(edit: in full disclosure I saw Andrew’s post and thought it was thursday… that kind of week)

Following Andrew’s “Thursday is for posting meaningful stuff” motif –– One of the things that I miss most about the car scene pre-the 2008 financial recession is that you could roll up to a car meet and see some crazy builds that expressed the builder’s individuality and didn’t all look alike – rolling artwork. My sincere belief is that due to the recession things you used to see like custom body and paint work, JDM ∞, and major engine mods, have fallen off beginning in 2008 with trendy things that still express individuality (to a degree) like small and sometimes unpainted front lips, sticker bombing/cursive decals/fatlace style roll-calls, wrapping (and then dipping when that was cheaper) instead of paint, and cheaper suspension setups with all the money into the wheels (not disparaging that). Things appear to be coming back by all indication… which I couldn’t be happier about – while people still do the low/wide builds, you increasingly see engine mods, and airbag setups instead of maxed out coilovers (better way to go low imho).

For throwback thus, I submit some pics that I took in mid 2007 before things went haywire for the economy and the car world.

On one off-night I rolled up randomly to one of the leading the DC-area meet locations – the Rockville MD Barnes & Noble/Sports Authority. In the day that meet could draw up to 500++ cars and overflow two giant parking lots in the middle of the night. Sadly, they put up a condominium next door and owners complained about the automotive carnival every Friday and Saturday (we were there first!) which led to aggressive ticketing and people moving on.

There I found a midnight black pearl Bugeye JDM STI version 7 replica (complete with rear windshield wiper and roof vent) bugeye – owned by my friend Freddy aka Turbokonejo, and a repainted satin white pearl (07 STI color) bugeye owned by Nasioc member Fantabulous with (if I recall correctly) JDM STI EJ207 swap and Australian OEM “EGR” lip kit ––– Both of them performance-oriented JDM bugeye builds.

We did an impromptu photo shoot.

(don’t mind the background – I’m no pro photographer outside of photoshop magic and no real nice photo spots in Rockville MD 😉

Of course the bugeyegarage car in full-scale throwback mode with Jun bumper and Advan Neova AD07’s on Work EmotionCR Kai’s

Another bugeye with JDM headlights even came rolling through (R.I.P. to it’s owner Edwin aka PacmanGSX on Nasioc – really nice and friendly guy who would I’d often see at meets).

This random meeting was not organized whatsoever. This was the Subaru scene before things got kind of bland in my opinion. Couldn’t be happier to see it coming back.