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Import Alliance - THE RUNDOWN - EP.22
Import Alliance - THE RUNDOWN - EP.22
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About this episode
Exploring the rich history and evolution of Import Alliance, this episode dives into the grassroots spirit of one of the most beloved car meets in the U.S. The hosts share personal anecdotes from their experiences at various meets, highlighting memorable moments, unique cars, and the camaraderie among attendees. They discuss how Import Alliance has grown from small gatherings to large-scale events, emphasizing its non-competitive nature and the welcoming atmosphere for all car enthusiasts. The episode also teases upcoming changes for this year's meet, including night events and expanded activities.
Topics:
import alliance history
grassroots car culture
car meet experiences
community and camaraderie
event evolution
night events
motorsports activities
personal anecdotes
In this episode we go over our history with Import Alliance!
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Acura Integra
"...was first really like getting into cars. I had my Integra at the time and I was just starting It was far fr..."
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Nissan Gtr R35
"...hat was really cool for me because they had a few GTR R35 GTR race cars there andThey had just came out tha..."
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Welcome to episode 22 ironically dropping on July 22nd of the right hand drive guyspodcast today we're gonna be talking about personally one of myfavorite events with the most history for me at it in port alliance and I know you've beenTo quite a few yourself, right? Yeah, yeah, and originally being from Nashville
I've been able to see like alarge part of their likeThem coming up, I guess you could say from being the small meat to like these crazyHuge meats the pack and NASCAR tracks. Yeah, so we'll we'll get to all of our fun fun memories
atimport alliance and like you said even before it was I think technically called import alliance butFirst let's give you just kind of if you haven't heard of import alliance check out their websiteIt's import alliance dot org or find them on InstagramBut in their words, you know what makesImport alliance different than just a car show or meat isOne of the unique aspects of import alliance me is the fact that it is not a car show
There is no competition for who has the nicest paint or best interior or best-in-showThe cars are built and driven by grassroots import car enthusiastsImport alliance attendees range from the complete competition show car builder to the in-process builder the daily driven weekend autoCross-competitor and everything in betweenOne thing that they all have in common is an uncanny understanding of quality workmanship as well as a desire to utilize the best parts thatTheir budget will accommodate
The resulting interaction provides for an interesting opportunity for the enthusiast to learnBuilder to showcase in the OEM as well as the aftermarket industry to sell market and researchImport alliances where the real import car enthusiast meWhat do you think? Yeah, I agree 100% with that. Yeah, you know, and it's never it's never really been like a car show
It's always been like agrass roots typeMeet, you know, it's just like just like you're weekly meeting the summer, you know, it's just all the homies hanging outExcept well, it's this brings in the homies from states away and MikeDude like at one one point. I'm sure still from
Coast away. Yeah, like the group of West Coast dudes would would blue tape the front of their cars
And they would drive over for their summer meet like I specifically remember likeFor sure multiple times that happening and you know because you remember s2kj. Yeah, like so once he moved over to Cali
He would rally those guys up, you know, because it was right after the eye-buck me over thereAnd so he'd rally him up and however many of them would come over and like we just could not believe like when these dudes showed up thatThey just drove from CaliRight, that's a high. Yeah, so in the middle of summer and you know
So these cars and they're like yeah, some of these cars are low some of these cars don't have AC some of these carsAre just beautiful cars you really don't even want to be driving like that, but right right yeah, no, I meanimportant allianceYeah, when I moved to Tennessee I lived in Tennessee inO5 andIt was like right beforeThey like made it in port alliance. It was down by the bridge by the Titan Stadium like those guys would meet up on one side
Other dudes would like meet up over on the otherSide and it was kind of like two separate meets, but like one. Yeah, but yeah, that's where like I first met Don and
And like squirk and mo and you know some of these like core Nashville guysSo if you're like fromNashville, you probably know who I'm talking about right or it's been in the game for a while. Yeah, for sure
Yeah, yeah, not just Nashville. They a lot of these guys period have made a name for themselves
You knownationally, you know in that sense especiallyDuring a certain time period. Yeah, you know, and so
Yeah, I mean what is what's your first memory of import alliance since you are aNashvillian? Oh, well the first year that I had to like really heard of it
I think was like 2008 and I believe they hadThat was the first year like their big meet at the bridge andThat was when I was first really like getting into cars. I had my Integra at the time and I was just starting
It was far from anything I would want to bring out but likeI had just heard peopleGoing to this meet and I was just like what is import alliance like whatLike import alliance like what even is this like what is it what is import alliance and I just likeFinally someone told me is it's just this huge meetIt's where all these dudes from forums are meeting up. It's all this and that. I'm like, oh, okay. I get it and probably the
I think the fall meet after thatThat summer meet I I'd went to one and or went to the fall meet and it was cool. I mean it was just like
