Car Shows are in Bloom in SoCal

It's a special season out here in Southern California. Smog season? No, the air has been quite clear lately actually. Bikini season? Not yet, but there have been a few nice days already.

It's that time of the year when car shows start to bloom all over the landscape. They come in wide range of sizes and varieties, but it's a great time for car enthusiasts.

We are not talking about formal, corporate car shows such as the Los Angeles Auto Show (which is actually in November) or even the car expos that accompany events like the recent Long Beach Grand Prix.

We are talking about the free ones that pop up in parking lots either on a weekly basis or just once a season. We are talking about the no charge events that local towns close their main street for. We are talking about shows populated with cars drawn from and driven by the local communities. Here is where the Southern California car culture meets.

There are of course the larger ones that you may have already heard of. A perfect example is Cars & Coffee () on Saturday mornings in an Irvine parking lot. This event has grown in popularity to the point where it attracts prototypes and other cars before they show up in more formal shows.

Beyond those are the dozens, if not hundreds of hyper local events that crop up every weekend. One we checked out this weekend was the "Cruise at the Beach" in Redondo Beach. It's a perfect example of SoCal car culture on the small scale. It's held in the parking lot of a Ruby's Diner on Friday nights from 4-8pm between April and October. Several dozen cars (sometimes more) attract hundreds of people each week right next to the harbor. The pics in this post are all from that event.

California does not have the corner on the local car show market. So next time you are driving around and see a bunch of cool cars parked with a forming crowd, think about pulling over and checking it out.

So Long SEMA Solstice!

So today marks the end of the SEMA Solstice. The 2010 SEMA show was winding down its last day exactly six months ago and the 2011 edition will be doing the same in exactly six months. For many exhibitors, it marks the time to start planning the next show.

It's worth noting that Centric Parts actually exhibits at two aftermarket trade shows in Las Vegas during that first week in November each year. While SEMA at the Las Vegas Convention Center gets top billing in the media, it is actually paired up with the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX) at the Sands Convention Center across town to form Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week (AAIW).

Centric Parts sets up its main booth over at AAPEX while StopTech and Power Slot, the company's ultra-performance and performance divisions, enjoy the limelight of the SEMA Show. In any case, you have to agree that SEMA Solstice sounds better than AAPEX Apogee.



The biggest annual gathering of the automotive aftermarket industry brings about lots of news. Some of the biggest announcements from StopTech and Power Slot in recent years were made at or around SEMA. These include Power Slot's award-winning Power Alloy rotors, StopTech's Trophy Sport and Touring Big Brake Kits, and a complete Centric Parts wheel bearing and seal program.

The SEMA show is the largest show to hit the Las Vegas convention center each year, despite not being open to the public. At this point most people try to claim that the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is bigger. Nope. The top floor of one of halls is the adult video convention during CES, whereas SEMA takes up every level of all three halls. It's pretty near impossible to see everything even though the show runs four days long.

So if you are in the industry, start booking rooms now to get the best deals. If you are exhibiting, now is definitely the time to start planning your show strategy. If you can't make it, you can always follow along on the Internet.

Happy SEMA Solstice!

Car Scenes - Cool Cars in Short Vids

A few months ago, StopTech rolled out its first "Car Scene" video.  Since then there have been several instalments to the series.  Each one is a short video featuring a quick look either one or group of cool cars.

Several of these first ones were shot at the SEMA show.  This is the biggest trade event for the automotive aftermarket, held every November in Las Vegas.  Se we are celebrating the SEMA Solstice this week, which a term we quite frankly invented for the first week in May which represents the midpoint between the last and next SEMA show.

To mark the occassion we are embedding the entire Car Scenes video series so far into this post, starting first with the brand new installment featuring five more cars from SEMA, all wearing StopTech brakes. As a bonus we will wrap it up with a reposting of the "SEMA Scene" video which was essentuially the pilot for what became the "Car Scenes" series.

Photos from the last day of the 2011 Long Beach Grand Prix

Some shots from the last day (Sunday) of the Grand Prix of Long Beach.  Photos by Danger Dave...

The final day of the 2011 Grand Prix of Long Beach 

brought crowds and clouds for a fun but chilly day of racing.

The crowds gather along the starting line grandstand.

The StopTech Porsche GT3 Cup car 

gets a push across the expo floor from the 

GMG garage to the World Challenge inspection station.

Checking to make sure the StopTech Porsche 

meets the required specs of the World Challenge rules

...including ground clearance.

Meanwhile, the other (2008) StopTech Porsche

sits out the race on display in the Pirelli booth

This Vette is gonna need a little work 

before it's track ready. Bet it's light though!

The thing about the Porsche is that working 

on the rear engine is like packing your luggage 

after you put it in the overhead bin.

Any Indy car gets towed through the crowds in the paddock zone.

We have video of these guys changing

those tires in the blink of an eye.

 So much green.

Pit Row half an hour before the Indy race

 

That's a lot of pace cars.

Indy cars also make cool helmet racks.

The Indy cars roll onto the grid 

for the start of... a media frenzy.

Everything is better with giant plumes of flame.

We hope these Air Force pilots buzzing 

the start of the Indy race see that 

giant palm tree in front of them.

going for a Sunday drive

One of many StopTech equipped cars in the 

2011 World Challenge of Long Beach (presented by StopTech)

rolls out towards the track for the race.

Centric Parts / StopTech CEO gets comfy in the 

StopTech Porsche just before rolling onto the track

The cars are lined up for the start of the 

World Challenge of Long Beach presented by StopTech

 James Sofronas of GMG Racing fell back after a 5th place 

start bobble, then fought his way up to 2nd place 

closing in on the lead when the final flag flew. 

His inspired and award winning performance

was in a StopTech equipped Porsche.

James Sofronas of GMG Racing on the podium  after a great race

Great driving with great brakes  gets you media love.