Posted in NALM, Throwback on December 7, 2017 by tysonhugie
It’s already time to kick off bidding for next year’s nerdy Legend extravaganza, otherwise known as NALM (the National Acura Legend Meet). The event has taken place for 13 consecutive years now, spanning the country from California to New Jersey and many places in between. I haven’t missed one yet. Here’s a website I’ve been managing the has a few highlights and photos/videos from each of the events.
And to get us in the spirit of things, here’s a blast from the past: A 7-minute video capturing scenes from the event’s first program from May 27-29, 2005 in Dallas, Texas. Special features include a car wash activity, close-ups of some special “custom” Legends, autocrossing action shots, the banquet dinner, and a night out on the town. Check out event organizer Lee Horton getting sideways in his G1 coupe at around 5:30. My coupe had around 171,000 miles on the odometer.
I also happened to come across this video of destruction of a G2 sedan while browsing the ‘Tubes. Watch at your own discretion; it’s a little graphic!
And finally, on a brighter note, check out this video my friend Pat put together of his absolutely stunning 1994 Legend GS 6-speed sedan. Drool-worthy for sure.
Happy Thursday, enjoy the rest of your week, and keep on driving.
Let’s take a moment to appreciate my fashion sense in this photo from circa 1990. I’m pictured at left here with my two brothers. Rolled up jean shorts? Check.
Popped collars, fanny packs, and porn-staches greeted me upon arrival to “The Phoenix Club” yesterday morning just a few miles from Disneyland in Anaheim, California. It was almost as if I’d gotten stuck in a time warp and traveled back in history 20 years. When I saw this Delorean a few minutes later with license plate “BKNTYME,” my suspicions were confirmed.
Yesterday’s event was the most brilliantly-executed and exciting car show I have attended in years. It was something different, and something very “me.”
“Radwood” was a contrast to go from the white-collar LA Auto Show media days which I attended earlier this week, with its forever growing ego-contest and snooty “the coffee at our booth is better than yours” attitude, to a venue where cutoff jeans are appropriate, Bud Lights are readily available, and Simple Minds’ “Don’t You Forget About Me” is blasting on the loudspeaker. I loved every minute of it. I only wish I’d invested in a slap bracelet, Hypercolor T-shirt, or some stone washed jeans ahead of time so I could better dress the part. One smart attendee was even taking pictures with a disposable camera! You know, the kind that you “click,” then have to manually advance the film.
This event was born as a small show in 2016 in the Bay Area catering specifically to the era of vehicles produced from 1980 through 1999. Now in only its second year, the event shifted venues to a place with far more capacity and still sold out well in advance. Thanks in part to clever partnership with Jalopnik, Clarion, Japanese Nostalgic Car, Bring a Trailer, and many other sponsors, the word was spread far and wide.
Attendees traveled from all around the country to attend. One attendee – Peter Monshizadeh – drove all the way from Overland Park, Kansas, and entered three vehicles in the show: His Dodge pickup truck, which was towing a trailer with his Nissan 300ZX and a period correct motorcycle. That’s dedication.
And who could forget automotive journalist extraordinaire Jason Cammisa running around in booty shorts that would make Richard Simmons jealous. This was a sight to behold. Jason’s immaculate BMW E30 station wagon, among many other “feature cars” including my friend Chris Hoffman’s CRX, was on display in the main tent area near the stage. Jason ended up taking home an award – a 1985 Nintendo game cartridge glued to a plaque, of course – for his Bimmer, and it was well deserved. His enthusiasm added to the fun and atmosphere of the program.
I was in good company in the Honda/Acura family. My friend Rob Pia proudly showed his immaculate, 130,000-mile 1994 Legend sedan in glistening Cashmere Silver Metallic, and next to him my friend Chris Green parked his award-winning 1986 Honda Prelude with only 50,000 miles on the odometer.
I had the privilege of meeting a couple of ‘new’ Legend owners, too, and had some friends stop by who live in the area. Cars from all regions were accepted and recognized. Even the 1991 Pontiac Bonneville parked in our row with nearly an entire keyboard of buttons on its steering wheel attracted lots of attention. Another guy named Tyson who drives a beautiful black 1997 BMW M3 introduced himself and his car to me – complete with a period correct cassette tape sitting on the center console.
But how about this?
Perhaps one of my favorite vehicles was Ryan Glass’ 1992 Ford Explorer, which started life as a pretty ho-hum Eddie Bauer edition but has been extensively and painstakingly converted into a Jurassic Park movie icon. “Spared no expense,” were the words that came to mind as he described to me the custom wrap, brochures in the back seat, bumper and taillight protector guards, and even a pair of velociraptor-spotting goggles on the passenger seat.
As the day carried on, I reflected on how much I appreciated the laid-back and friendly vibe at Radwood. I hope the event continues its great momentum and carries on for years to come. I’m already starting to brainstorm ideas for next year’s trip, and it might have to be in the Vigor since I didn’t see one this year. Now if I could just get ahold of some Reebok Pump footwear. Below are some more pictures and a short video!
I knew the day started off right when I saw this pay phone outside my motel in Orange, California.
I put my custom wheelstand to use that my brother hand-built for me out of aluminum.
Roll-in shot, thanks to Chris in the 1986 Prelude.
Photo with Rob in ‘vintage’ motif.
