So the plan was to head out at the crack of dawn and drive up to V2LAB‘s Mystery Meat downtown Orlando, FL. to check out some of the sick cars that usually show up. 20 minutes outside of Orlando, I get the call that every enthusiast dreads to hear after a 3 hour trek, “Yo, the meet was cancelled.” WTF? What happened? Apparently cops broke up the party due to a few bad apples and an issue about permits. Blah, so I put out some calls to a few others that drove up the night before to no avail. No Answers. F*ck it…Let’s go check it out.

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For all our Florida readers, there is only one place you should be this weekend and that’s V2Lab’s Mystery Meat. The follow-up to last years Big Meat, Mystery Meat looks to be an even bigger and better show. This open format event has everything from JDM to Euro and everything in between. There will be something there for everyone. Located downtown Orlando, Florida, it’s no more than a few hours drive for anyone in the state. We expect to see you all up there and if you see us say ‘hey’. We love talking with fans.

Words: Rob | Photos: Ruckus

If there was one word to describe Cars on Fifth this year, it would be perfect. Located on the exclusive 5th street in Naples, Florida, Cars On 5th consists of blocks worth of Exotic and Classic cars flanked with the best shopping and restaurants that Naples has to offer. This luxury atmosphere keeps us coming back year after year. The reason why I say this year was perfect was a great combination of cool seventy degree weather, a great crowd, and the best cars to date.

Much like the variety of restaurants on 5th street, the diversity of cars at Cars On Fifth is quite special. There are very few shows where you see a classic truck slammed on bags across from a Shelby GT500 which is parked next to a Gulf blue Mercedes SLS AMG; While for the most part, cars are grouped by make and model, juxtapositions like that remind you if you like cars, you can appreciate them all. That ideal is seen throughout Cars on Fifth, everyone appreciates everything. Look in any direction and you’ll see a Ferrari guy talking to a Ford guy about his Mustang, or a crowd of Porsche enthusiasts admiring a slammed Rat Rod. Simply put, there is no hate.

So what stood out to me? Well, the first car that made me go “wow” was a gulf blue SLS AMG. There wasn’t a whole lot special about it, except that beautiful powder blue and that’s enough for me. My other best in show was the two-tone Ferrari 458 Italia. The black accents on this hot new Ferrari took it to the next level, and a great example of subtlety going a long way. This was why in a row of six 458’s it was the one that everyone was talking about.

I could go on and on about the beauty of dozens of the cars there, but I’m sure you would rather just look at the pictures. With something for everyone from food to shopping to all types of cars, Cars On Fifth keeps getting better and better with each passing year. Their only problem will be topping the perfection of this year’s show!

The South Florida Exotic Toy Rally has completed its 6th Annual run through the streets of South Florida. On December 10th 200+ exotics from Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade Counties embarked on a mission to raise a massive amount of money and a bounty of toys for the Toys for Tots Foundation. The procession of Ferrari’s, Lamborghini’s, Maserati’s, Porsche’s, BMW’s, Mercedes Benz’s. and other uber-lux euro’s stretched a phenomenal 5+ miles, snaking its way through the streets of Ft Lauderdale making its way towards the highways and byways of South Florida.

Escorted by the fine men and women of the Broward Sheriffs Department, the conga-line of euro-auto’s passed easily through the streets as well as on and off the highways, not having to yield to any other motor vehicles at any point during the 35 mile run. Don’t get the wrong idea, this event is not an excuse to break the law and speed recklessly through the streets, while escorted by the police. Quite the opposite, in fact. Rarely did the string of euro’s ever get close to even the speed limit as the massive number of vehicles created a bit of a logistical nightmare for the police conducting the cruise. Safety was of utmost importance, and so at times the rally was brought to a halt while officers raced to stop traffic from creating a dangerous rubberneck situation. Kudos to them for pulling off the impossible during rush hour on a sunny Saturday.

