--- title: "East Coast Tuner Car Culture Brought Some Heat To NYC This Month" date: "2023-04-14" modified: "2023-04-14" authors: - name: "Andrew P. Collins" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/andrew-p-collins" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/east-coast-tuner-car-culture-brought-some-heat-to-nyc-this-month" categories: - "Builds" - "Culture" - "News" --- # East Coast Tuner Car Culture Brought Some Heat To NYC This Month ![]() *\Andrew P. Collins\* The 2023 [New York Auto Show]() hosted a spectacular collection of modified (and mostly privately owned) cars and trucks on the lower level of the Javits Center. While the stages and displays from OEMs upstairs were certainly more dramatic, the vehicles at the R2Xpo showcased creativity and coolness that's unique to the modding scene. And a miniature JDM Concours d'Elegance had a few historic gems on display, too. ![]() *This perspective from the back corner of the R2Xpo area gives you a general sense of scale—this was probably about half of the display area. *Andrew P. Collins** R2, shorthand for [Rides + Rigs]() (or "cars and trucks") brought a great sample platter of different genres of contemporary car modding for display. I caught up with a couple of guys, Vin and Calvin, from a tuning shop in Flushing, New York called [Crown SpeedLab]()—they had done a lot of organizing and logistics for this show-within-a-show at the New York Auto Show, and they talked about how they were kind of trying to stoke a miniature SEMA on the East Coast. At this point, the R2Xpo gathering is not so much a showcase of new parts from the companies that make them (like SEMA is in Vegas), but it did capture a really diverse range of modding styles and provided a great opportunity to see interesting accessories fitted on vehicles. Besides tuner cars, there were some dedicated race cars, at least one serious drag racing car, some time-attack machines, some classics, a lowrider, off-roaders, and a big group of overlanders. All of them were really nicely done examples. ## Rigs + Rides: The R2Xpo Here's a gallery of what caught my eye at the R2Xpo. Enjoy! ![]() *Cars like this Lexus SC kind of bridge the gap between "lowrider" and "tuner car."* ![]() *A Pajero Jr! Super cute.* ![]() ![]() ![]() *This is a Toyota Starlet (EP82) GT Turbo. Never sold in the US, and extremely cool.* ![]() ![]() *The burned titanium-look of this Civic's hardware is pretty sweet.* ![]() ![]() *Check out this amazing fog light!* ![]() *Even Honda itself didn't bring an FL5 CTR to the show—you had to go downstairs to see one.* ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() *Check out the custom lighting treatment on this Cayenne.* ![]() ![]() *Her's a pretty interesting jerry can carrier.* ![]() *External cargo mounting is a little extra, but I have to admit this looks kind of cool.* ![]() ![]() ![]() *This drag Supra really took me back to import drag racing in the mid-00s.* ![]() *The Veilside body kit on this FD RX-7 looks like the same one on Han's car from Tokyo Drift* ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() *This extreme BMW E9 has popped up at a couple of Northeastern car shows I've attended. What a machine!* ![]() ## JDM Concours [JDM Supreme]() and an outfit called [Redline Restorations]() were posted up in a small section of this room with some incredible machines. I'm actually not sure what the story is with that Porsche, I just really liked the intake duct running through the rear window. That Civic hatchback, however, was a pretty famous tuner car gracing the cover of [*Super Street* mag]() right around the time the first Fast and Furious flick came out. It was in a BF Goodrich ad or two as well. The gold Supra, however, stopped me in my tracks—that is the GT300 you may have heard associated with tuning legend Kazuhiko "Smokey" Nagata. Smokey has an accolade list longer than a CVS receipt, with some real innovations credited to him. But he is probably still best known for 200-mph highway hijnks in cars like the gold Supra in these images. To make a long story short, Smokey raised some notoriety (visibility for his tuning shop Top Secret) by hitting bonkers speeds on public roads. Not something we endorse, but, it was certainly a moment in time. [This interview with him in *Top Gear*]() gets into more detail. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ## Crown Speed Lab's Honda S2000 The gold Top Secret Supra is sweet, but many of you have probably already seen plenty of pictures of it so I wanted to do a little more showcasing of something newer: Crown SpeedLab's S2000. I'm planning to catch up with Vin and Calvin again at their NY shop in the not-too-distant future where we'll get some more details on this incredible car. For now, check out that creative livery, wild aero, and football-sized turbocharger under the hood! ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ## Author As Executive Editor, Andrew touches everything on the site from daily news coverage to feature stories, sponsored content, product reviews, road testing vehicles, ecommerce, and more. He's held pretty much every role there is to have at an automotive news site and has been with The Drive's publisher Recurrent since 2020. Andrew's a lifetime gearhead and longtime writer with a particularly strong penchant for road trips, off-road adventures, and archaic vehicles. His passions outside of the automotive world include skiing, obsolete video games, and his dog Bramble who occationally helps review cars. ### Author social links [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()