You know, it was just like a local meet like like any other forum meets back in the dayIt was just like that except with a few more people and a few more cooler cars, you know fromdudes from Alabama or Atlanta or wherever it might beBut yeah, they they all showed up and it was just like a chill thing and it wasI don't know it was just cool and chill. Yeah, like
ILike I said in oh five was when I had first met him before it was any of thatBut then I moved away went to the militarymoved back inlate 2009 and I had likeBen Facebook friends with Don and it was just I just followed the whole progression and at firstI was kind of like import alliance. Come on man like what what do you mean like right and then I quickly realized like oh
shoe okay, you're like right when you first hear the name even it's just like what even is that like import allianceYeah, what it but like now I get it right yeah, you know me too and soYeah coming back in oh nine and that was the first yearThat was the first year that they did the super speedway. Yeah, when they hit like it was like
Went from I can't remember what the venue was before that it wasNot the fairgrounds, but anyways, it was the first year in the super speedway and it was likeOh like right it might have been the bridge. Yeah, I think it was yeah the bridge prior to that yeah and so
It was like a big deal that they were having the super speedway and havingRacing going on and yeah, you know, they had a little time attack. Yeah exactly and it was in you know the whole pits were full
and likedudes were just likebranching hard. There was that paraplegic guy on the Subaru team. Yeah, he would they would pull the motor
He would rebuild the motor do whatever that was crazy. Yes, he was like
Abused like he had like he had the arms right but no legI know he for sure didn't have the legs. Yeah, he couldn't do anything with his legs, but that didn't stop nothing
He could do he could work circles around us. Yeah, it was crazy
That dude's known pretty well in that in that time attack scene. How could you not when you have work ethic like that despite the
Circumstance, you know, yeah, that's sweet. So yeah, that was really cool for me because
they had a few GTR R35 GTR race cars there andThey had just came out that year prior right like they there was all new right like you were hardly even seeing themOn the road, but they was they were at importer lions and you could walk throughThe garage down the middle and back and watch these guys work on these R35s that you'd never even seen soYou knowThat was oh nine was a really cool year
for me as far as likeReally opened my eyes and like got me excited about what what they were doing likeAnd because I had just gotten back from the military and first one I attended and I was like holy crap. Yeah, okay like
I think I'm sure you remember but by the endNot only the whole super speedway, but the wholeHuge four six lane thing on the outside of the whole. Yeah, like that that important lines. I was probably my most memorable one too that I went to
andYeah, I remember getting there and luckily had a homie that you knowSlid me the pass and got me in there didn't have to wait in the huge long line, butMan, it was insane how many people were there like I couldn't believe it. It was it was crazy
I mean like you said the whole inside the whole parking area was all filled outThen they were using part of the road course too, I believe yeah, they weren't using for the time attackThey had people parked out on thereI mean it was just like they were in hotter room and then yeah whenever I went to leaveumYeah, there were just cars everywhere still both sides of the road. Yep leaving it was like you had the center and dude
This track is pretty big. It's a super speedway like it's a it's not small. No way. No, it's you do is crazy
Do so many cars in the middle of summer and out in Nashville out there was justYeah, it was brutally hot though. Yeah, I mean it was like tough, but
Yeah, I wouldn't I wouldn't take it back for a second and thenyou know, of course you have theAfter because itTraditionally, it's during the day, right and so then you have after whereEverybody meets up or you know, there's always pre and post meets on both nights, you know back in in that year was it one or two daysUh, I want to say it was two was it still two so remember exactly though. Yeah, and
So like a lot of guys, you know, because I at that point was in the Honda game. I was like a Honda guy
And you were still a Nissan guy. Yeah, yeah, that's when I have my 180s, right so um
likeWith me the Honda guys were like the PGK dudes right in NashvilleSo they had this uhNight the night before this pre-me and then we all got together the next day to roll to the eventBut like I remember I'll never forget like it was over at one of the PGK guys house and you know at that pointS2K J was still living in Nashville and so it was all of those prime cars were all there, you know like all of this one
Do Towson they're cooking thisMe dude like in all these things right and it just felt was like so surreal, you know like in that sense likeBecause coming for from where I come from getting that many dope cars that are lining up and down this cold asackPacked on the lawn like cars sit cars everywhere like I'd never see that like I would never see it even even beyond the cars like justThat huge group of homies. Oh for sure all co-existing and like loving it and and and it was always like this with
In you know shout out to the PGK dudes for always let me like hang out and come along being some dude for main, you knowBut like it would always be shout out to bomb, but it would always be trying to get bonds car started the night beforeAlways man like it would just be like I roll up and I'm like oh yeahThey're all bent over that case series and that dope ass eG hatch just trying to get that thing started dude every timebutNo, that was like that was in in it's crazy because you look back and you like dude that was like a really cool time because
You know that was just that one summer me we yeahWant like after we became friends and what not we both attended a spring me right andWhat that was it?
