Since taking over as Editor in Chief earlier this year, there has been one story type that I’ve been wanting to bring back – the monthly editorial. I’ve always thought of them as a great way of providing a behind-the-scenes insight into what each of us put into this crazy project called Speedhunters. So expect them, starting right now.

I’ll be sharing with you what we’ve got coming up in the weeks ahead, while taking a look at how things all come together, the crazy adventures we usually end up on, the amazing people we meet along the way, and last but not least, the sheer amount of travelling we do.

And early last week travel was very much on my mind. Having just returned from Australia and the WTAC event a few days prior, I was back out the door and on my way to the train station…

This time around it all started with a much-dreaded departure from Narita International Airport, which despite being referred to as Tokyo’s airport is actually located about 90 minutes out of the city, and a good two-hour ride on public transport for yours truly. Still, the Narita Express train is comfortable and offers some cool views on the way through the Chiba countryside.

Anytime I leave Japan I always make sure I grab a pocket wi-fi router. It’s imperative that I have the internet in my pocket so I can upload content on the go, plus, in most countries 4G is actually faster than hardwired connections!

With my gadgetry safely tucked away in my camera bag, I headed to the departure gate and proceeded to my seat aboard a 787 Dreamliner bound for Los Angeles. The rearward-most window seat on this new plane looked far worse than it actually was, and I actually managed to sleep a bit, which was a first for me.

Thanks to some unexpected tail-winds, my flight arrived at LAX one hour early, but as immigration was closed we had to wait in the plane. That was a bit difficult to deal with after such a long flight, not to mention the hour-long immigration procedure that followed, but after the formalities it was straight over to the rental car place where I picked up the largest production SUV known to mankind. The Chevy Suburban is more akin to a Tokyo apartment on wheels than an actual car, but the exaggerated size would come in handy a couple of days later when Rob, Speedhunter’s Managing Director, and Arslan, our Product Associate, joined me on this SEMA adventure.

Driving on the massive freeways of Southern California never ceases to blow me away. Coming from a country like Japan, the whole notion of people travelling around by car rather than public transport just boggles the mind. No problem though, as they certainly have all the space they need, unlike Japan.

After a little time to accustom myself to the different time zone, my first port of call was Singer. The Singer guys had kindly arranged to take me on a private tour of their new facility, and show me where the 911s they work on are restored from the ground up. I even got to drive and feature the beautiful blue example you see parked above, but that of course will require its very own post!

On the other side of the Atlantic, things started ridiculously early for Rob and Arslan….

The first thing on the guys’ agenda was to make their way to Stockholm Arlanda Airport in order to grab a late flight over to London. While the temperature in both Tokyo and Los Angeles is quite mild and pleasant at this time of the year, the same definitely can’t be said for Sweden!

The cold is nothing a light refreshment won’t cure though.

After an overnight stop at Heathrow, the pair boarded a futuristic driverless pod that whizzed them to the terminal where they could board their flight.

It must have been rather nice to get a surprise bump up to First Class!

While the guys enjoyed their 11-hour+ flight to Los Angeles, I met up with Larry so we could check in with a few local shops that we knew were putting some cool cars together for SEMA. The idea is always to get as many feature car shoots in the bag before the show begins, so that after a crazy week in Vegas we can just shut ourselves in our respective offices and gather our thoughts. The last thing anyone wants to do after SEMA is to shoot some more, and it’s a given that all the car owners and builders just want to get home too.

The first shop we hit up was LTMW where one of the two Liberty Walk McLaren 650Ss being unveiled at SEMA was being built. It’s also the place where Kato-san had shipped a few of his Japan-based demo cars to ahead of the show.

Upon seeing Kato’s shakotan S30 Fairlady Z, I knew it had to be shot right then and there. Ryo-san of LBW even proved that the stroked L-series has enough grunt to light up the vintage slicks, by the way of a pretty epic burnout. But since you guys already follow our Instagram feed you would have seen that days ago!

From LTMW, it was over to Gi Automotive in Santa Monica where I had heard that Angie Mead King from Manila was in the middle of a crazy Corvette build.

