The import tuner car scene has gone from underground midnight run car cruises to well established, highly organized convention center shows. I wanted to check in and see what the state of car customizing is and look for any interesting aesthetic diversions. So it was off to the Javits center in NYC to attend the first of a bi-annual edition of IMPORTEXPO, one the the largest organizers of non-domestic focused custom car shows in the US.

Japanese and German models made up the majority of vehicles exhibited with a lone Kia and a couple of American low riders included. There was one bosozoku-style van which I think is a mid 90s Toyota HiAce under multiple layers of blue fiberglass bodywork.

The extremely stanced cars aren’t really to my taste, maybe it comes from years of car design sketching trying to get the wheel ellipses looking correct. When I see suspensions dropped to the ground and wheels contorted at odd angles, the cars just look broken.

I’ve read that wilder graphics are coming back in style. The majority of cars at this show opted for single color paint. However there were some more adventurous choices including a Honda Accord wrapped in a pink marble texture with gold trim accents.

A collection of cars from Massachusetts-based Procyon were standouts to me. Each had unique body wraps combining graphics and artwork ranging from textile patterns to oil painting masterworks. Their race prepped BMW had some nice quirky details like comic strips covering the inner door frames, an area generally overlooked as a distinctive finish opportunity.

Photos and Text: Dave Pinter