Car Show Mania: Scenes From Wekfest San Jose
A Packed House

In the decade that I’ve been covering automotive events, I’ve experienced some pretty memorable sights. And I added another one to the pile this weekend in San Jose, where I headed to check out the annual Northern California stop on the Wekfest Tour.

It wasn’t the scene of a car; it was the image of people – thousands of them. Attendees waiting to enter Wekfest when the show’s doors opened to the public on Sunday afternoon.

IMG_2799

They were waiting in a line that stretched from the doors of the exhibit hall across the entire convention center and then downstairs and out toward the street. Some of them had been there for hours waiting for the doors to open. It was an impressive sight to say the least.

Wekfest-San-Jose-159 copy

And what were they waiting to see inside those doors? Not a chart-topping musician or the chance to win some incredible prize. It was a car show.

All the talk about the new generation being less interested in cars is hard to believe when you see 5,000 young adults standing in line for hours to attend a car show. And even if the general population aren’t as impressed by cars as they used to be, the people that do like them seem to be more dedicated than ever.

Wekfest-San-Jose-59 copy

When I covered Wekfest Long Beach earlier this year, I touched on the fact that there’s no single way to label the genre of cars that make up a Wekfest event. And that feeling was even more pronounced in San Jose.

Wekfest-San-Jose-88 copy

Sure, there were plenty of cars that you might consider the ‘core’ of Wekfest: aired-out luxury sedans, tuner cars fitted to the brim with JDM aftermarket parts and many high-end European cars.

But more than ever, they were joined by a variety of modified vehicles representing the entire spectrum. There were lead sleds and lowriders, there were minitrucks, there were pro touring muscle cars, and there were air-cooled VWs.

Wekfest-San-Jose-99 copy

As I’ve said before, I don’t really consider myself a stance guy or a big car show guy, but the selection of 500+ cars at Wekfest was so varied that there was something to make just about any enthusiast happy.

Multiplicity
Wekfest-San-Jose-117 copy

There’s always misconceptions that Wekfest is only for the air-bagged and stretched tire crowd, but one look across the San Jose Convention Center would set things straight.

Wekfest-San-Jose-119 copy

There’s no such thing as pleasing everyone, but something like Michael Le’s immaculate ’75 BMW 2002 is a car that should come pretty close to doing just that.

Wekfest-San-Jose-120 copy

It was displayed right next to his matching ’75 R75/6 cafe racer bike for a perfect one-two punch of 1970s BMW goodness.

Wekfest-San-Jose-81 copy

And speaking of BMW, this E30 from LTMW is one of the latest cars to model Rocket Bunny’s Pandem wide-body conversion. The body shape works pretty well with the blister fenders, doesn’t it?

Wekfest-San-Jose-116 copy

The E30 was joined by a few different E36 builds sporting the same Pandem kit, like this example displayed in the GReddy booth.

Wekfest-San-Jose-118 copy

GReddy probably isn’t the first brand you associate with the BMW scene, but the classic Trust racing stripes look right at home on the E36.

Wekfest-San-Jose-121 copy

While Wekfest is certainly a place where you can see attention-grabbing customization trends, there were also plenty of subtler, more detail-oriented builds. This NA Miata from the Garage Star crew was one of them.

Wekfest-San-Jose-158 copy

As was this tasteful GC chassis Impreza that was wearing one of our Speedhunters windshield banners.

Engine Swaps For Days
Wekfest-San-Jose-175 copy

Another thing I noticed as I made my way around the exhibit hall were the number of cars sporting engine swaps. This cream colored two-door Datsun 510 was one that caught my eye.

Wekfest-San-Jose-176 copy

It was packing a very clean SR20DET which had plenty of performance goodies thrown at it.

Wekfest-San-Jose-137 copy

A little newer but just as classic was this super clean DA chassis Integra rolling on a set of old school RAYS Volk Racing mesh wheels.

Wekfest-San-Jose-138 copy

And while the exterior had a period correct vibe to it, the original B-series engine was swapped out in favor of this more contemporary K-series setup.

Wekfest-San-Jose-143 copy

When you think of engine swaps for 1990s-era Honda Accords, the proven H22A VTEC four-cylinder is the most obvious choice. But the owner of this Accord Coupe took his engine setup a few steps further.

Wekfest-San-Jose-144 copy

Yes, that’s a J32 V6 with a big supercharger sitting on top of it, and no, I’m not exactly sure how you get a hood over that! It was definitely one of the more unusual Honda builds at the show this year.

Wekfest-San-Jose-114 copy

This panda-colored AE86 on Work CR01s would be an impressive machine even if it was still rocking a 16-valve 4A-GE – but that’s not what was powering this car.

