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 Chicago's 2K13

Bringing new and old enthusiast together to let the cars do the talking, Chi2k is an annual four day event for the midwest to lay the cards on the table. Welcoming all cars, this event touches all aspects of automotive euphoria. Drag racing, dyno day, cruise night and a car show are the pillars of this foundation. I found out last minute of this ordeal and caught these guys on the cruise night for some action.







Cars X Caffeine 007

Staying true to the series name, this installment held at  local Starbucks in the suburb of shcaumberg.  With the nights getting colder as the season's end draws near and Chicago winter approaches, the crowd did not stay to late. Instead, warmth set the president and the night ended early. A group of Brz's and Frs's seem to be religious followers of the series. Also, there were other RWD platforms that grabbed your attention. The ever popular Nissan 240 was present. One in particular modified in such a way that makes it hard to describe. Tasteful, simple, unique in such way that one can tell that the cars is an extension of the owner. I almost see the passion put into his vehicle. That is something when it happens. You know it happens.







CARS X CAFFEINE 006

This series of gatherings in the suburbs makes a stop in Schaumberg at the world famous hooters. More than just automotive eye candy to switch up the pace, the wings and beer were on point. Once out in the lot, the beat dropped and a gang of frs's and brz's chilling, smoking hookah. This being a late night meet, ending at midnight usually,  it attracts a more mature crowd. For these reasons, I continue to stop by and take some pictures.







AFTER HOURS (supercar saturdays) @ The Tilted Kilt

My morning started as I got ready for SuperCar Saturdays. This Saturday in particular the supercars were meeting at a different location. Not the usual Bolingbrock spot that I've been to in the past.  Excited to shoot some super cars at a super new location. Upon arrival to the gathering, I noticed some texts from my buddy, told him to come and started doing my thing and taking pics. It is the beginning of the end of the show, and my bud is  nowhere to be found. After going back and forth saying, I'm at the panera waiting and himself at the panera. Long story short we had an epiphany and realized that we were at two different panera's, he was in bolingbrock and at the wrong supercar Saturday. Luckily he knew that people were heading to another little gathering. To the Tilted Kilt we shall go, after enjoying a few IPA's and some grub with my friends we went outside to sit in the sun and take in the Kilt and all its glory.

 




WINGS & WHEELS 

Every Wednesday way down Rt 59 in an affluent suburb known as Naperville, car enthusiast gather as the sun sets in a strip mall lot. Groups, crews, and clicks graze the lot spending time between day dreaming/ staring at the cars and grabbing some grub at the resident Bdubz. With tunes provided by the loudest stereo system out of someones trunk and R.C cars drifting around, this is a little meet that fills up and keeps one wanting to chill there more.  We need to thank Alex Nagy for bringing this to the community and lets not fuck it up.







HUMP DAY

So on this weekday afternoon in the Burbs of Chicago, I contacted some of my buddies to let them know the plans for Anotherlevel car show coming up this Saturday. My one guy in particular I have not seen his car in person since the purchase of new rims for the ride. His whip is a WRX that he converted to rear wheel drive, yes... this car see's sideway action on the regular. Eventually, after a few text back n forth between the parties, a time and the location set for the rendezvous. Here's a little teaser session of his car.... Stay tuned for a full feature...







CARS X CAFFEINE

A grassroots essential movement that is sweeping the suburbs of Chicago, Cars X Caffeine, brings car enthusiast together and supports local business with a theme geared toward caffeinated beverages and cars. Organized by a small group of individuals who will remain nameless and anonymous, this little series of meets is gathering quite the following and with each installment, the get together keeps getting bigger. Be sure to check them out on facebook and keep an eye out for their upcoming meets.






SUNDAY FUNDAY

The original plan for Sunday was head to the harbor for another installment of stretch your legs. The days leading up to Sunday were groggy and gloomy, so when Sunday's sun rose and the temperature up in the 90's, it seemed all to perfect. A perfect day to enjoy cars, city, beach, and the harbor. The thing was, so did everyone else in Chicago. The harbor ended up being a cluster of people and city goers and beach bums. With all that congestion going on, it was impossible to hold a car show in the harbor, let alone find a spot to park a single car.  Not knowing what to do next I hit up my guys that I knew where on the way and let them know the situation. The plan turned out to be the go to plan... meet up at upper wacker take some pics then figure out what next. After a few pics, some clouds  rolled in, and a light summer daytime shower came over the skyscrapers. From upper wack,  the crew and I headed towards California and clyborn for some burgers and good craft beer at a spot called kuma's corner.  Once we filled up the stomach, we chatted, then parted ways.







