CPT Tuning Occoquan Park Car Show, 5/1/11

Sometimes it's hard to mask your disappointment. It'd been two years since I'd ventured from Raleigh up to College Park, Maryland for CPT (College Park Tuning's) Spring show, and I was damn excited.  The event in 2009 was large enough to fill two gigantic parking lots, and this year the event was to be moved to FedEx field in order to fit the massive amount of cars expected to turn out - easily in the thousands.

With the event scheduled to start at noon on Sunday, I packed up and headed to the DC region Friday night - I've got friends and family in the DC region I haven't seen in a while; might as well kill a few birds with the same tank of gas.  Sadly, the bad news arrived Friday: due to a snafu with event insurance, CPT was unable to use the FedEx field, and the event was cancelled.  Further proving the resolve of car guys to do what they're gonna do, an impromptu meet was thrown together on Saturday in lieu of the big show at FedEx field.  Kudos to CPT for that.

The new location was considerably smaller (as was the turnout), but the boat docks at Occoquan Park in Lorton, VA provided a nice backdrop to check out some impressive tuner vehicles, enjoy some brick-fired barbeque, and talk to other car nuts.  Sure, it wasn't as good as the original show would've been, but the weekend wasn't a bust.  I mean, how could it be with stuff like this there?

This might be one of the cleanest, best-looking, most tasteful MkIV Supra Turbo's I've ever seen.  It's one of the few cars I actually thinks looks better with it's optional basket-handle shopping cart spoiler.  Also, that decal above the exhaust...

Domo says KILLLLL!

A  lot of car shows tend to focus on one specific brand or model of car, or at least a general demographic.  Tuner shows, on the other hand... well, anything can turn up.  Like this Honda Element that literally made me laugh out loud when I walked past it.

Nice to see that not everyone in this group takes themselves too seriously.  In fact, "too serious" just doesn't really seem to happen a whole lot.  I love MazdaSpeed3's, but a Speed3 with purple wheels and that front plate, I love even more.

Mazduhhh!

This NB-chassis Mazdaspeed Miata was also looking particularly luscious, Sunset Mica slammed and stanced over black wheels with a roll bar integrated.  I can't say anything for what that much lowering does for suspension geometry on Miatas (actually I can: bad things), but it sure makes them look mean.

"I've got friends, in lowwww Miatas, where the coilovers drop and the rollbars follow..."

'96 Mustang Cobras aren't rare in and of themselves.  They're certainly less common than V6 or GT models, and considerably more potent thanks to the quad-cam 32v aluminum V8 borrowed from the Lincoln MkVIII.  But Mystichrome Cobras, now those you do not see frequently.  It's a paint technology that changes color depending on what angle you look at it from- sometimes blue, or green, or purple, or black.  There were only 2,000 made back in 1996; I haven't seen one in ages.  This picture doesn't do the color justice, honestly.

"What color did you say your car was?"  "...Yes."

Nothing totally out of the ordinary here, just a facelifted STI that's been lowered and stanced out, roof rack, the usual stuff - looks great.

However, did you know that Subaru made an STI Hybrid?

I'm guessing he went to the Toyota dealer, got a badge from a Prius, and stuck it on so he can park in one of DC"s absurd "Hybrid Only" parking spaces.  Seriously, Tyson's Corner has a few Hybrid parking spaces per deck, it's crazy.  What do you suppose would happen if someone saw this and complained?  Will they make you pop the hood?  "look, there's the battery, get off me."

I can't say the first thing I'd do to an E38 7-series would be slam it to the ground with some demon camber on the rear wheels, but it is an interesting look.  I bet speed bumps are fun in this.  Definitely VIP status.

"You've got a Lexus?  My grandma does too!  Is yours an ES300 as well?"

This IS-F sounded absolutely mental, and looked totally ready to attack a race track and bite off a chunk.  Normally I'm not a big fan of Lexuses, but it's more than a bit badass.

The aerodynamic rear valence allows some repositioning of the IS-F's trademark quad tail pipes.  And unlike a normal IS-F, those are actually real tail pipes.  Also like the duckbill spoiler with the integrated Lexus badge.  There was a lot of trick stuff going on with car you wouldn't notice at first glance, it was very well executed.

I'm a fairly outspoken detractor of the Dodge Caliber SRT-4, to the point where I had what seemed like the whole damn Caliber forum leaving unbelievably silly comments on this post.  So I'll eat some crow and say that this Caliber SRT-4 looks pretty amazing; some less gigantic/blingy wheels, a wider stance, and blacked-out treatment make it look like a more serious performance car.  I suppose that doesn't change the fact that driving one feels like work, but judging from the sounds it was making, it's probably a lot more fun work than a stock one.

I'm not sure why the Lexus SC300/400 isn't more popular as a tuning vehicle, considering the Supra chassis and engines, and vastly higher availability than an actual Supra.  This one looks fantastic, IMO - very clean, very low.

Z32 300ZX's will never go out of style.  Can you believe this design is actually 20 years older than the 370Z that Tony reviewed recently?  Of course, lowered and blacked-out always helps.

A MKIV Golf, looking proper, next to the "STI Hybrid" from earlier.

Infiniti G37's are becoming very popular with the tuning crowd.  Considering they've got the same greasy bits as a 370Z, but room for 4 and more luxury trappings, it's an appealing base vehicle to start with.  I like the aerodynamic addendum on this one, too.

And finally, what was probably my favorite car from the entire show: this early-body WRX STI.  A lot of tuner cars tick a few of the boxes; this one ticks all of them.

Most modified Subarus generally look totally over the top.  I mean, a WRX is already a sort of crazy-looking car the way it comes, and most aftermarket mods just add to this.  I love this STI because it's a seriously capable car (extensive engine and suspension upgrades) but it's very functional.  There's no crazy offset wheels, huge camber, tucked tires and rolled fenders - it's just huge rubber, proper ride height, and a perfect stance.  Also note the deletion of the intercooler hood scoop.  Since you can see the intercooler's now residing in the bumper, the own turned it into a vent for under-hood heat.  Very smooth, and very trick.

Through it you can see charge piping, a diverter valve, etc - very neat.  Of course, under the hood's impressive too:

GT30-framed turbocharger, hard piping, big injectors - more than 400awhp in this one.  The previous build on this engine had a much larger turbo, 1300cc injectors, and made 600+awhp.  High 10's in the quarter are nice, but the owner says it was frankly terrible for a street car.  I'd believe him.

Coilovers, big wheels, big brakes, perfect offset- kudos to this guy.

Seibon Diamond Carbon trunk - which is probably worth more than my entire Saab - is a really nice touch.  Do love that license plate, too.

I'll finish the post off with this WRX shot.  You can never have too many turbocharged Flat-fours!  While I do wish the show had been held as originally planned, there are worse things to do with a sunny Sunday afternoon than look at modified cars in a park.  Better luck next year, CPT!