SB Captures – Gripshiftslide

The Lowdown :: Last Minute Meet

Grant — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 12:35:20 +0000

The boys behind The Lowdown.com and Sydney’s uber successful car show ‘Showcased‘ decided to go from one extreme to another.
They’ve gone from organising one of the most hyped and planned events on the calendar to one of the most casual street car meets in recent history.
Their previous work with the Showcased car show saw a multi level car park in Sydney’s CBD get closed off and then filled with the best cars from all over. With months and months of planning in the lead up to the big day and then with less than 48 hours notice, the team decided to get everyone together and opted for something a bit more ‘low’ key.

The invitational flyer was posted on Facebook just two days before the proposed meet.
The grass-roots nature and ‘everyone is welcome’ vibe spread far and wide within the 48 hour window and the turnout was fantastic to say the least!

Hundreds of people came down for some much needed mid-week stress relief. There were cars coming and going from 7pm till 11pm, so the crowd was shrinking and then just as quickly again growing with each hour.

The quality of cars was amazing but the real surprise was just the atmosphere that came from such a laid back approach to the meet.

Some standout cars included this simple black R35…

And the Dixcel/Garage 88 FD Civic also came out to visit!

The Acquired Taste Evo’s sitting pretty together.

This one in particular has been bouncing around the interwebs for a few months now. We are proud to see an Aussie car getting so much love around the globe… Although another local Evo tops this one in the E-fame department.

Ladies and gentleman, ZOMAYA!! This wide body creation by The Lowdown team member Michael has been stirring the lower regions of young men and women everywhere!
There are countless images of this being shared all over the web every day and we can see why!!!

A glimpse of the 200+ car turnout!

A testament to the healthy fitment scene in NSW – this is the perfect street car.
Not stupid expensive, just nice wheels and a bit of power… Perfect!

Creative lanyard placement, although we’re not sure how well it will go if it needs a tow.

Chooks’ Lexus drops jaws and panties everywhere it goes!
We hope the success of these back to basics car meets kick off a ‘less is more’ approach to the car scene. With more and more blogs/organisations popping up, everyone is trying to out do each other with each and every event but at what cost?
Keep meets fun, casual and most importantly accessible to everyone!
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.
Photos by Nicholas Truong | SB Captures

WTAC :: Best In Show

Grant — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 08:31:47 +0000

The World Time Attack Challenge is one of the largest events of it’s kind and happens to have so much going on it needs several post for us just to give you a glimpse of what you may have missed.
In the skid pan area of Eastern Creek Raceway some of Sydney’s best street cars came out to strut their stuff on the final day of the WTAC.

From full blown magazine cars with custom airbrushing to mad street cars like this tough little Toyota Corona, this exactly the kind of thing we love to see.
This would have looked right at home in version of Mad Max!

Built to Order brought some truly awe inspiring cars with them, from this hoping Lincoln Town car…

To this mold breaking EG Civic hatch, with some interesting colour choices and some of the best attention to detail we have ever seen.

Have you ever been beating at the lights by a Honda with pink wheels?
You might be surprised when you pull up next to this little Civic, BuiltToOrder.co didn’t just pay attention to the outside when building this car.
They threw in a K20 engine for good measure too!

There was also another EG Civic with a slightly simpler approach but still just as much of a head turner!
With a paint job in a light cola brown and some wicked little 15″ wheels this car looked mean.

Another Honda with it’s ‘A’ game on, this newer EK hatch had some very impressive BBS RS wheels.
Off the shelf simply would not do so the owner had the wheels re-barreled to 15 x 8 +12.3 specs.
Not exactly front wheel drive friendly offset there!

The show and shine section offered everything from VIP styled cars to full blown dragsters.

The recurring theme was attention to wheels, so not surprising at all that the Built to Order boys had wheels on nearly every single car!

This MX5 got a lot of looks, it’s been a long time since we have seen one of these roadsters in any colour other than red!

These Corolla’s were hiding in the pack, big fan of the over fenders on the white one!!

This white S15 pushed the boundaries of dished rear wheels, the sticker on the window really hit the nail “I got 99 problems, but fitment ain’t one.”

The MR2 is a true underdog amongst Japanese ‘tuner’ cars, with some Ferrari like styling and a mid mount engine it’s always ticked some boxes for the boy racers but never really appealed to the masses.
This SW20 model on Work Meister’s is a more then a step in the right direction, the aggressive body kit and wheel choice breath some fresh air into the early 90’s coupe.

