5 years ago in July of 2019, (wow time does fly) we were in Pre-COVID times and automotive car culture was booming. I believe this was the peak of car builds and this timing happened before everyone had to stay in lock down for quarantine about a little over half a year later… Call it divine timing but the hype around Wekfest San Jose 2019 was big because there was an announcement of several cars in attendance including: Wayne’s, from August Cascade, Honda CRX (HF); Kenji’s, from Greddy, Honda Civic Hatchback (EF), and the Varis Kamikaze kit for the FRS/GT-86/BRZ.

For a second year in a row, I had another friend attend Wekfest to showcase their car. My friend Brandon Dajano was showcasing his Subaru WRX STI wrapped by Premium Auto Styling so I had the opportunity to experience Wekfest from the time the cars would stay in line for several blocks, wait to be staged, wait for the doors to open for the public, and exit the San Jose Convention Center’s famous scrape-inducing driveway (reference to Wekfest SJ Roll-out videos on YouTube). Fortunately, I managed to capture the cars with no interruptions during the staging process I forgot my fully charged battery for my Nikon D3200 at home so I resorted to my iPhone camera… All that was to be made up the next day and snapped away on my Nikon DSLR camera so I became a happy camper haha.

Before staging, the San Jose Convention Center requires the cars in attendance to have less than 1/4 of gas in the tank due to safety and fire concerns. We didn’t get the memo so on the day of check-in, we were on the way to Wekfest driving down HWY 101 Southbound and kept it at 4th gear or so to keep the revs up and essentially use up more gas. Brandon’s car was upgraded to Stage 2 (intake, header, exhaust, and COBB access port) with muffler deletes which resulted in a loud commute with the signature “subie rumble”. Waiting in line that covered several blocks around Downtown San Jose, we were still revving the car up to 3-5K RPM. Several hours later, we successfully brought down the gas to an appropriate level just before heading into the convention center. Brandon was feeling pretty stressed out prior about the gas rule so I knew he felt relief when we were given the “okay” to proceed into the staging portion. Thank goodness! Once we got staged, we got the Subaru cleaned up for the show and called it a day.

Before we continue, yes, I purchased early access tickets to this year’s Wekfest event… IYKYK (if you know you know)!

Now we proceed to show day and to kick-start the coverage is the Mocha CRX from August Cascade. At a glance, we see: the hood is removed to reveal the B20 with a JUN valve cover, the FEEL’s front bumper, Mugen door caps, and Work Meister S1 wheels.

(Photos were taken on July 1st, 2019)

Here’s a closer look of the JUN valve cover in this clean engine bay…

A cool moment to capture was Wayne (on the left) exchanging a couple words with Kenji from Greddy (on the right) talking about their Honda Civic EFs. It was a surreal moment when these two re-posted by pictures on their Instagram stories and I’ll never forget that. It just goes to show that friendship and communities start from the passion of making dope Civics – or cars for that matter, ahem…

Wayne is running a mismatched wheel setup with Enkei RPF1’s in the rear, custom hardware to secure the half-cut rear bumper, and custom exhaust. For more in-depth information on the August Cascade Honda CRX HF, click here (source: Sheldon Yagyagan from MotorTrend)

Nick Higgins’ Honda Civic Hatchback (EF) representing the Wekfest Winner’s Circle. Top notch builds like the Higginsbuilt EF receive recognition and spotlight from the Wekfest staff. Wekfest Winner’s Circle was a segment being introduced to welcome back heavy hitters to Wekfest such as Nick’s Civic. The Civic has been restomodded inside and out. It’s fully caged with a Sparco bucket seat for the interior. On the exterior, aero includes an EF9 bumper and splitter to pair with the PCI sideskirts. Nick has several wheel options to choose from but for WFSJ2019, he’s running a white set of Volk TE37SLs. For more in-depth information on the Higginsbuilt EF, click here (source: MotorTrend)

Considered an OG Civic build is this 2000 Honda Civic Type R clone featuring Air Walker Super Taikyu front bumper, J’s Racing fenders, Spoon paint-matched mirrors, Mugen MF-10 wheels in bronze, and CTR wing.

Glancing closer at the Mugen MF-10 wheel, Endless brakes are what stops this frozen-in-time Civic.

Optimal ride height was achieved on this Civic. Looking into the rear quarter window, you can view the blue Cusco full cage.

Here’s an S14 build that’s not drift-oriented. It’s a Kouki S14 with a full Vertex Lang Kit sitting on a set of Volk TE37 Forged Mag wheels.

“Baller” is the first thing that comes to mind by plainly looking at this wheel and brake setup. The VIP Lexus LS (UCF31) is hammered to the ground and achieves fender-to-lip fitment. The wheels are SSR SP1 3-pc wheels and the brakes are 326 Power 2-pc BBK (big brake kit).

The Nissan President was not available in the US so to achieve this, the owner had a Nissan President front clip and converted his Infiniti Q45 (G50) to essentially a LHD (left-hand drive) Nissan President.

At the System Motorsports booth was this Lexus IS300 (SXE10). Features include the: Altezza grill, Ganador mirrors, Vertex bodykit, and Ascura Garage Shick V3 fenders.

Returning to WFSJ2019, was Thomson Ho’s Scion FRS. I’ll say this many times but this is one of the GOATs for the FRS/GT-86/BRZ chassis. I’ve gone in-depth onto this build in the WFSJ2018 event coverage but you can also go directly to the System Motorsports blog post and read about the build here.

