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HOT IMPORT NIGHTS HITS AUSTRALIA!
An aura of historical significance filled Sydney Olympic Park’s Exhibition Hall 5 as doors opened for the inaugural Hot Import Nights Australia showcase, an all-inclusive automotive lifestyle event that reached Australia’s shores at a time when the local car community needed it most.
With the golden years of Auto Salon but a distant memory and few events filling the void between casual street meets and MotorEx’s elite level of prestige, ‘the scene’ has been crying out for a safe space where the eclectic spectrum of car culture can come together under one roof, and HIN has answered that call.
Familiar rides like the Living Low Customs HiLux-chassised LandCruiser came out of hiding and served as a reminder of how long it had been since veterans of the scene joined with later-generation enthusiasts to bask in a shared passion for pushing the envelope.
One thing that certainly HAS changed since back in the day is the ubiquity of air suspension, with this wild 1-series BMW going as far as sacrificing the back seat for a big hard-lined tank and compressor setup.
Another trend that really stood out was a preference for extreme body work and more specifically, the high-end fibreglass kits produced by Japanese icons like TRA-Kyoto or Liberty Walk.
Junior from AutoCraze was one of many to whip the grinder out and take the plunge, fitting a Rocket Bunny body kit to his glitter gold 180SX, which was interestingly one of the only wide body cars sticking with static suspension despite the aggressive front splitter.
The real show stopper though was Chook’s Australian-first Rocket Bunny 350Z that looked absolutely berserk aired out on huge 19x12 -30 and 19x14 -40 Rotiform USFs wrapped in 295/30R19 and 345/30R19 Nitto Invos.
The phenomenal paint finish on Chook’s car was achieved with the help of Halo EFX, a high-tech bi-polymer removable coating that can be produced in pretty much any colour you can imagine, including the intense green on this neck-snapping WRX that was sacked on a set of Work VS-KFs.
Of course, more traditional show style paint finishes will never go out of fashion, with XYKING’s gorgeous House of Kolor Candy Apple Red courtesy of the Queen Street Group one of the many reasons that Simon’s mental Falcon took home both ‘Hottest Ford’ and ‘Hottest Overall’.
As one of the judges, I found HIN’s ‘hottest’ criteria both challenging and rewarding as it placed style above all else in most categories, with the simplicity and cleanliness of this bagged Evo exampling what was required to take out ‘Hottest Mitsubishi’.
While it didn’t receive a trophy, I found myself repeatedly drawn back to this killer ED Civic, with the two-tone paint, slick air ride stance and a collection of quirky Japanese trinkets combining to create something worthy of an honourable mention.
To be fair though, practically every vehicle in attendance was worthy of an honourable mention, with the vibe created by so many awesome automobiles in the same spot acting as affirmation that everyone who attended was exactly where they needed to be.
As a co-major sponsor, Nitto Tyres Australia couldn’t be happier to see Hot Import Nights Australia flourish for the first time, and we’re genuinely excited for some of the craziness that’s already in motion for 2018, so #startmodifying and we’ll see you next year!