DAILY DRIVEN CHICAGO "Goes to the Dunes"

Cruise to the dunes they said...so cruise to the dunes we did. With the meet up time set at 6:30am and an hour away from where I stay, I knew I had to be up early for a full day of driving and taking pics. So when my alarm went off at 4:30 much to my surprise I got right up and got going. Having to stop at the local 7/11 for refreshments and gas I jumped on the highway headed south.  Being that its Stanley cup time in Chicago there were a lot of cars rocking and repping THE BLACKHAWKS, one truck in particular stood out. As I drew near my destination a pack of cars came aggressively from the on ramps onto the highway, so I knew I was getting close. I stayed with this pack of cars which thankfully lead me to the right location. After a few moments in the parking lot waiting, everyone got back into cars and headed to the dunes to meet up with the daily driven Indiana chapter. Apon arrival to the dunes, the rain forced everyone back into their cars. Few moments later, the sun was back, and the activities were on and popping'.







NIGHT LIGHTS CHICAGO Tuesday night meet

Every Tuesday Toyota park opens its gates to gear heads. This meet is something I only see getting bigger and bigger than the average weekly meet. This Tuesday turned out to be a little chilly, but that did not keep the cars from coming. Once the crew was together and the whips clean, we made way over to the south side for this meet presented by night lights Chicago. Everything from lowriders to muscle cars, alongside imports and tuners all in such a great venue and food trucks on site, I look forward to coming here on Tuesdays for the summer to come.






A day in the life with Stance Down Low

On a Tuesday afternoon with not much to do, I saw a post for a meet, so I started to let my people know. With the possibility of rain, the meet ended up cancelled. Still having the itch to get out and shoot, i headed over to my buddies shop (MXPI TUNING) knowing that my buddy was over there working on his car. 1jz 240 in the works, With the motor just arriving the guys tore it down a little in preparation for new gaskets and single turbo conversion. After a few hours of wrenching,  we worked up an appetite, and we went to grab some taco's. With a full belly, and no more work to do on the motor, Max and I went back to his place. After we chilled for a little and waited for the sun to go down, for the cruise.  To pass the time, we rode his little scooter thing. That little thing was pretty fun. Afterwards, we headed to one other buddies house to shoot the shit. At the nights end, on the cruise home we ran into a little slammed frs. Never know what or whom one will run into so u just gotta get outta there.






ElegantShot Studios cruise to King Motorsports

Staying in on Friday night helped when 6:30a.m rolled around and my alarm went off. With a quick shower and a brushing of the teeth, I was ready to hit the road. The destination I'm heading to is the lake forest oasis. Being a big Honda head and a fan of mugen, the excitement to make it to my first king motorsports Dyno day. Knowing I've never been there before, I jumped on board the cruise with elegant shot studios to Wisconsin. After a quick breakfast at the oasis, we hit the road.






AFTERHOURS Fast 6 Downtown As the Northwest Auto Crew movie night meet ended and the crowd of people migrating to the entrance of the south Barrington  A.M.C. I walked over to my car and began my next journey. The plan meet up with my buddy and go catch the flick by him. As usual, we bought tickets online to the downtown location and luckily caught it at the end of the transaction. So with 30 min or so to get downtown and catch the midnight showing, we had to push it a little bit. Not as crazy as the first chase scene with the fast and furious team rocking' a fleet of m5's chasing down the bad guys, but a lot more realistic... lol....jk... So upon arriving to the destination with time to spare, we pulled up to the front for a little photo session at the icon theatre.






Fast & Furious 6 Movie Night Meet hosted by N.W.A.C

N.W.A.C or better known as the northwest auto crew were the ones who put this little shindig together. So much anticipation in the car community for this film, it was a cool thing to see people from the suburbs coming out with their cars for this movie. Slammed every car was not or in that case, a finished build. The love for modifying your everyday mass produced grocery getter, and being able to make it something your own. With the continuous help, one may able to complete the car build. Then seeing the reaction of what one just accomplished. Along with enjoying what one just spent so much time and money on with the people that helped me get there, in my eyes, that is what car culture is about. In this flick,  the group of characters we all have grown to love, express a sense of togetherness and appreciation not commonly found or portrayed in car culture. They live by a code, family... And that is what keeps them together when times get rough. This is a great example of how we as a community as a culture should act towards one another. Real car guys respect other car guys.




