So we all know 2010 is here, and is here to stay. I’m gonna brief everyone on what has been happening in the last few months of our existence. No we didn’t fall off the planet into a huge black hole, the last 3 months have just been busy for our editors and staff (mainly me). On Halloween of last year I was laid off from my 9-5′er and relocated to Knoxville, TN, home of the dragon. The car scene is different out here, and I haven’t seen much in the area. I am sure that will change once the spring rolls around, and I have a chance to get out and explore and meet some folks.
In the next few days I will begin to update the calendar, one of my favorite features of the site, with this years events. I will also be recruiting new staff members to help me expand out member base. Cities I am looking for coverage are as follows: Charlotte, NC, Atlanta, GA, Houston, TX, Chicago, IL. Contact me if you have any questions, or would like to partner up. Unfortunately I am with out a camera, so it may be a short while before I post up any new work of my own.
There is tons of new stuff in store for Miles-Magazine. Keep checking back for news.
It was a rainy day, but still fun, nonetheless. ImportAtlanta.Com, Mainstream Performance, NOPI, NOS Energy Drink, Thinline IT, Zen Motors, Traffic Jam Motorsports, and friends/supporters put on a great event. The food was free, which I heard ran out very quick. There was plenty to do and see. The turnout was great. The video only covers about half the cars that showed up. The Old School Japanese Car meet was held at TunerFest, as well. I can only say so much. You just had to be there. I added some screenshots. Enjoy the vid! It’s at the very bottom.
Equipped with a 20v blacktop 4AGE – Kelvin qualified for top 16 during the single runs and had to face the Batlground S14, then a boosted IS300 to qualify for Top 4. After moving on, Kelvin was able to take 3rd place against the Drift Emporium G35 (supercharged V8). He was later knocked out by George in the red s13, who took 2nd place.
It was the classic David vs Goliath theme. You have to give it up for all the drivers. It’s not easier following an AE86’s slower line when you have to control a car with way more horsepower. Congrats to all the drivers. Congratulations Kelvin!! I’m so proud you, dude!
Take note: There was a no passing rule in effect. Hitting cones and straightening out counted against the drivers. Spinning out, even if it was at the very end, counted heavily against final scores.
David and I were the photographers for a different kind of event Tuesday evening. Lamborghini has just released a special and limited edition of the Gallardo, dubbed the LP550-2 Valentino Balboni, after their very own living legend. Just 250 will be produced and all are rear-wheel drive, a first for Lamborghini in nearly a decade. Mr. Balboni travelled to Dallas Texas from Italy to unveil the new 2010 Lamborghini LP550-2 Valentino Balboni; and boy, was she a looker.
Valentino Balboni spent four decades as a test driver for Lamborghini. In fact, for several of those years, he was THEE test driver. Not only has Balboni been at the helm of every prototype Lamborghini since 1973, but most of their production cars got a quick spin around the farming streets of Sant’Agata with Valentino at the helm, just to make sure they were up to Lamborghini snuff. Still not clear as to why the man’s such a big deal? It’s believed that Valentino Balboni has driven 80% of all Lamborghinis ever made, and is the only remaining living person to have known Mr. Lamborghini. FACT.
Balboni, and for the record, I addressed him only as “Mr. Balboni”, appeared to be genuinely flattered that Lamborghini decided to build and name a car after him. In fact, he was beaming through the entire event. He explained in his short speech that while working for Lamborghini he was too close to the job, the day-to-day grind, to really appreciate how special his position was. But now that he’s retired, the specialness, the unbelievable luckiness of his previous position, has become crystal clear.
Balboni signed autographs and did a meet and greet after unveiling the de-robed orange monster. I was unbelievably amazed at the man’s patience, kindness, modesty, and aura.
I think that Valentino, I mean Mr. Balboni, is the kind of person one will never forget meeting. I have my signed Revento in the living room, ready to be encased and preserved forever.
After skimming through the events photos, I came to the conclusion that Balboni while being in the majority of every picture, was genuinely smiling with pride and pleasure in EVERY single image. Like I said, the man was beaming through the entire event, and from the looks of it, the beams were mutually returned.