The South Florida Exotic Toy Rally is really all about the kids. There is no question that everyone in attendance has the Toys for Tots Foundation first in their hearts. Thousands of toys were donated to the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, in addition to over $10,000 in funds. Drivers congregated early in the morning at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Fort Lauderdale to get staged for the rally, and to get a quick sip of coffee. After a short drivers meeting, the crew embarked on the journey to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood with a pit-stop on the way at Ferrari of Fort Lauderdale. Shortly after Noon, all of the exotics had arrived in the Hotels parking lot and the donation was made to the United States Marine Corp and loaded into their 7-ton Tactical Vehicle (friggin’ tank). The event culminated with a group lunch and auction, the proceeds of which were all donated to the Toys for Tots Foundation.

Year after year the South Florida Exotic Toy Rally grows larger and larger, with more toys and more money being generously donated by the enthusiasts of South Florida. Not only is the event a great place to meet some fellow enthusiasts and check out some amazing euro-auto’s, but the feeling you get from the knowledge that your efforts will help thousands of children around the country makes the event even more important. If you happen to be in the area next year, please remember to check out this event. Even if you are not, please donate anything you can to the Toys for Tots Foundation in the spirit of the holidays.

Words by: Julian
Photo Credit: Ruckus

Last Friday night Erik and I decided to leave the old office and checkout Bizspeed.net’s West Palm Beach Supercar Block Party. Up to Palm Beach we went, finding a block of Clematis Street in Palm Beach shut down and filled up with exactly what you would expect; Supercars. All the usual suspects were present, Nissan GTRs, Dodge Vipers, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and Aston Martins.

With the addition of a DJ and cool white lights, we were treated to a party vibe we don’t normally see at shows. The unique lighting gave us the idea to try out some long exposure shots. With people moving around some interesting ghost images were produced that only added to the pictures.

Check out our “artsy” take on Bizspeed.net’s Supercar Block Party, if you like this look leave a comment below!

Words by: Robert
Photo Credit: Ruckus

(Photos: Jordan Donnelly)

For the 6th year the famed Festivals of Speed Orlando Motorsports Collection & Display made its descent onto the grasses of the Ritz Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes. Annually, in mid-November hundreds of exotics, antiques, rare and uber-rare autos from every country in the world pack the lawns of the Ritz Carlton Orlando. Festivals of Speed events can be found year-round in many cities around Florida. Expertly run and professionally organized, these events never disappoint.

There are many shows throughout the year that we attend that are stellar with their quantity turnout and quality of vehicle. However, most of these shows are automobile manufacturer or auto genre specific. Festivals of Speed, however, is truly a wonderful mix of antique vehicles, exotics, boats, airplanes, helicopters, and anything else that helps you get somewhere fast, or get nowhere with style. This unique mix of modern, vintage, exotic, custom, and mind boggling automobiles is what makes Festivals of Speed special. Hell, even the Batmobile has been there!

In addition to the countless rare and exciting euro-auto’s in attendance, some that stood out were the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, the 2012 Lamborghini Aventador, the 2012 Mosler Raptor, and the Lexus LFA. If the stunning collection of priceless automobiles was not enough to keep you entertained for hours, there is also a vendors area where jewelry, art, and other goodies are on display for purchase.

So whats better than a killer car show at a beautiful luxury resort? Not much really. Lest we forget, big props go out to the Festivals of Speed organizers for helping to support the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. With Festivals of Speed events happening year-round all over the state of Florida, we encourage you to check one out when the next event is taking place in your neck of the woods, as any Festivals of Speed event is one not to be missed.

Gallery

With Julian and Erik in Vegas this past week for SEMA, it left the interns to head up from home base for Simply Clean 3. Myself and Richard took a leisurely cruse up getting to the show “when it opened,” only to find it packed way past capacity. Cruising down line after line of cars to find parking spots, one thing was clear; the Best of the best in Euro and JDM stance showed up to Simply Clean 3.

On the Euro side of things aside from the usual VW MkIV, MKV, and MKVIs, older models were definitely in style. Richard was shocked to find that he wasn’t the only MkII there, but instead he was only one of four and every one of them was done right. Another crazy surprise was a nice ‘stanced’ out Volvo 240 that almost blended in with the collection of BMW 2002′s and E36′s that were featured on the “hard parking” section.