It turns out I had heard right. This has to be the wildest ‘Vette we’ve ever seen: all carbon, mega wide-body and about receive a big built motor to go along with its menacing looks. If you’re at SEMA this year, make sure you check it out at the Toyo Tires booth.

Struggling to put all the finishing touches on time-pressure builds is something that we at Speedhunters certainly know something about, and this year’s SEMA crunch involved three very different machines.

Mike has been in the midst of a rather monumental build over the last year, and Project Yankee has turned out spectacularly well. I’ll let the man himself reveal his reimagined ’75 Dodge Dart in a separate post coming up very soon, so stay tuned for that.

Keith is far from a rookie when it comes to building cars, and after winning the Scion Tuner Challenge back in 2014 with the Speedhunters FR-S, it was only a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’ he’d be returning to SEMA with a car. Project Trailhunter turned out awesome, and you’ll be able to find out more in Keith’s reveal post, which is coming up next.

After Rob, Arslan and the extended Speedhunters team touched down in LA, it was straight over to Vaderwerks in Calabassas, a quiet and picturesque northern part of LA County. It was here that last year’s Need for Speed 964 RWB real-world project build was given an all-new look.

The idea was to pay homage to the true sense of a Nakai special. Personally, I’ve always felt that RWB builds should visually represent the ‘Rough World’ spirit, and although we wanted a clean execution, it was all about adding some real aggression to the car. With Air Lift Performance, Rotiform, Toyo Tires, Cobra Seats, Schroth, 3M and of course Vaderwerks on board with the SEMA 2016 makeover, it’s definitely been achieved.

During the coming week, Rob will be bring you a story not only on the 964’s transformation, but also on the epic drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. The latter involved a overnight run across Death Valley, a random guy sitting down on the side of the road at 3:30am in the middle of the desert, and almost being arrested and having the car impounded…

Of course, the car did make it to the show right on time, and while Arslan and Rob were there they managed to grab a few quick shots of the set up.

It all starts here with a classic Corolla rally car, a turbocharged Prius and a very purposeful Corvette. That’s SEMA diversity for you!

As I put this post together from the quiet comfort of my hotel room, the final finishing touches are being put to all the booths and the thousands of cars that are being displayed at the SEMA Show’s 50th anniversary event.

Tomorrow morning at 9:00am sharp the doors will open and we will be free to roam the halls and snap away. We’ve got a huge amount of SEMA coverage coming your way over the course of the week, both here and on our social channels.

At the completion of day one, I’ll be coming back with a post on some of the standout builds of this year’s show. From what we’ve seen already, there’s no shortage of them either!

Hopefully we won’t overwhelmed by it all, but given the sheer physical size of the show and all the goodness within, it’s something easier said than done.

Our US-based team will be on the lookout for cars so amazing, that we just can’t possibly not feature them at a later date. After all, it’s the feature car content that’s always defined what Speedhunters is about; hunting out the best of the best and presenting them in an unmistakable fashion. And this is precisely the reason why you’ll be seeing some new names pop-up in our editorial team in the coming days and weeks.

Matthew Everingham is officially joining the Speedhunters team this week, and given what he’s already brought to the table, we can’t wait to see what else he uncovers in Australia. Expect to see more from Matt over the course of November, starting off with a self-introductory post next week.

In addition to all the SEMA show-floor coverage, get ready for some pretty important car features over the next couple of days. Larry has been machine-gunning away to bring us some big stories, from wild projects like Ryan Tuerck’s Gumout Ferrari V8-powered Toyota 86…

To a stunning McLaren…

To the world’s first slant-nose 997. While we shoot, LA-based automotive writer Justin Banner is helping us out with a few of these features, and we’re sure you’ll like what he has to share.

So that’s about all I wanted to say on this return to regular monthly editorials. Hopefully, you guys now have a little idea of what we’ve got in store for your over the course of SEMA week and for the rest of the month, not to mention what we get up to behind the scenes.

If you happen to be at the SEMA Show and see any of the team, make sure you stop us and say hi!

Dino Dalle Carbonare
Instagram: speedhunters_dino
dino@speedhunters.com