Sunday Feb. 10 2008. JDM vs DTM Chinatown Showoff. peep www.jdmvsdtm.com for more details..

…I go to watch Monster Jam! SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY! (technically it was on a Saturday, but Sunday sounds better) It was raining and cold at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, but small price to pay to see some crazy trucks.

I am not passionately into monster trucks, but as a kid I was, and when a friend presented the option, I thought why not. There are some new trucks since when I was a kid, but they still had Gravedigger (well, one of the many) out there.

This Escalade body monster truck had spinners on the wheels…on MONSTER TRUCK SIZE wheels. Bad ass.

Due to the layout and size of Angel stadium, they weren’t able to set up any crazy stuff. I wanted to see trucks go over 5 cars at a time, but oh well, they still got sick air regardless.

They had competition first, then later did freestyle. This Donkey Kong truck blew the rear passenger shocks mid jump and looked like a 64 impala with the gangsta lean. But it was even cooler when the trucks were…

…FLIPPING OVER! Get some!!!

The homey Yoshioka sent me photos of his personal S13 Silvia in Japan. Well, under a bed of snow, that is. Reminds me of the “Zombie car” (Brian W., MA-Motorsports), pre-destruction days.

Bet you didn’t know Toshiking got down with the Nissans huh? Super clean style too. Aggressive 17/18 stagger Regamasters, clean paint color, aero, brick headlights, etc. Mild, yet effective.

Mr. Ben Craft from Kame-Trick was gracious enough to share pics with us here and here.

The date for the launch of the new Endless USA website is partly dependent on when Jin feels like coming in to the office. We’re not sure where he is. Thus, we’re not too sure when the site will launch. Until he decides to pop in, here are a few photos from Japan (that have nowhere else to go) on set-up day. We didn’t attend TAS this year so this is all we have to offer. See our big brake system floating above? As you can see, it’s in currently in limbo..like our website.

Onto other news, our Endless GT-R already equipped with safety equipment..

..behind some GTC-01’s.

And then there’s the new EVO X that’s slated to compete in the Super Taikyu 2008 season. Craftsquare which we conveniently offer is collaborating with Endless to produce mirrors for the new EVO X.

Behind both the GTC-01s and the RC-T4s are the new Endless Monoblock calipers.

For those still in Japan, HKS is hosting Premium Day at FSW, an event to commemorate their 35th anniversary at Fuji Speedway. It will include the Endless Z33 GT300 vs the HKS CT230R, a Nobu Taniguchi Drift Demo Run, Option Super Battle and more. If you’re in Japan, have fun..we’ll probably still be waiting for Jin to come in.

For those going to Tokyo Auto Salon in January of 2008, Kyoho always hosts a private exhibition at the Hotel New Otani Makuhari (Shell Room) on 01/11/2008 Friday only. It is invite only so any dealers/media interested in attending, email me at kent[at]brand-endless.com

Sample sticker for the TM-02 packaging arrived.. The first sample set for the S15 arrives early January in Gun Black and Hyper Silver.

They did it! The ugly Z did it!

The Endless ST.1 Z33 took 1st again at Round 6: Sugo. Even with one more round left in the series, the Endless Z33 is so far ahead in points that no matter what happens at Round 7, they’ve secured the Championship.

Many congratulations to the team. Pretty damn badass. Just wait till they do it next year with the new GTR..

Whew, long weekend. PRI from Thursday till Saturday and then I made it to KROQ’s Almost Acoustic X-Mas on Sunday. Muse was phenomenal.
Anyhoo, because Orlando is on Eastern time, I never fell asleep before 4am either night. Joy.. Surprisingly, I still got up in time to make it to the show. Now since its PRI, most of the stuff there was really technical and well, geeky. In an effort to not bore you guys to death, I tried picking out the least geeky stuff.

Here’s a limited edition Ayrton Senna Tony Kart. I know nothing about karts, but it looked pimp and I overheard that all 200 or so units were already sold.

Works Bell (ASpec) had a booth. Here’s Takashi and super-happy-J-dude.

I feel kinda dumb for posting this, but the award for the hottest girl at PRI goes to the Eneos chick. She looked strangely familiar.. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was someone “well known.” But in any case, I didn’t wanna be an obvious perv so I pretended to take a picture of the “booth”. Hence the photo being so bad. Yeah, I know; fail.

Swung by Alpinestars and chatted with Stephen. Always great to see that guy. Great conversation. He showed me their newest suit; mobile suit gundam! Crazy..

Puma had a booth there too. On display was 2007 World Champion, Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari F1 suit. Iconic.

In the HKS Europe / USA booth, they had their Time Attack Monster on display. Here’s something interesting for all you people who swear you need a front AND a rear brake system: This EVO only runs a front. Has to be my favorite EVO of all time.

I was surprised to hear that LOT had a booth but sure enough they did and they even brought out some super nutzo new seats. Apparently this is the girly one and there’s a more manly one too. I think I heard Shino say something about $3000..

Last, but certainly not least, BSR Products. Check out their website. They carry real race products like Hans devices, data loggers, and full pedal assemblies (not the pedal covers you get from Razo). The main reason I came to Florida was to meet with the head honchos at BSR. If you were at the show then you might already know about the news, but if all goes well, we’ll be making a big announcement about Endless and BSR real soon.

Sitting here collating dyno graphs, boiling point data and business agreements before I leave for PRI. I’ll be out and about at PRI and in Orlando all day Friday. If anyone else is gonna be out there, give me a holler. Dom[at]og-made.com or swing by the Hyatt Place at Universal Citywalk.

Congratulations to the Endless GT300 Fairlady for taking 3rd place at Round 8 of the Super GT series. Kind of an awkward podium photo.. but..

Here I am prepping the Z for morning warm-up……………………………………. j/k

Nutzo.

So it looks like my Tokyo Banana spokesperson privileges have been revoked by the higher power they call Jay. Since all of this *waving hand in front of face* is the moneymaker, I cannot risk it. LOL, but I digress. While walking around SEMA, I spotted this in the Suzuki booth. Road Race Engineering, known for their Mitsubishi prowess, teamed up with them for a demo car, and came up with this wild idea. Sport bike handlebar steering setup on a car, but wait, that’s not all.

Works Bell Rapfix II Quick Release in special Team Orange colorway. I wonder if Kumakubo, Tanaka, or Suenaga got a chance to check this out. I’m just glad Road Race chose real OG Works Bell products, rather than the the copies out there made by some unscrupulous individuals.

I stumbled upon this shirt, from Mi Gente. You’ll probably recognize them since Fat Joe + the WE THE BEST DJ KHALED LISTENNNN!!! crew rocks their stuff. Fuck the copy cats, stay true and support the originators.

Unlike last year, this year we have to go SEMA twice. Leave Saturday, come back Sunday, in and out. After arriving, had dinner at EN with Oku and Chie whom reside in LV.

Food was good. This was the most interesting looking, but it was actually not so great. Conch.

Since Oku was the only one with a costume for the Fetish Ball, we decided to just take a stroll through Caesar’s and Bellagio instead.

Caught a glimpse of Courtney Day’s Falken 14 with Instant Gentle(wo)man and Shallen CXs unloading.

Also caught a glimpse of Justin Pawlak’s FC. 18’s in the front, 20’s in the rear.

What we came here for..

A bit of traffic on the 15 South. Back in LA by Sunday night for work on Monday morning. See you back at SEMA later this week.