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Good morning class. I'm your new substitute Mr. Medina. Today we're gonna share about what we did over our Spring Break vacation. I'll go first. I was planning to take a very rewarding and educational trip to the Long Beach Aquarium in the fine LBC this past weekend to see some fine porpi. It turns out the fine people of Long Beach apparently traded in their aquatic neighbors for what looked like a building full of the Fast and the Furious. Well my fine young students, as it turns out the teacher was about to become the student. Luckily, when I arrived the crowd was still low. But I knew that soon many people would soon be filling the isles of the Long Beach Convention Center. I made no haste and began immediately with my observations and recordings. Now I know the title of the subject clearly reads AUTO Salon and is supposed to be an IMPORT show but naturally not all of my students read too well, then again, who knows, perhaps the Big 3 are attempting to compete with our foreign counterparts. There were tons of domestics there and a plethora of trucks dropped on dubs. Heck there were so many Foci and Cavaliers you would almost think that Ford and Chevy are trying to compete in the sport compact market. Before I move on, let me tell you about all the Foci I observed. There were sooo many including ones from Ford Racing, Saleen, Martini Racing, Meguiars drag focus, APC drag focus, and even one from the LA County Sheriff' department drag racing division (huh?). There was even one Focus wagon there with a jet's afterburner installed in it and upon closer inspection I nearly got myself stuck inside of it. Pontiac had an alarmingly large booth with many Sunfires and Cavaliers that were pretty unbelievable. Even one of my IAS '02 favorites the Vibe GTR. Sadly, no PT Cruiser convertibles. As usual, Honda/Acura occupied most of the space along with some representatives from Germany, Korea and other Japanese manufacturers as well. Of course there were plenty of RSX's like the unbelievably beautiful one from Alpine and there were surprisingly quite a few of the not-yet released Civic SIs already completed and on display. I guess it pays to show the buying public what you can do with a vehicle even before you release; not that Honda has any experience with sales success or anything.
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The one great thing was to see all of the cars fixed up that you usually don't see customized to that extent. These would include the Pontiac GTR, Cavalier, Sunfire, Contour, Odyssey, MPV, Suzuki, Rav4, Q45 and any and all Hyundais including the amazing crowd-favorite Sonata which was slammed and shaved sporting a body kit and biggie-sized wheels. The only problem is, and many of you will be able to attest to this, is that after all of the big hype from a big event like this hardly any companies make any parts for these cars and you're stuck with a stock car on rims, if you're even that lucky. As always, there were some kids from the popular crowd spotted at the party. They include JoJo Callos, Craig Paisley, RJ Simrock, Jeremy Lookofosky, Shaun Carlson, Ed Bergenholtz, the Girls of Import Revolution, RJ DeVera, Griff from Speedvision, The Rock and Stephan Papadakis. Ok, maybe not Stephan Papadakis… In final, I'd like to just say a little something about getting your homework done on time. I always here my students complaining that they can't possibly get their projects done by their estimated completion date. Well check this out: Ford Racing Performance Parts brought an actual Hydraulic Lift to their booth and took a stock Zx5 from BONE STOCK to SEMA quality in just three days. Teams from contributing manufacturers stepped up to install their own parts, and parts they were! Day 1: Inalfa sunroof, Wings West body kit, Borla exhaust, Exotic Window Tint flame-styled tint, Denso plugs, Woodview dash trim kit, APC head/tail lights mirrors and pads, Designer Mat floor mats, Ford B-pillar trim and scuff plates and Ford Racing Gauge pods with gauges. Day 2: Centerforce clutch, KW coil over struts, Baer brake system, Eibach sway bars, Katana wheels on Goodyear tires, Ford Racing headers and plug wires. Day 3: Jackson supercharger, Iceman intake, APC carbon fiber hood, Nitrous Express system, Wings West wing, Konig racing seats, B&M shifter and knob, Focus Sport stress bars and Pioneer audio system. You know, my students constantly ask me if I like apples. Well, how do ya like THEM apples?!Steve Medina
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