College Park Tuning Spring Meet 2009

College Park Tuning held their annual massive Spring Meet on Sunday, April 28th at the University of Maryland. CPT is the official car club of the U of M, and U of M is a pretty massive school.  So the turnout was just as insane as you'd expect it to be.  I made the 280-mile trek up from Raleigh, North Carolina and attended.  I found the variety present in the show to be almost mind-numbing, and the number of simply fantastic rides there makes it a show I will certainly attend again.  I hope you enjoy the images.

Some pictures of the caravan of S2000's I found myself in on the way over to the meet...  These guys were from S2Ki, and they were a very nice bunch of folks.  I appreciate the hospitality.

Just a few S2000's lounging around...

This was one mean RX7, owned by a nice guy named Brady.  He left the Maserati at home today.  I love DC.

A mint Porsche 911 (930) Turbo sitting alone in a corner of the parking lot, just waiting to snap oversteer and kill an unwary lawyer.  Or something like that!  These cars look like such fun/death, it's hard to resist the temptation.

Papaya Orange is the only proper color for a Lotus Elise.  They call it Chrome Orange, but let's be honest: it looks like a Papaya.  The Lotus Elise is on my list of "must drive" cars.  Who's going to be the first to offer us a test drive?  STEP UP.

It's rare enough to see an Audi RS6... But a modified RS6?  Heaven knows what's under the hood of this beast, but when 450 bee-haitch-pee is the starting point, the result is going to be insane.

There were a few Corvettes there, too.  Just a few.  That Silver Z06 (C6) would do just fine for me, thank you.

Now here's something you don't see every day... a Nissan Skyline (R33) GTS.  That's the one with the RB25DET, not the GT-R - but still a wicked car.  Cameo by an SVT F-150 Lightning is always welcome.

Subie Engine Porn.  Nothing more needs to be said.  Nothing at all.

More rare JDM hotness: two different ST185 Celica All-Trac's (GT-Fours) in one place.  One of them even had the rare RC motor with the air-to-air intercooler.  So cool.

This might be the meanest looking Lancer Evo I've ever seen.  Might be.  It had an intake instead of a headlight.  The turbo was the size of your face.  Delicious.

I'm sure you know I have a soft spot for Porsche 928's, so I had to include this mint 928 S4. These cars simply never look old.

You're forgiven for thinking this is a KTM X-Bow, but it's actually a kit car called a K1 Attack.  More information can be found here. It's actually a Slovakian built kit that uses a lot of Honda Prelude parts. It looks like a really angry Praying Mantis, too. I can dig it.

Yes, because what your 8.0L V10 Viper GTS really needed was a Supercharger. I don't know how much power this car was making, but I'd imagine it could be classified as weapons-grade.  Yikes.

This Galant VR-4's for YOU, Brian!

Nogaro Blue never goes out of style on Audi's.  The S5 is looking fantastic as usual.

This IS-F had a custom wide-body kit, pearly orange paint thick enough to check your hair in, and a VERY trick rear-mounted Twin Turbo setup.  Do want.  It's a SEMA darling, but I still have respect for a twin turbo IS-F.

Have you seen four Nissan GT-R's all in the same place before?  Me neither.  In case you're wondering, that's 1,920 twin-turbo Nissan horsepower.  Speaking of Nissan's...

I'm not sure how this S15 Nissan Silvia got over here, but I'm glad it did.  Easily the best-looking S-chassis ever.  Not sure about the krazy kamber, but to each their own - right?

Just your average massive single-turbo, dragged-prepped Lexus IS300.  Nothing to see here.  Move on.

How the Mercury Marauder should've come from the factory: with a huge supercharger atop that 4.6L 32v Cobra V8.  Very nice.

35 years after it's introduction (has it really been that long?), the Lamborghini Countach still turns heads like Keira Knightley walking naked through times square.  And with good reason.  Meow.

This NSX sounded like God playing a trumpet and was adorned with more carbon-fibre parts than a Tour de France bike.  Just the way it should be, if you ask me.  Perhaps the best-engineered car ever made?

We'll finish things off with an AWE-tuned Audi S4, which seems like a good place to finish.  Do you like the stealthy black coated twin-entry intercooler?  Also, NACA ducts never go out of style.