Now this is my cup of tea. Tuners and Tea was hosted on the first weekend following the New Year and what a way it was to kick off 2014! A variation of Cars and Coffee, Tuners and Tea is heaven for those interested in the tuner scene...and beyond as I found out. Guppy Tea House was an ideal location for such an early morning car meet, as they served hot coffee and tea to those in attendance. Co-hosted by DaYUUM, TJIN Edition, PURIST GROUP, JDMZipTies, MB Junkies, Team Klassified, and Infinite Auto Design; it was sure to attract a diverse set of cars. Overall the vibe was great, everyone was still in high spirits from the holidays and it showed throughout with everyone interacting with each other. Here are a few of many who woke up early to talk tuning with fellow tuners. Let’s start small with this 1969 Austin MINI Cooper, a project car by the good people at TheGentlemanRacer.com and sponsored by M&P Speed Apparel. The camouflage wrap plays along with the “Urban Assault” moniker they gave this classic euro. This right-hand drive little monster is built to be a terror and hold its own in the concrete jungles of Southern California. Now here is a throwback, this 1990 Honda Civic EF brings back memories of the early tuner days of the 90’s. My good friend, Jonathan Wong did a great job representing the styles of the 90’s in his true JDM build; keeping things simple and authentic. The interior is clean, the paint is perfect, the engine and suspension have both been upgraded, and to sit it on some rare Barramundi Tomen wheels just adds to the beauty. Let’s jump about a decade and take in some more modern tuner styles before we get a little weird. Limitless Society’s wide body Honda S2000 started out as a hellaflush show car, but in less than three years it has transformed into this track ready beast. Its wide body and slew of carbon fiber parts by J’s Racing and bright Takata Green Volk Racing TE37’s all make this one of the most aggressive rides at the meet. Did I say we were going to get weird? Well I mean just step a little out of the ordinary with some rides that you may not quickly recognize. I literally sent out mass text messages to hunt down the name of this little speedster, no luck. So I turned to my friend Google and after a few hours and various keywords, I found it! This little guy is a Lotus 7 from the late 60’s. Just as small, but looking quite different from to the Lotuses seen from time to time today. But what is true then as it is now, is that Lotus has continued to focus on optimizing its performance by keeping the sports car small, light weight, and simple in design. I wasn’t able to gather much more information since the owner didn’t stay long; as you can tell I was snapping away as they were getting ready to roll out. Hello Mr. President. Another car you wouldn’t expect to see anywhere else but a car related function. The Nissan President HG50 was initially only sold in Japan and was designed to be a luxury limousine; it was mainly used by higher up type people, you know, like presidents. But here in the tuner world we live in today, owner Ron Sino-Cruz turned this long-wheel base luxury import into a neck breaking VIP. The Admiration body kit and giant spoiler are sharp, the red paint is bright, the camber on the wheels is crazy, and the raised hood ornament (yes, that part is stock) all command the attention of any powerless spectator passing by. And while many people here yearn to be different and have a right-hand drive vehicle as those in Europe or Japan, this President was actually converted to be left-hand drive to go along with its environment here, ruling the streets of Southern California. The meet and greet was jam packed, with a variety of cars passing through. Depending on what time you arrived, you could have seen a different set of vehicles parked in front of Guppy Tea House. From Lamborghini’s, to Liberty Walk cars, to a Rolls Royce, to Euros, to rat rods, to trucks, to import cars, to motorbikes; there was something for everyone and this could very well be the start of something great each and every month. Look out 2014, the car season is upon us.