Ran into my friend Grant with his beautiful Mercedes SL. Check that fanny pack, too.
One of two super clean generation 1 Legend coupes on display.
And another. Becki was awesome! How much Aqua Net did she need for her hair?
Visit from Penny.
Shooting the breeze with Jalopnik’s Andrew Collins.
The aforementioned 1991 Bonneville! With a “LeBra” on the front, of course.
Love me a big-body Benz 560 SEC.
Original owner 1990 Honda Civic 4-speed manual with over 300,000 original miles.
Just $6,635 MSRP for this thing. I think he got his money’s worth!
My friends Felix and Matt
Love the 1990s Mitsubishi Eclipses. What happened to Mitsubishi?
Good NSX representation, too.
Sweet CRX, but look what’s on the roof.
That’s right: Boombox and some cassettes!
Reconnecting with the man himself: Matt Farah and his now-969,000-mile 1996 Lexus LS400. I drove this car a couple of years ago and blogged about it. It’s on a quest to hit a million miles.
Greetings! I’m jotting down a few words here from the Media Center at the Los Angeles Convention Center. LACC is now pretty familiar turf for me, as I’ve had the opportunity to attend a number of times. Here are write-ups from my prior LA Auto Show visits:
I had to miss 2016 due to work engagements, but I still made it to some of the social events. Redline Reviews‘ Editor-in-Chief Sofyan Bey was kind enough to extend an invitation to me so I could be a part of the festivities this year.
After two full days about about 10 miles walked between the South Hall and the West Hall to see all the latest and greatest, I can tell you there is a lot of change brewing in the automotive industry as a whole. Personal mobility is taking on a whole new dynamic, as technology speedily moves toward an increased focus on autonomy. As cars become faster, safer, and more efficient, similar strides are being made in self-driving technology. It’s no mystery, though, that I’m a driver. Is “automobility” something I should dread or embrace?
My trek to LA started on Tuesday afternoon from Phoenix in the Legend coupe. It’s a tried and true road warrior, and certainly a more comfortable cruiser than the 1992 Integra I drove to Utah last weekend for Thanksgiving. The closer I got to the epicenter of the 13-million-resident LA metro area, the more congested my beautiful open roads became. I was delayed about 35 minutes on I-10 nearing Riverside thanks to a combination of accident + commuter traffic. Gotta love it. In all, the 379-mile one-way trip took me close to 7 hours.
Wednesday was a jam-packed day of press conferences, kicking off with a BMW presentation around 8:30 and a stampede of journalists migrating from one booth to the next throughout the day. Some of the big news this year? Oh just a few highlights that stuck out to me: Lexus coming out with a 3-row RX SUV. BMW launching a convertible i8 and new M5. Mercedes has a new CLS. Mazda’s next-generation 6 sedan is out. Subaru has launched its biggest SUV yet, a 3-rower called the Ascent. Nissan’s “Kicks” replaces the Juke, and Hyundai has its own new cute-ute called the Kona.
600 horsepower, all-wheel-drive BMW? Hotness. Not to mention that color.
Jeep’s Wrangler comes back again looking about the same but with a completely new chassis and lots more tech. Kia debuts its new Sorento, Infiniti shows the QX50, and Lincoln ditches its alphanumeric naming conventions for traditional names like its new Nautilus (replacing the MKX). That’s a step in the right direction, don’t you all agree? It was a slow-ish show for Honda & Acura, with no formal press conferences but still plenty to look at inside the respective booths. I can’t begin to squeeze two full days of automotive news into a few paragraphs here, but check out Redline’s YouTube playlist on the auto show for a glimpse at some of the sights and sounds we enjoyed.
The vehicles on display at LAAS are only part of the appeal of the event. It attracts some of the world’s renowned auto journalists. Our team ended up seated in the Media Center right behind most of the Jalopnik staff, including Andrew Collins who I can thank for this awesome piece he put together about a year ago.
The after-hours activities this year were just as entertaining, with a Hyundai-sponsored party the first evening at Novo night club, and a social event in West Hollywood the following night at Doheny Room where I connected with a few fellow journalists. All too soon, it was time to again part ways with those colleagues. The Redline team flew out Friday morning and I made my way (90 minutes to drive 38 miles – thanks again, LA!) toward Anaheim for a car show to be held Saturday morning. More on that to come in a future post!
Acura booth with the redesigned 2018 RLX on display
Don’t mind if I do hang out here!
I admired some of Honda’s hardware while in the booth. These dozen or more awards are just from this year’s LA Auto Show alone! There are boxes and boxes of things like this sitting at the corporate office in Torrance.
Fellow car geeks Brian and Chris
Some of you may recognize this ‘other’ Brian – none other than the famous Brian Cooley from CNET.
Quick shot with the Redline team (Sofyan, Peace, Rob) and Honda’s Davis Adams.
Street parking the coupe in West Hollywood!
This might just be the best motel parking space I’ve ever had. Huge.
Bonus: A few pics from last weekend’s Thanksgiving trip to Utah
Brother’s redoing his living room and said I could park in it. Why not?
My nephew Locke
Cruising around some of my old stomping grounds
HUGE shout-out to blog reader Eric who had this custom embroidered Polo shirt made up for me, with the date of my 555 milestone from back in October! Thanks, Eric!
drivetofive 