TOUGE FACTORY frs & brz mega meet

On a Sunday afternoon at a Subaru dealership on the southern tip of Chicago, Touge Factory held a FRS & BRZ meet. With the overwhelming popularity growth of the new tuner car,  I wanted to see Chicago take on modifying the new coupe. Its a sexy looking car straight off the showroom floor. When lowered and on a tasteful set of rims, the scion/Subaru comes to life and demands attention. Touge Factory brought out a few they had modified. Being the class act shop, touge factory has built a reputation for consistently pumping out quality cars out of a quality shop, the FRS's & BRZ's they produced were simply stunning.

 



SuperCar Saturdays

With ol' man winter finally laid to rest, and the little miss sunshine out and about only means one thing..... The Car season has begun. Get your wax and car cleaning goodies ready for super car Saturdays is in full affect. With each supercar Saturday,  the promenade host more and more cars its seems. This first supercar Saturday of the year wielded quite the turnout, numerous Lambo's, skylines, Porsche's and classic American muscle cars came out, and the owners able to display their pride and joy or mid life crisis... whatever the case may be, supercars are quite the engineering marvel of automobiles.





After SYL 10

The sun setting on this beautiful city skyline and the gust of cold air that chilled one to the bones coming from the lake. The decreasing temperature had everyone going for the exit and this marked the end of SYL 10. With the harbor left empty, the guys and I jumped on the lake shore drive heading south for some food. For what we have dubbed Stretch your stomachs. The destination was over by Roosevelt just passed the highway. A fried food spot, fried perch sandwich, chicken teriyaki sandwich, and a spicy chicken sandwich was what we ordered. The food was good, and we devoured it. While I let my food settle, I converse with the guys... My buddy picked up my camera and started snapping some photos. So the pics one will see in the gallery are due to waqqas ... thanks brother... enjoy




After FNL

As Friday night lights drew to an end, the Show goers started herding to the exist to catch a glimpse of the crews and show cars drove off into the night. The guys and I came up with a plan. First, to chill and watch a few cars leave. Second, we make the way to the cars, go do what we got to do and next cruise to the town. Finally, we rendezvous at upper wacker for some photos and just enjoy the city under the summer sky.
Around ten o'clock, the crowd migrates to their cars and onlookers gather at the exit. For what some hope excitement, a strong police presence kept drivers quiet for the most part. That did not deter drivers from giving people a little show, the cars left with what ill describe as an aggressive yet mature acceleration. Hitting four to five grand threw the first couple gears, or just enough for the turbo to spool.  VvvvrrrrrrroooommmmmWWPPpppssssshhTTThhh or a reverse whistle for just the turbo spool effect. Enough to calm and entertain the crowd, yet keep the police alert.
Some guys went home, and some guys went out, but for max and I, we went back to his place. For it was close to the venue and allowed us to sit for a second. Most importantly, we let some time pass for the roads to clear. Usually right after a show peoples adrenaline kicks in and scenes of fast and the furious play on repeat in peoples heads and causes them to drive with no regard for human life. The show ended at 1030- 11ish, so the public roads will still be congested with traffic. I heard someone lost control round an on or off ramp that night shortly after people started leaving.
Now its 12:30ish and Max decided after some fruit and some iced tea that its time to hit the road aka highway run. From the suburbs to the last toll we keep it at about 70-80 nothing to crazy. From the last toll on the highway into the midst of downtown, all bets were off, and the midnight run commenced. We will stay together and make the way to upper wacker at an average speed of 120+mph. Max and I came to do these highway runs because their fun. We’ve done a few prior to this with great success and adrenaline junkies that we are, one should not try this. Both of us have had seat time at the track and have experienced high speeds.
We get to upper wacker, and there are a few people just chilling. A crew of bikes under a street light and couples lined up holding each other gazing into the starry Chicago sky. Max and I posted up, and I proceeded to snap some pics and some video shoots. Max’s 240 is  P.I.M.P …. purest import having been modified plenty. By Seriously having completely redone this 240 inside and out. With Louie V all in the interior, full suspension setup for drift and street, fully built sr20  blacktop swap to bump up the power, jdm exterior to keep it simple, official wheel and brake combo as the cherry on top. Not a thing  left untouched on this 240. While recently practicing for automass rd II. Max destroyed his motor after a few sideways maneuvers. Currently, Max is in the process of deciding whether to rebuild the SR20, or go for a 2jz or a v8 swap. Whatever Max's decision, I can not wait to see the final product.