Purple wheels get all the bitc… ah hmm er, ladies.

Bronze Volk CE28’s and the blue details make this Silvia a winner, the number plates are epic too!

This tiny van was unlike anything else at the show, the Suzuki Carry Van’s engine had been replaced by a completely electric motor thanks to some extensive and clever work by Mark Taylor from Sydney AEVA.

Oliver’s S15 has become quite the internet sensation after having being shown on speedhunters and a few other blogs, the car did not disappoint us in the flesh at all!

There was also a touch of euro in the mix, this classic VW was a perfect blend of old and new styles with influences from the current trends…

Like the sticker bombed details around the tail lights and wider wheels finished the older bug of nicely!

Tessa whyte’s yellow R34 had a crowd of photographers around it at nearly all times, the car caused quite the stir moving from the pits to the show and shine area.

While it is not the main attraction of the event it really is nice to see that it got a lot more attention this year and the cars on display were all extremely unique or had an impeccable level of detail when it came to modifying them.
The crowd seemed to be a lot more involved with a lot more spectators taking a break from the deafening race cars to come by and check out some of Sydney’s street scene.
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for a few more WTAC related posts still coming.
– Gwyn.
Photos : Brendan Dutton | SB Captures

Meguire's MotorEx :: All Stars

Grant — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 08:08:05 +0000

With the Auto Salon shows now put to bed, Meguire’s MotorEx has stepped up and taken the title as Australia’s biggest car show!
Now in it’s 12th year it is now bigger than ever!
With Sydney Olympic Park as the venue the Dome was filled with custom hot rods and classics and the odd Japanese car or two…

Outside was a display of modified cars from all over NSW, responsible for getting the group of jaw dropping street cars was the newly found All Stars crew.
With a focus on appreciating all the different walks of life in the car scene, when it comes to modifying cars, not everything is about ‘stance this’ or ‘JDM that’!

Although most of the rides outside were of the JDM persuasion, this did not bother us one bit!!

The street cars ranged from the subtle to the wild, this Silvia is definitely from the latter!
With some very intense wheel poke from both the front and rear, we loved how the rear fenders finish almost perfectly with the wheels!

This black FD Rx-7 on bronze Enkei gave me a flashback to playing Gran Turismo 2 on my old PlayStation.
Changing the wheels was one of the only visual mods you could perform in game and I had my own RX-7 looking nearly identical!

The biggest attraction amongst the All Stars group was Troy’s S14, having only been just finished in time for the show all the hard work was paying off!
Hardly a minute went by that there was not a huge crowd around this 200SX, with a huge amount of attention to detail it is easy to see why.

With a spotless engine bay, wire tuck and colour matched everything!
People stared all day long at what some simple modifications can do to a street car.

There was a fairly strong Honda presence outside an even the JDM Yard DC5 made it into the show inside at the Zen Garage stall!

Outside a couple of track cars had snuck into the display, parked together was two of NSW own Blaze Unit drift cars.
Scott’s 180SX (S15 Front) and Jabbit’s 2JZ powered S15 showed off the level of fabrication and talent we have in Australian drifting.

Another car that sees plenty of track action, the Gorilla Industries Supra. This car is extremely competitive in the time attack scene.

Inside was Australia’s biggest display of custom cars and hot rods, with the general theme being ‘all out or nothing’

One thing these guys nail is the colours, if you want to spray a car, forget going to dealerships or paint stores…
Go to any hot rod show and you will be blown away with the shiniest of candy paints!

The All Stars crew had more cars on display inside, with safety in numbers you found the best of the best the crew had to offer…

The original Skyline, this Hakosuka had even the most exclusive hot rod fans appreciating it’s factory lines.

Built to Order unveiled their latest creation, a K20 powered EG civic with a level of finish that put some of the classic cars to shame.
Owner Tarik has had plenty of influence building fast Honda’s from his brother Hassan, who at one stage owned the fastest N/A powered FWD street car in Australia. Another K swapped Honda, this time a Del Sol Crx.

One of the most expensive Japanese cars inside was this Lexus LFA… Thank god it’s wrapped and not painted!