Wekfest-San-Jose-113 copy

Instead it has a 1UZ-FE V8 sitting in its engine bay, a motor that even in stock form makes a lot of power for the lightweight AE86 chassis. No wonder this swap is becoming so popular.

Wekfest-San-Jose-58 copy

Whether it was the thousands of people lining up to get in or the hundreds of diverse vehicles parked inside the show, the popularity of Wekfest is showing no sign of dropping off.

This really just scratches the surface of the cool stuff I found in San Jose this year, so stay tuned for more detailed looks at several of my favorite builds from the show.

Mike Garrett
Instagram: japanifornia
mike@speedhunters.com

Cutting Room Floor
Wekfest-San-Jose-179 copy
Wekfest-San-Jose-177 copy
Wekfest-San-Jose-157 copy
Wekfest-San-Jose-140 copy
Wekfest-San-Jose-141 copy
Wekfest-San-Jose-136 copy
Wekfest-San-Jose-122 copy
Wekfest-San-Jose-112 copy
Wekfest-San-Jose-83 copy
Wekfest-San-Jose-94 copy
Wekfest-San-Jose-95 copy
Wekfest-San-Jose-98 copy
Wekfest-San-Jose-77 copy
Wekfest-San-Jose-64 copy
Wekfest-San-Jose-63 copy
Wekfest-San-Jose-57 copy
ADVERTISEMENT

Comments



Comments are closed.

36 comments

by Oldest
by Best by Newest by Oldest
1

That NSX is so bloody amazingly gorgeously sexy

2
jbfromsiliconvalley

Getting some evil ideas....

-If I ever blow the k20 in my dc5, I may have to consider a blown J swap and a gofundme page.
-Im not into wheels much...but those CRO'1s in semi gloss black on any 68-70 Mopar B-body. Purists be damned! 
Get a set for Project Yankee DO IT! Even if it is a "lowly ****cough**** A body"

3

That black wagon in the top image! So nice!

4

MilesHayler Definitely one of my favorites at the show! Here's another pic...

5

x1s1x300 So Sinister!

6

LukeEVOVIII Here are two more that were at the show. The pearl yellow was immaculate, it just works so well.

7

those two porsches with the blue and yellow paint scheme, remind me alot of the spoon cars.

8
anthonyscamaro

Wish you could post more pictures of what was on the floor! Lol I had my black 72 Camaro out there in the solo section with a homemade aero kit I designed and built with my pops. These are beautiful images but they barely scratch the surface of what was out there. Just the parking garage could've become its own show, thanks for this post Mike (:

9

dimaconcepts Then it worked as intended to.

10

Soooo...what's the deal with the gas gap door on the E30 widebody kit? It's "cool" to have a gaping hole in the fender?
Thanks for the coverage Mike!

11

Black NSX is better than sex

12

nice pics....i'll never come around to indoor shows though.

13
turbo BEAMS ae86

@SW1 built for reddit upvote's, show respect

14

Wekfest always does look pretty great. I really dislike lines though so I don't know if I could ever do it.
Hats off to those that do thought.
Nice pics Mike look forward to the spotlights

15

nice

16

my best frends sister just got a fantastic cream Volkswagen Golf R just by working from a computer... over here..........richway3.comᴵᴵᴵᴵᴵᴵᴵᴵ

17

there were 4 swapped fd3s and I dont see a picture of 1

18

Question from a fan and long time reader.

Why recently all the photos in SH are not 1080p or better as they were before. 
Used to get my wallpapers from here and now it's a really bad quality (plus if you considered that all devices are getting better, and better displays it's an unreasonable measure).

19

What a gorgeous A70 Supra! I owned one for a few years, as my first car. I'm very glad to see people still enjoying and building them. I wish they received more coverage, especially these finer examples. They are great cars but, media sources always overlook them for the A80 chassis.

20

my best friends uncle got yellow Dodge Durango SUV just by some part-time working online from home. more information see it here=====88iwork­­.ℭomllllllll