Another great event put on by the staff at Southeast Drift. The weather was just about perfect for a day of drifting, with temperatures unusually low for august. This gave drivers piece of mind, knowing that there cars would run a bit cooler while getting abused on the track. The cones were set up and the rubber was ready to be laid.
Practice went on throughout the day, so the drivers could get comfortable with the track layout, and the other participants.
As Chad Lunn and I arrived to the event, one of the first practice tandem runs was going down. The sound of stressed out tires, and cars bouncing off the rev-limiter was a familiar sound. As the cars entered and exited the apex’s a few cones were tossed, as drivers pushed there limits on the late entries.
Above credit: Chad Lunn
Even a few unlucky drivers lost some body parts, nothing some zip ties can’t fix. There was only one other accident of the day, when the white 24o above got tangled up with the turbo mustang, saw it from a distance so I can’t tell you exactly what happened, but it was minor. With just a small dent, I would say that the staff of southeast drift did an professional job making sure everyone stayed safe and that no one was hurt this weekend.
Yoshi was tearin’ it up as always, some one needs to get this guy a cage so he can participate in the tandem. His car may not be as powerful as the other guys but he sure can carry a drift through.
For a real smoke show call this guy. We first saw this team at the DG Trials event last year as some of you may recall.
The adrenaline xxx car had suffered some battle damage, but it just adds character. The neon green wheels where awesome, and contrasted well with the blue paint.
Above Credit: Chad Lunn
Foerst Motorworks also brought the smoke show, making sure all the spectators got a breath full of tire smoke.
Above Credit: Chad Lunn
As the day wore on a few competitors had some issues, but nothing out of the ordinary. Blowin’ tires, popped intercooler piping, etc.; it comes with the territory.
Above Credit: Chad Lunn
There were a few mustangs joining in the sideways action as well, there’s always a couple, but this weekend there were close to ten. The one above was running a turbo kit and did pretty well for himself. Good ole’ American torque will fill the sky with clouds of smoke.
Above photo credit: Chad Lunn
Godzilla also made an appearance all wheel drive cars can make it even more challenging to pull off a drift, but he ended up pulling a couple of clean runs off.
Taking aim for the apex.
In between runs and cooling off.
Generation 3 camaro out for one of his first events I believe. A few more events and more seat time should do him some good.
My favorite car from the event and quite possibly one of my favorite S14’s out there. It had a VQ swap out of a G35, and was boosted with a procharger set up. Ensuring that the tires would go up in smoke, and set the world ablaze.
As time slipped away for the day, the competitors were ready and the stage was set for the real competition to get underway.
Chad got much better pictures of the event than I did, I was severely limited by lens, below are both of our slideshows.
ZacCarter:
Chad Lunn:
Event results can be viewed here. Our photo galleries for the events are here and here.
Also we are starving artists and if you would like prints of any of the shots in our galleries please contact us: Zac Carter or Chad Lunn
We can do 13″x19″ in house. Larger sizes are available through our vendors.
Donations to our cause are always a big help too. Paypal us below every dollar counts.
A pristine example of Chevrolet’s muscle car, the Chevelle. This automobile belongs to Mike Owens, a Nashville car enthusiast who loves cars of all types and has had over 100 different cars since he got his driver’s license. This was just one of seven others that was sitting idle in his driveway, not counting his daily drivers. He also owns a NSX, Supra, and 300zx, 3 of Japan’s famous cars from the 90’s. Mike is not just a fan of Japanese cars as you can tell below. He also has a fully restored convertible GTO, and a Saleen Foxbody Mustang, soon Mike and I plan to get together again and get some shots of those cars.
Mike purchased this car from California, so it was rust free and required little work. He shaved the rain rails, and installed a few aesthetic parts to clean up the appearance. He then had Bonspeed custom make the wheels that the vehicle is sitting on, to give the Chevelle an aggressive stance, and fill up the wheel well.
Just a simple, hard-lined, and chiseled car from the muscle car era. Cranberry Red and Chrome, make this car stand out, keep your eyes peeled for more of Mike’s cars in the future.