Also representing System Motorsports is Kaz Hirouji and his Subaru BRZ fitted with a Rocket Bunny V1 kit that’s airred out on Volk TE37V wheels in a bronze colorway.

Here’s a snapshot of a younger car enthusiasts getting advice on car care from an older enthusiasts. This lucky kid gets to literally get his hands on this RHD (right hand drive) Honda Integra Type R. The car sits on Sprint Hart CP-R wheels with Spoon mirrors and an intake duct on the JDM bumper.

This Varis widebodied Subaru WRX STI (GRB) runs Volk ZE40 wheels in Mag Blue and Ganador mirrors.

Fitment check! Mounted to the hatch is a Voltex H2 wing.

As mentioned in the introduction of this blog post, in attendance was the new Varis Kamikaze kit for the FRS/GT-86/BRZ. The kit is extremely aggressive and the flow of it is pretty seamless as it compliments the original body lines. To compliment the Varis Kamikaze kit are the Advan GT wheels wrapped in Toyo Proxes R888 rubber.

This Ultrasonic Blue Mica Lexus IS (2nd generation – XE20) sits on Volk TE37 OGs with a Stoptech BBK and drilled rotors.

Returning back to WFSJ2019 is this cement gray Civic coupe which pays homage to the EM1 with slight add-ons like the Spoon mirrors, J’s Racing front fenders, EM1 spoiler, and Desmond Regamaster EVO wheels.

This is a RHD Honda Integra Type R Sedan (DB8) that is donned in Spoon engine and exterior pieces. Notable bits are the rear seats which are Canada-spec Integra Type R seats that come in as red. This DB8 sits on Volk CE28 wheels.

This Nissan Skyline (R32) belonged to old my neighbor’s nephew. I basically got a sneak peak at it before the event. It sat in my neighbor’s driveway for some time as his nephew was upgrading the audio system. What really caught my eye were the Work Equip 01’s in a 5-spoke variant.

This Subaru WRX STI S206 Hawkeye (GDBF) received the Varis widebody treatment also. Complimentary to the widebody are a set of black Volk CE28 wheels.

This Subaru WRX STI (GRB) belongs to my friend, Brandon Dajano. It was earlier finished by the folks over at Premium Auto Styling. Brandon chose to install a carbon fiber hood, fender flares, splitter and sideskirt extensions from @Con10der8, and custom LED headlights.

The wheels Brandon upgraded from were Enkei NT03 wheels to now, Work Meister VS-XX wheels.

As we were waiting to check-in, we were behind a crew by the name of RUNUP! They were a collective of super clean and stylish drift cars. Let’s simply put it as: this crew is f*cking tight! My favorite car from WFSJ2019 was this RE Amemiya Mazda RX-7 (FC). It sits on a set of mismatched Advan RG-II wheels – silver on the front and white on the back.

Can you tell this was my favorite car from WFSJ2019?

A runner up (no pun intended) for my favorite car from WFSJ2019 would be this RPS13 from RUNUP! The front end comprises of a Koguchi Power hood, Origin Labo front fenders, Type-X front bumper, and Origin Labo front canards. Furthermore, for rear view vision are the Ganador mirrors.

From the side, we can see that the RPS13 sits on Bee*R B5 wheels.

Parts selection continues to be consistent throughout the RUNUP! crew with this PS13 as it sits on Advan SA3R wheels.

Lastly from RUNUP! is this Nissan 240SX Zenki (S14). The front bumper and sideskirts are from Vertex; the fenders are from D-MAX; the hood is from Origin Labo in the Type variant; and the wheels are Work VS Mesh’s. As seen from other car builds in this event coverage, this S14 also runs Ganador mirrors.

This is a JDM-faced Acura Integra running Mugen aero and wheels. The interior is a half-gutted setup and the chassis is reinforced with a half-cage.

Nearing the end of this year’s Wekfest coverage, I’ll be closing out with pictures I took on my iPhone lol. This Nissan Skyline GTR (R34) is matched with Nismo LMGT4 wheels.

Representing BOOF Garage is this custom widebody Lexus IS on a repainted set of Work Emitz in Mag Blue.

Coming all the way from the PNW (Pacific North West) was Seattle’s @ajayankles (Instagram). He did a road trip in his Acura TSX (CL7) to show up in the San Jose Convention Center. The super simple build features a Euro R front lip, Ganador mirrors, and Volk TE37 OG wheels. Ajay was behind us in line for check-in and I got to exchange a few words with him. Nowadays you can catch him DJ’ing in Seattle and nearby cities.

Here’s an Acura Integra Type R (DC2) in Phoenix Yellow sporting a Mugen Gen 2 spoiler and Spoon SW388 wheels.

Finally, here’s a drift taxi of a Toyota Chaser JZX100. It reveals all the custom fabrication work. This happens before it gets completed and starts being pieced together as a properly working drift car.

This concludes the last Wekfest San Jose 2019 coverage! I can’t recall exactly but the last Wekfest San Jose I attended was in 2021 or 2022. I may have not bought a ticket to attend as I’m looking back… LOL. I can’t wait to go back (and buy a ticket) since I’ve been in Denver, Colorado. If I can meet y’all in person, please don’t hesitate to say “Hi” as it would be an honor to meet some readers of revize.blog! Thanks for tuning into this post and I’ll see y’all in the next one!