact it was one of the best meets I have ever attended!

The weather was incredible yesterday, and with everyone in such a good mood there was a very high chance of win with this meet!

I didnt take as many photos as usual, mainly due to being too busy showing off some new wheel designs. The photos I did take can be found here – South Mimms Honda Meet Photos

Wallpaper Wednesday! #1

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One of the most commented on photos that I have taken recently was this one of a kitted DC5 giving it the beans around Silverstone at the recent JTS show. Due to the positive reaction and comments I have decided to offer it here as a free wallpaper in full 3008×2000 resolution.

Click this link or the image above to get the full size version

Honda Culture Milton Keynes Meet 07/06/09

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Yesterday I took the (usually!) short trip to Milton Keynes to meet up with the HC lot, and as usual we had a great time! Despite several short downpours we spent most of the night at the usual location, apart from a brief detour to a multi-storey car park to get some shelter.

The range of cars in attendance at this meet was great, and as expected at a HC meet the quality of cars was superb. I love seeing owners taking pride in their work and this was epitomised by the owner of the white CRX you can see below. I didnt catch his name but he was clearly very proud of the outcome of al lthe time and effort he had put into the project.

It was great to see so many the relaxed atmosphere continue to carry on in the spirit of Honda Culture, with everyone (almost!) more interested in parking up and talking to each other than doing the usual chav car meet standard – parking up with your music cranked up or bouncing off the rev limiter! The HC meets are all about chilling out with mates and talking cars/projects/life etc – this is what makes them great! A small group of dedicated Honda enthusiasts that live for their cars and are proud of their lifestyle.

I didnt take as many photos as I would have liked, but the ones I did take can be found here – Honda Culture MK meet photos