No, it was a fall me because spring was in Atlanta the fall was always in north Nashville or whatever that isOh right, but we went to a spring meet as wellYeah, yeah, yeah, but the fall meWas cool because it was a little more like intimate. Yeah, it wasn't as big. Yeah, yeah, and I think now they are yeah
But like then it was a back then it was just like that actual thing. Yeah, just to like season
Yeah, keep you going you know for through the winter or whatever, but it was in aWater park parking lot right? Yeah, yeah, it was a two rivers park. It was also a skate park
So that was pretty cool too, but uh it was a skate park and wave poolYeah, parking lot pretty much and it was pretty big I mean decent sucks. Yeah, it was a it was a big lot for sure
You could definitely park some cars there, but like compared to the summer meets at the spring wayIt was you were not getting that volume of cars in there. No way
It would have just been and that's probably they out grew that spot really really fastWe were and there was only I think twoThere at two rivers and we were at the last one. I'm pretty sure yeah, and so you know
umYou know, there was like a group of guys like you remember Matt Tucker. Yeah with the CTR. Yeah
Yeah, and he would always come to those he'd travel from wherever he was from AlabamaYeah, he'd bring up some dudes with him. Yeah, and a lot of those guys would you know like Greg
You sell would come up with his like whatever 240 thing and crazyContrapathy would do you know, and so it was a really cool time because like people were pre family. Yeah, so
You know, right we're all still kids. Yeah, yeah, exactly and so
Anyways at this uh at this fall me it was like we said a little more intimate, but a lot of really nice carsThey were taking a lot of photos and umWhat I locked my keys in my car or something stupid or it wouldn't startAndrea to give me a ride and his his right hand drive hatchYeah, but you're about this. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he had to give me a ride down to the some I don't know, but anyways
Yeah, I'll never forget that one because that's the one where so you know, it's getting towards the end of the meet and you know, Aaron was aI don't know like to be a silly guySo so he's we're it's all kind of getting time to leave and he takes off andThere was a I think whatever southbound entrance on the Briley Parkway or something. Yeah, yeah
And so when you left this park you kind of go around this long likesweeping like left turn and then it like transitions into an on ramp. Yeah, and all of a sudden you know, it's like all right
Peace on me. Yeah, we'll hit me up whatever you know and then all of a sudden you're just here
WowAnd and you look over and there's a right hand drive 180 sideways all the way down the road and then transitions onto the on ramp sidewaysJust smoking the whole way and that's what I was like all right. Yeah, this is just pretty cool
It's just like everybody stopped what they're doing and they're like whatWell, yeah, that was a cool spot because actually if you go past that on ramp there was like a roundabout and that was likeI don't know one of these spots always used to hit back in the dayBut I hit the roundabout like whatever two-wheel runs and then went back under the bridge and then hit the on ramp andSlit up the on. Yeah, but yeah, it was it was it was good time. Yeah, dude. It wasn't my first time doing it
Right. Yeah, I mean it didn't look it it was like you know, I'm sitting over there with a
Hundred and something horsepower Honda front-wheel drive like oh wow you can do thatSo that was a sweet memory about that and you know justAgain getting like pictures with my CTR and Matt Tucker CTR away in a Phoenix yellowYeah, yeah, yeah in the same place with that like really like chill setting becauseAnd that's when you didn't see that many right. Oh, yeah, yeah for sure like him and I had like the two really you know
andSo that was a really cool experience and like we said they'd have these fall meets and thenThey would have these spring meets and the spring meets were always at firstThey were small just like the fall meets if they grew quicker because everybody was restless from the winter. Yeah, yeah
