Raleigh Night Photo Shoot, 6/16/11

No car clubs, no sponsors, no vendor tents - just car people standing in a parking lot. A few years ago, that's how it used to be in Raleigh.  Of course, the downside to that was it was the prelude to a whole bunch of illegal street racing, a meetup spot where people popped hoods and talked cars, oogled girls, then rolled out to the highway in a big group, doing 3rd gear rolls to absurd speeds until the cops showed up.

Then came the crackdown; RPD got sick of it, and the street racing - the bad stuff - along with the impromptu, unorganized night time car shows - were basically eradicated.  You used to be able to roll up to a number of different wide-open, well-lit parking lots off Capital Blvd (US-1) on a Friday or Saturday around 11, and see all sorts of hot rides.  Some of it was dumb - I mean, this was back when it was acceptable to put Lamborghini door and underglow on a Mitsubishi Diamante.  (Just kidding, that's never been acceptable.)  But there were big-turbo Supra's, VR-4, DSM's with 2-steps, every kind of hot Honda, you name it.  The first place I saw a US-spec Evo?  Capital Blvd parking lot, late at night.  Ditto the Lotus Elise.

Well, I think it sucks.  Standing around in a parking lot at night with other car people, talking cars, is not a crime.  Street racing is a crime, and you shouldn't be surprised if you get popped for it, but the association between the two never made sense to me.  So I put together a night time meet/ photo shoot.  Strict rules - no booze, no trash, no burnouts.  I sent out some invites on Facebook, messages a few people, and hoped someone showed up.

As it turns out, Raleigh still likes car meets.  And people did show up.  I'll be honest: I was surprised.

And not just Hondas, or Nissans - all sorts of stuff.  A refreshingly diverse meet.

Sean Pidgeon's Subaru STI and Gaita I's VW GTI 20th Anniversary Edition, basking in the artificial glow of parking lights.  The lighting gave every car a weird sort of glow; some looked washed out, some looked amazing.

Matthew Meadow's gorgeous stanced-out Lexus IS300.  The last time I saw this car, it was burning rubber halfway down the track at Rockingham.  It's still looking amazing.

Julienne Hardy-Turner's DC2 Integra LS, lowered on a set of... Wait, what?  Mini Cooper S wheels?  That's new.  I actually like them, mainly because you see the same aftermarket wheels on basically every lowered Integra out there these days.  A change of pace isn't a bad thing.

Tom Moon's Toyota Corolla GT-S drift/track car.  This AE86 has more trick parts under it than the odd outward appearance would lead you to believe; the suspension setup alone is worth an entire article.  This car will be getting a feature here on CarThrottle soon.  Rumor has it that some drifting (on a closed course, computer generated, in Mexico, do not attempt) later on in the night caused the O-ring dip stick to blow out.  But I can neither confirm or deny.

Integra, tuned Volvo S60 T5, IS300, a 3rd generation Supra with something unusual under the hood, and the absolute cleanest early 90's Corolla out there.  Don't ask why!  Speaking of that Supra...

That does not look like a 3.0L inline-six.  More details on this most unusual JZA70 coming soon - stay tuned.

Daniel Harvey's 1985 MkII Golf GTI (with 16v swap) sitting lower than low on spotless BBS RS's, next to two innocuous Japanese sedans.  And yes, that G35 sedan is a six-speed!  (Also yes, that's my Honda.  What's worse than setting up a car meet and having the lamest car there?)

Harry Darnell's impossibly low EK coupe.  This thing is A) the more sane of his two Civics, and B) his daily driver. Some people have looser standards for a daily driver than I do!

Tyler Liverman's all-white MazdaSpeed3.  Another very well-stanced modern car, and it makes some really lovely noises...

Chris Celestino's 1997 Saab 9000 Aero, happily running along at 28 pounds of boost - with 180k miles.  Gotta love a B234R.  There are big things in store for this car in the very near future; another thing to look out for!

I'm guessing this S13 240SX has also seen a number of drift events on the track.  Dig the XXR wheels, too.

9000 Aero, RSX Type S, A4 1.8T Quattro, GTI 16v, G35 6MT, and Accord - these are all friends of mine - in fact the G35 is my dad's!  Club status?

No over-amped DJ Music, no "show girls" in massively overstuffed Bikinis, no team flags - just a bunch of people having a fun time hanging out at night.  I'll be putting one of these together again soon; here's hoping we can get more people on the bandwagon!

For more pictures from the meet, the album on my Facebook page is visible to everyone and can be found here.