On the JDM front sea foam was in-style. One of the first cars that caught my eye was a slammed civic painted entirely sea foam green with white wheels. While that description may put a bad taste in your mouth I loved it. On top of that, a few Nissans and Hondas were seen rocking the same vibrant colored wheels.  Then there were the usual bad ass JDM race cars: Skylines, S2000s and WRXs all showed up in force and earned our respect for sure. One black Skyline on green Works specifically turned heads as I didn’t see a single person pass buy it without taking a picture with their camera, phone or at the very least mind.

Simply Clean 3 was an awesome show, over flowing with the freshest cars from the JDM and Euro scenes. I can see this show growing with time into an event that is on par if not larger than SoWo, H20 or the other major euro events, as it draws from two huge car crowds. If you’re located in the South East or willing to make the drive, and have an appreciation for all things stance, then Simply Clean certainly would be a show I suggest marking on your calendar for next year.

Click here for the rest of the Pics

Words: Rob

The SEMA Show truly has something for everyone; from the monster truck to the mini truck, from the lifted 80′s sedan to the slammed coupes of the future. If you are even remotely into cars, trucks, bikes, tools, or anything automotive, then SEMA is the place to be. However, it’s only open to industry professionals. Sorry to get your hopes up.

I’ll skip a long introduction on what SEMA is, what it stands for, how it came about, etc… as there is a slim chance you’re reading this and don’t already know what SEMA is. It’s been on countless “docu-drama” style TV shows where cameras follow the most recent pseudo-celebrity of the automotive realm. If you don’t know what SEMA is, Google it. Why waste space on that when there are the Falken Tire girls and the Mobile models to drool over.

This year’s SEMA show seemed to be dominated by American Muscle and big boy toys like jacked up Ford pickup trucks, Internationals, and other monster pickup’s that could easily parallel park over the cars we are used to seeing at euro-themed shows. Large auto manufacturers’ booths like Hyundai and Subaru were surprisingly well stocked with modified versions of their production vehicles, and of vehicles yet to be released. The rest of the show was jammed packed with innovative products and top-of-the-line accessories to satisfy any enthusiasts’ tastes. From RC cars to RVs and everything in between. Suspension setups, Air Bags, Brake Kits, Garage Flooring, Performance Parts, Software Components, Wheels, Tires, more Wheels, Electronics, Interior Accessories, and the list goes on and on.

After having worn holes in my Puma’s at last year’s SEMA show, I made a point to download a Pedometer app for this year’s SEMA show so I could track the amount of miles I would walk in a day. After too many hours at the craps table and not a long enough nights sleep before the first day of the week-long show, I forgot to set the counter. Each of the other days I was just too damn tired to remember to turn it on. Despite that, I am going to guess we walked close to 100 miles in 4 days and I am probably not off by much.

Just when you think you have exhausted the show floor at SEMA, there is AAPEX at the nearby Sands Convention Center. This show brings whats seems like every automotive accessory manufacturer into one place from the fuzzy dice guy to the pine tree air freshener guy. So log another half-day walking that show. Now it’s time for a break right? Hit the buffet. Blow some dough at the Blackjack tables.. Nope. Now it’s time to hit the manufacturer sponsored cocktail parties, press release conferences, SEMA awards gala, and to visit other high-end manufacturers like ADV.1 Wheels at their decked out suite in the Encore Hotel. The fun never ends.

Most people go to Vegas on vacation. Not many of them end up like Nick Papagiorgio winning a half-dozen cars at the slot machines, but none-the-less, most visitors end up having the time of their lives. We, on the other hand, are dead tired. Our feet are sore, our backs hurt, and we smell like second-hand cigarettes and cheap casino booze. Even though we did not catch the famed Bellagio fountain show, or watch pirates duke it out at the Treasure Island show, we did still have the time of our lives. That is, until the 2012 SEMA Show.

Click here for the rest of the SEMA 2011 GALLERY