dat cruise

A meet to plan on attending. From Naperville, we cruise into a forest preserve toward the south side. I had organized a pre meet and own cruise to dat cruise. A night of driving together with a bunch of other modified cars, something bout it soothes the soul. We started in Streamwood, and once roll call finished it was time to ride out. So we had bout 20 cars and drove down 59 side by side all in a row and stayed together. Pissed off other motorist but it is a cruise. All had a great time at this gathering till the very end. The night would not of been so remember able  without some drama.  Cops came n kicked us out of the end point.  Some dipped from the cops others got tickets.






dat cruise 3

With lessons learned from the previous cruise. This time around proved to be a hassle free and a ton of fun. Starting at a parking garage in Schaumberg to Dominick's near canal street, the guys I came with were not going to the city and I was waiting on the m5 when people started to leave. So I called waqqas and told him meet in the city at the destination. Everyone took 290 into the city. I meet max, and  we took the 90. Yes,  we had  adrenaline packed journey into the city.







ElegantShot Studios Cruise Night

Cruise night started in the lot of  Bdubs out in Skokie. The destination set for just outside Humboldt park to a little show called made you look classic car show.  This is a community show that happens every Friday night so one can expect this to be more of a family event. With music provided by a live d.j and food vendors fulfilling your hunger needs. This is one stop to check out. I ran into some of my family members and decided to stick around for a while.







Fizz Autosports Meet & Greet

Usually held in the middle of the summer. This meet always turns out some quality builds from the greater Chicagoland area and gets better each time Fizz decides to open their doors. This time they had a grill going and a d.j playing all day rocking the beats. Fizz autosports provides some of the rarest and high quality parts and accessories for the jdm and v.I.p styling markets. They also provide maintenance, installation, and custom fabrication.  This was in the middle of the summer and was a hot one.




Hooters cruise

Most of the meets I attend, I’m invited by my peers via facebook. When the notification came up for this cruise it immediately grabbed my eye. I have not met a person that does not like hooters wings. This was a cruise that has been going on annually for some time, and I enjoy meets like this. Everyone meets up at one spot and usually chills for a little bit then drive together to the city. With a little highway fun along the way but nothing to crazy. Since we leave the suburbs around 1030, the highways are a little congested.







JDM Chicago season opener

Jdm Chicago’s season opener proved to be a battle against mother nature. Heavy showers all afternoon did not deter masses of people still from showing up. By the time I arrived, the clouds had shed their last drop and a few enthusiast were just chilling.







SuperCar Saturdays

Super car Saturdays are a monthly gathering held in an open shopping center that is host to various retailers and restaurants called the promenade located in Bolingbrook, Il. The beautiful layout and its easiness to find make it such a great location for gear heads to gather. What sets this meet apart is the emphasis on exotic high end luxury vehicles. Its common to see cars from the makes like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, also the imports such as lowered Nissan's, slammed Subaru‘s, JDM Honda‘s come out to for this occasion. Its a great way to spend a Saturday morning in Chicago.







Smoked out stance S.O.S

I like many things, Hookahs and cars to name a few. I'm sending out a s.O.S.  Smoked out stance is a little car crew out of Naperville. On Sunday nights, one can find the crew S.O.S chilling at dwahans hookah lounge. Also go check out their facebook page.







mxpi present sonic wedsnday nights

The weekday night Sonic Meets started for the sole reason that we can all get together at a designated spot. Being that its right across the street from mxpi, why not. The staff is super friendly, and we get a nice discount, so it has been a win.







Stratts

On Friday nights near Rt 64 & Rt 83,  there’s a place where gear heads gather, from all over the Chicagoland to see who puts up and who shuts up. A classic milk shake and hot dog joint, Stratts is this generations spot to meet up and set some things up.. Picture an atmosphere reminiscent to  the classic movie Porky’s,  lil rowdy, but all around good time just chilling.
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