Chicago's Cleanest Street Builds at 2016 Tuner Galleria
When you've satisfied your desire to see classic domestic builds at the Chicago World of Wheels, you head upstairs to see imports in the Tuner Galleria hall. Having taken the upper deck for the past few years, this is one part that grows every time, packed to capacity with Chitown's cleanest street builds, most JDM or stance influenced.
I had the opportunity to come back as a guest judge for some of the categories. These aren't trailer queens; for the most part, a lot of the owners drive their cars on the daily and drove through semi-snowy conditions just to enter, some as far from Wisconsin and Indiana, one from Florida with a couple others originating from California.
This VW Caddy hits all the right notes: air suspension, perfect BBS wheel fitment, shaved engine bay and custom reupholstered Recaro seats.
Marcus Cooke is a former SoCal resident who moved to the Chicago area last year. Along with his family, he brought the California style with him, and his G sedan is slammed just right, packed with ultra-rare ARC bolt-ons, which helped him take home awards for Best Stance and Best Infiniti.
The Touge Factory 350Z is a time attack terror that also takes home show trophies. In the engine bay is a fully-built SR22VE-T, a custom hybrid motor utilizing a SR20VE cylinder head and stroked SR20DET bottom end, which is no easy task to make work. You can read more details about the build on Zilvia.net.
Not everything has to be modded to gain attention. This Toyota Corona Deluxe took home Best Nostalgic/Classic for its restorative work.
You wouldn't believe which car this Supra motor was shoved into... Sounds much cooler than it looked!
It's hard to say if this is a genuine deal ITR because of all the custom work done to it (hardcore ITR enthusiasts would lynch those daring to alter the original body from its original state these days) — but if it's an RS Integra, then CTB Garage did a good job at replicating a JDM ITR sans RHD conversion. Some nice detailing including the HID headlights, Mugen exhaust and yellow TE37s — good for the Best JDM honors.
