23 Aug FMU Hits Up Wekfest Chicago
This past weekend wasn’t just a trip to Autobahn for Motor Union. The next day, a couple of us hit up Wekfest Chicago at McCormick Place.
The morning after Motor Union, your humble narrator piled into his Honda with the StanceWorks crew (Oxer, Moose and M. Burroughs) and set sail for downtown Chicago, the home of the massive McCormick Place complex. This building hosts numerous trade conventions, along with the Chicago Auto Show in the winter. At the moment, though, it was set aside for a large gathering of import-minded individuals. WekFest took place in one large room with a view of the downtown skyline and ample space for all the cars to breathe. The main country of origin for these cars is Japan, but there was some serious Euro representation as well. We snapped some pictures of things we found interesting, and we figured you’d like to see them, as well. Let’s start with a relatively sedate car, an older EF-model Civic with one of the more rare sets of Mugen wheels, the M7s.
If you’ve been paying attention to the scene, you know that Volkswagen Golfs/GTIs and BBS wheels go hand in hand. This VW was no exception; the color scheme of brown on white was executed quite well.
For those of you who were around to read our MFest coverage, you may remember our mention of Walter, the owner of a white on white E46 M3 that we ran into a ton of times in Vegas. Well, he was at Wekfest, with a brand new vinyl scheme to change up the monochromatic aesthetic he was rocking earlier this year.
Kamil’s SL is a recent addition to our projects section, and it’s always good to see him out at an event. It’s even cooler to see him repping Fluid proudly on his windshield!
If a GT-R didn’t have Brembos, we’d be worried about it.
This VW had an outstanding matte orange color scheme, with matching interior roll cage and spare wheel. And it was’t just any spare wheel, it was a full-size Work Equip, which hasn’t been made for quite some time.
Kamil’s dumped E46 made the move from Motor Union to Wekfest, still proudly representing our best friends at StanceWorks. For such a simple banner design, it definitely has a striking appearance. Subtle yet serious.
On the other side of the windshield banner spectrum, there’s this Touge Factory one:
Slanging swag took place along the side wall of the hall, and it certainly garnered its fair share of attention.
This Eisenmann/IND E89 Z4 might not look too modified on the outside, but life is all about subtlety.
The wheel and color choice on this NSX never ceases to look good, whether it’s at Wekfest or Supercar Saturdays.
Another JDM-inspired E9x made its appearance at Wekfest, too. It’s certainly not as striking as the original IND E92, but you can’t go wrong with Volks, some sidewall and an E90 M3 to hold it all together.
The Fizz S15 Silvia made an appearance, as well, another car we’ve seen this year at Tuner Galleria. Nothing’s changed on it, but nothing really should; seriously, look at the dish on the rear wheels. You could bake several Lou Malnati’s pizzas in there simultaneously.
This sticker is very much in the vein of It Sucks To Roll Hard. You’d be surprised how many people ask us about the road worthiness of our project cars. Hell yes we drive it on the street; we’re more worried about snapping peoples’ necks as we drive by.
A classic wheel in a vibrant color.
This old Chevy Nova had one of the best paint jobs we’ve seen in a while. It certainly stood apart from a mainly import-driven crowd.
This K-series Honda motor belongs to the previous-generation Civic Si, the egg-shaped EP3. It puts out 522 whp, so you can imagine the forearms necessary to counteract the torque steer on this FF speedster.
We also saw some of Team Gileto’s handiwork at Tuner Galleria; specifically speaking, we saw the brushed aluminum xB. It’s been through some updates since then, and it’s one hell of a striking vehicle to look at. Its bluish brother is pretty hot, as well.
Those of you who went to Another Level in Palatine might notice this K-series motor and remember what it’s attached to…
Yep, that’s right, it’s an old VW Caddy. Quite the juxtaposition.
A Spoon Sports Integra also made an appearance. For those deep in the Honda scene, this is one seriously revered race car, because…well…race car.
Running open stacks isn’t for everybody.
This engine bay belongs to a Toyota AE86, an old-fashioned drift machine most commonly recognized from the Initial D comics. This one packs a bit more punch though, choosing to tap its ponies from an S2000’s F20C motor.
Of all the wheels at Wekfest, we were not expecting to see a set of Lamborghini wheels. They didn’t look bad at all, though; if anything, it’s one of the less-travelled roads to take, and we respect that to the fullest.
This S2000 was rocking some serious fitment. It’s been featured in the Chicagoland area for quite some time, and is becoming a staple of the scene, not to mention setting a very high bar for other female enthusiasts who wish to get into stance.
Burroughs’ attention was held the longest by the Touge Factory Rocket Bunny Silvia.
Canards, when used properly, give a whole different attitude to an Evo X’s front fascia.
Not everybody may agree with the gold-flecked paintjob of this 350Z, but everybody should agree that this is one serious case of meatflush fitment. Awesome.
A good choice of seat representation on this Genesis. They weren’t the new ostrich leather seats, but Stätus still makes amazing seats in all color and material combinations. They did the seats for Gold Wheels and the E90, if you didn’t know.
This Audi’s front “plate” always gets good looks, and for good reason. It’s just a very nice front end, and there’s no double entendre behind that.
This was by far the most interesting set of stacks we saw all day. People sometimes refer to velocity stacks as trumpets; these are more like trombones.
These are some very old school wheels on this EK-model Civic. A very simple exterior and a very solid wheel choice are all you really need to make it in the aesthetically picky world of car shows.
The scooter world is starting to expand at a massive rate within the import community. The Honda Ruckus provides a great platform for modification, and the number of various additions that can be integrated into this simple Japanese scooter is astounding.
Finally, you’d think that Burroughs would enjoy a day off. When you’re working on building a small company into greatness, though, there are no days off. When we stumbled across this E30 in the parking lot of Wekfest, Moose and Burroughs went to work leaving their Lowly Gentlemen calling card on the windshield to help expand the brand. After that, though, we bid a fond farewell to Wekfest and its assortment of cars from across the globe.
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