Our favorite car there was this NSX-R!
The owner had another car on display inside… we wont give away to much but the other car has an angry bull on it’s badge!
We hope you enjoyed our coverage of the Japanese offerings at this years MotorEx event.
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.
Photos :: SB Captures – Facebook page

The-Lowdown Presents :: Showcased

Grant — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 10:44:04 +0000

Last weekend New South Wales stepped it’s car game up and smashed the ball right out of the court!
The-Lowdown.com hosted it’s first ever car show, aiming to break the boarders of the online based medium and put on a car show like no other.

The event was named “Showcased” which suited it perfectly with many new builds being displayed and a few cars that have completely reinvented them selves since they last saw the public eye.

Crowds and cars alike traveled near and far, the Queensland contingent of photographers from Streetkarnage and Downshiftaus brought a few exciting cars down with them.

Charlie’s infamous MX5, now track spec with one very aggressive looking wing and certainly one of the most intricate looking exhaust systems we have ever seen!

Sydney’s famous Accord Euro, dropped on a set of very exclusive VIP Modular VX310 wheels with a ‘Dubai Gold Face’ finish, the car is now bagged to prevent ruining the expensive wheels on NSW’s less than fantastic roads.

The Stancework crew and Team Agentz from Melbourne invaded the show and brought with them some of best cars the state has to offer.
No trailer queens here, these cars drove up! :S

Seemingly from pictures sent across the oceans this heavily US inspired EK Civic crossed over through our computer monitors and into real life…
This engine bay was amazing!
K20 swap with shaved and tucked everything. No washer was unturned, binned and replaced!

JDM Yard unveiled their newly finished track spec DC5 Integra with a few years behind the build it was sure not to disappoint!

The Zen Garage boys don’t just sit around and look at cool cars online… They build them too!
Sergio’s S15 is a work of art, with so many nice examples these days it is very hard to stand out. Well done!!

One of the stars of the show was this C10 Skyline, they don’t get much more classic than this!
Manufactured from 1968 to 1972 these things are rare in Japan let alone across the globe in Australia!

With such bold lines it is definitely a thing of beauty, worlds apart in styling from the same era Toyota’s and Honda’s it is a very special car!

But wait, what’s this?!
There was another Hakosuka and a GT-R too!
Hands down the best car show on the calendar!!

From old to new… It’s truly amazing to see the same name continued on 50 years later, now worlds apart with electronic gadgetry and sheer size compared to the old C10.
They both share the same sense of something special, not just metal slapped together the right way in a factory… They have a soul!
Easily one of the only cars from Japan to have this unique quality, there are literally 100’s of cars from this wonderful country that hold a special place in peoples hearts but none have reached as wide an audience as the Nissan Skyline!

Must buy Zen…. T… Shirt…

Rising sun feature painted on the underside of my bonnet… Check!
Rising sun cape… Check! Let’s go party!!

Some people will see this car as pretty pointless and almost a waste, the Evo was designed to be a true champion on all surfaces, a feat of automotive engineering and electronic aids…
Now it’s time for the nerd to scrub up, whack on a leather jacket and pick up some chicks (or at least some car geeks).

NSW’s own Mathew Everingham and his chariot of choice, when he is not shooting cool cars he is driving one!

The show was all done and dusted in just one day, on one rooftop car park by one busy bunch of guys, with some support from sponsors the show was a massive success and hopefully a sign of things to come!
We would like to thank SB Captures for their awesome shots from the event and helping us bring you some of the best cars this country has to offer.
The official winners are as follows ::
SHOWCASED TROPHY AWARD WINNERS:

- Japanese Performance: Jason, Entrant 126, Bodyform Nissan S15 Silvia, BPROOF
- European Class: Aaron Vumbaca, Entrant 184, BMW M3, 00343
- Perfect Fitment: Chookie, Entrant 108, Built To Order Lexus GS300, BO55GS
- #1 Car Club: Stanceworks Australia
- Border Crossers: Street Karnage
- People’s Choice: Albert Nghiem, Entrant 102, Cars For Hope Honda Integra DC2R, NR11CH
- Best in Show: Nathan Ross, Entrant 037, TRD JZ80 Supra

Meguiars 3M Winners:

Stephen Blake, Entrant 088, Corona
Reece, Entrant 080, Agentz Toyota Camry
Hendra Parulian, Entrant 027, J Racing Subaru WRX
Mohammad DubDub, Entrant 104, JDMYard Honda Civic