21

really really like to see the car that shiny new car fits like made ​​for walking trailsthe car was very good http://utamadomino.com/app/img/peraturan.html" rel="dofollow" target="_blank">http://utamadomino.com/app/img/peraturan.html and very fast http://utamadomino.com/app/img/jadwal.html" rel="dofollow" target="_blank">http://utamadomino.com/app/img/jadwal.html mix of colors http://utamadomino.com/app/img/promo.html" rel="dofollow" target="_blank">http://utamadomino.com/app/img/promo.html from which to http://utamadomino.com/app/img/panduan.html" rel="dofollow" target="_blank">http://utamadomino.com/app/img/panduan.html make want pobud http://utamadomino.com/ see hatnya http://dokterpoker.org/app/img/peraturan.html" rel="dofollow" target="_blank">http://dokterpoker.org/app/img/peraturan.html kecepatanya http://dokterpoker.org/app/img/jadwal.html" rel="dofollow" target="_blank">http://dokterpoker.org/app/img/jadwal.html was very nice ,http://dokterpoker.org/app/img/promo.html" rel="dofollow" target="_blank">http://dokterpoker.org/app/img/promo.html  suitable for a "http://dokterpoker.org/app/img/panduan.html" rel="dofollow" target="_blank">http://dokterpoker.org/app/img/panduan.html sharp bend http://dokterpoker.org or not sharp I guess motorists http://633cash.com/Games like this is http://633cash.com/Pengaturan" very skilled in the speed I hope I can membilinya someday will whether http://633cash.com/Daftar http://633cash.com/Promo there are http://633cash.com/Berita new cars http://633cash.com/Livescore are better I http://raksasapoker.com/app/img/peraturan.html" rel="dofollow" target="_blank">http://raksasapoker.com/app/img/peraturan.html 'll wait for it , with a stylish car classic http://raksasapoker.com/app/img/jadwal.html" rel="dofollow" target="_blank">http://raksasapoker.com/app/img/jadwal.html style I http://raksasapoker.com/app/img/promo.html" rel="dofollow" target="_blank">http://raksasapoker.com/app/img/promo.html also like http://raksasapoker.com/app/img/panduan.html" rel="dofollow" target="_blank">http://raksasapoker.com/app/img/panduan.html to see would be http://raksasapoker.com/ whether there is a http://yakuza4d.com/peraturan" rel="dofollow" target="_blank">http://yakuza4d.com/peraturan car that is http://yakuza4d.com as fast and forius http://yakuza4d.com/home like in the "http://yakuza4d.com/daftar movie , the car very http://yakuza4d.com/cara_main good car http://yakuza4d.com/hasil designed a way apparently hopefully http://yakuza4d.com/buku_mimpi there will be new cars more good and the price is quite pantastis then chances are I can membilinya the same as you have at this time

22

Look at how infinitely sweeter the silver E36 and dolphin grey E30 are than those pandem sh*t boxes... I don't get any enjoyment from being negative about other people's cars, but that sh*t looks like it was designed for something else and hammered into a BMW. The E30 one doesn't even fit? Seriously. If you build something for pure attention seeking then you're gonna get opinions, so please spare me the played out 'they built it for themselves' excuse for tasteless builds.

I can get on board with 99% of marques / styles even if they aren't my thing, but I can't even comprehend how anyone can think that looks remotely 'right'. Such a shame they turned into this from their decent looking beginnings with wide S Bodies...

23

my mother inlaw just got an almost new cream Toyota RAV4 only from working off a macbook air. check this site out..........richway3.comᴵᴵᴵᴵᴵᴵᴵᴵ

24

Those Spoon liveried Porsches still wig me out, haha.

25

my neighbor's mother makes $64 hourly on the laptop. She has been out of work for five months but last month her payment was $15080 just working on the laptop for a few hours. Go to this web site and read more?====http://www.home.incomehints.org

26
turbo BEAMS ae86

370 Hemi Ur story make me smile and i hope u are well †

27

IRONWOLF RD


my friend got GMC Yukon Hybrid by working part-time online. see it here----- -- --->> internet-careers50.comᴵᴵᴵᴵᴵᴵᴵ

28

TomRich How can you say the E30 kit doesn't fit? It was designed specifically for it. I can't see where it doesn't fit.

29

i buy a new by using this site===>>>fly38.comᴵᴵᴵᴵ

30

What rims are on that (nasty kitted) white BMW with the stripes? Enkei 666?

31

like Brenda responded I'm shocked that a stay at home mom able to earn $7047 in one month on the computer. have you read this web site======>>>>>>>http://www.home.incomehints.org

32

what Ruby explained I didnt even know that people able to get paid $8501 in 4 weeks on the computer. did you read this web site====>>>>>http://www.home.incomehints.org

33

like Grace explained I didn't know that some people able to profit $6747 in four weeks on the internet . Read Full Article see it here=====report55­­.ℭomllllllll

34

Hello Guys My Name is SHEELA. I am From INDIA. Our own association Dubai escorts is seen as to a great degree shimmering nearby understood workplaces inside Dubai and i am simply giving right here model escorts close by world class escort. Hina Shiekh is a far reaching name in our association and she is among the best and especially favored.
Indian and Pakistani Escorts in Dubai
Indian Escorts in Dubai
Pakistani Escorts in Dubai
Indian Call Girls in Dubai
Escorts in Dubai
http://indiansescortsdubai.com/

35

TomRich just wants the world to know that he has immaculate taste. Insulting car enthusiasts is simply his way of showing how terribly fantastic and superior his taste is.

36

My Uncle Eli got a stunning yellow BMW M6 Coupe by working parttime from a home pc... have a peek here http://tiny.tw/3pnY

OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS