Buttonwillow racetrack is a good three hours to the two major metropolitan areas in the state of California. It literally is in the middle of no where; the only things around the track are farms, cows, farms, and more cows! Knowing that, it's quite a sight to see such a crowd at a racetrack so far away from anything. Hellaflush 3.5 was held at that racetrack this past weekend, and it drew quite the crowd!
The Hellaflush meets are generally known as an informal car show filled with tuned automobiles that usually have no interest the hunting of speed! But the event at Buttonwillow was more so of an automotive festival than a hard parking extravaganza
At one end of the racetrack there was some serious drifting…
…on the other end, there was some serious gripping…
…and in the paddock area there was some serious hard parking!
On this blog post, I'm going to primarily focus on the hard parking side of things at the event. Take this very clean (and flush) Honda Accord. It is a perfect example of a hellaflush car: slam it, fit some crazy wheels under stock fenders, add a roof rack, and (dare I say it?) put on hella stickers!
I love this VIP'd out GS300 that is owned by Christopher Phan. The headlight upgrades are especially cool!
Check out this fantastic execution of two tone on this WRX. I've never seen it done before, and I do like it. Also, there's that signature hellaflush roof rack again!
This IS300 isn't particularly my flavor, but I do give it credit that it has flare, originality, and the owner's own personal touch. Imagine this car as a rolling graffiti wall.
The owner had some colored paint pens available so that anyone can stop by and add their own little personal touch to the moving wall of art. The car is like a rolling art installation in that sense. It travels to where ever it goes and people in those travels express themselves onto the car's hood. I have to admit, its a fantastic premise!
Out of the field of late model Subaru, Mazda, Hondas, Lexus, and BMWs, this yellow 1974 KE20 Toyota Corolla stuck out as a show favorite for me. The lowered stance and Celica-Supra wheels are relatively simple mods, but it went a long way for this little car. Love it!
I just love the vintage '70s lines and design details that these old cars have. There's a definite charm to these classics.
There were cars outside of the show are that are pretty cool too. This WRX wagon is insanely low! I think even lower than the cars that are actually in the show! Props to the car owner for that.
Oh, there's that roof rack again!
Here's the man that made this event possible. Here's Mark Arcenal, of Fatlace, looking rather smug about on the issue of the turn out of the event.
Let me indulge in my love for all things Miata for second. Here's an NB8CE Miata that I immediately fell in love with when I first saw it. It is pretty much completely stock, but lowered on Tein Basic. The wheels are a fantastic, and very rare set of Super Lights. Those two very simple mods make an almost stock car into something very special…
Here's an earlier NA6CE model of a Miata that is much more fixed up than the previous car. This little jellybean is lowered on V-Maxx coilovers, and is rolling on a set of 15×10 Panasport wheels. You can see the extreme rolling and pulling of the fenders to fit that ostentatious size of a wheel under the fenders! Engine work is basic but effective enough for the everyday butt-dyno. It has a full Racing Beat intake, header, and exhaust system. The car has been resprayed with a custom pearl teal color. It stood out
quite a bit against the backdrop of the grey clouds that day!
This is a Miata that follows a completely different school of thought from the two previous cars. It is a full on go-kart of a track dog with wheels, sticky tires, roll bar, and a front splitter. At this particular moment, this Miata was the lead car for the lunchtime parade lap that everyone can participate in.
It was fun seeing all those super slammed cars putting around the race track…
This Fatlace Lotus Elise was sitting pretty in the show area.
On the opposite end of the track, there was a pitlane full of grip machines. Berk Technologies brought the super seriousness machines out to show and play. This serious looking Nissan 370z just looks furious! I wasn't a fan of the 370z when it was first introduced. But as I saw different tuning companies start to rice out the car in various ways, they quickly grew on me. I'm a full believer of the 370z's styling now.
Here's the Berk Technologies Honda S2K heading out onto the track…
So, there were designated areas for the hard parkers, designated areas the grippers, and on the end of the track was an area designated for the drifters. I instantly fell in love with this two tone S13 Silvia that was sitting in the drifters pit area.
Sliding in that newly restored white FD RX-7 is Formula D driver Calvin Wan. He didn't participate in the team drifting competition but he did drift the course during free practice. He definitely showed the more grassroots drivers what level you have to be at to compete in FD. Calvin drove like he always has: just solid in everyway.
We'll end this post with a photo of Calvin drifting away in his very clean FD. Let me assure you, it sounded as amazing as it looks. Stay tuned for part 2 of the Hellaflush 3.5 coverage where you'll see some wacky antics from the Team Drift Competition!
-Linhbergh