Like the spring meets just grew and grew and and shout out toRon Don and Omari forliterally stickingwith it likeThroughout all of this right and like adapting to likeEverything to change like the climate of the scene or industry that change and like keeping up with all this and the growthAnd then sustaining it like major shout out to those guys for
literallyLike kind of walking into this in the sense of like we just like cars and we want people to meetAnd now we have to like run a businessYeah, yeah, and like and like plan and they've 100% like stayed true. Yeah, like from the beginning like to what it is
You know they haven't tried to make it something that is not right yeah, yeah, try to make this huge change with itBut you know at the end of the day. Yeah, it's still in port alliance. It's still
Chill car meet, you know, they I think they made it better with some of the motor sports eventsThey have going on with the drifting and time attack and stuff. I think that just made it better. Oh for sure
Now it it's like quote unquote like multifaceted right likeIt's just likeSo many different pieces like yeah, you know that first year at Nashville super speedway, you know, you like walk aroundYou know it takes you forever to check out all the cars. Yeah, and sure you can watch the racing you check out the vendors
And there was also a mobile dyno that they were doing runs. Oh, yeah, I forgot about that right outside the pits or whatever
So forgot who that was but yeah, yeah, so I mean you could do like some stuff, but now they've just likeI don't know like now they've just like turned it into something else where and and I know this yearFor sure they've turned it into likeYou know it before it had already reminded me kind of of that scene in fast and the furiousAt night when they're at race wars whereIt's likeEverybody just looking at each other's car or yeah, you know, it kind of reminded me of that like race wars was like
They were doing a race and then they were all just checking out each other's carsYou know, there was no car showThere was vendors like that type of stuff some aftermarket support, you know, but so but now where they're doing it at nightMan, I think it's gonna be crazy. Yeah, I think it's gonna be sick. So
One more of those memories theSpring me okay, I don't remember what year this was 2011 or something. I think so 2010
Maybe 20 maybe even 2012No, I wasn't there in 2012 I had left souhEither way we ohNo, maybe it was I flew in yeah, yeah, because umI yeah, so anywaysWe still we met up with the PGK guys. Yeah
We um and shout out keen andThis guy if you know who we keen in green thingHe is like just the funny and naturally funniest guy everAnyways, so we meet up with these guys. Yeah, we meet up with with these guys and we're in a suburban and we're like
filming and you knowWhatever doing stuff andWe're falling them down and all of a sudden like they pull over and we're like what andKeenan lost his transmission drain plugHe had noYes on the interstate he's just flying out we luckily somehow pulled overAt the exit where there was an accurate dealership and they had one rememberWe had to drive and go get it but
It was right before so they bring it back they bring the fluid like that was a huge message held this back like three or so hoursYeah, just off the rip and thenOn the way down because it's in Atlanta at Atlanta motor speedway. Yeah, which think about that
That's a huge place. Yeah, that place is huge. It's freaking huge dude and they're filling in Atlanta motor speedway with right like holy crap dude
soWe we go down we have end up literally in traffic for eight hours like at one pointWe were everybody was outside of their vehicles just hanging out on the guardrail because it was not moving for that longIt was that was wild it was wild. Yeah, and so we ended up missing this pre-meat that we were gonna do yeah and
You know so okay, soBack up real quickAt all of these means what I was gonna say earlierThe night in between like or the night before or if it's a two day the night in betweenStuff is crazy. Yeah, everything is crazy and the everybody a lot of people book at the same Lakinta
For the same two Lakintas for whatever reason back then it was always the LakintaAt this spring me we had like it was like almost the whole Lakinta hotel rented out by allImportantly right the entire parking lot was filled with like the bad it like the good do like it wasImportantly as was cool, but it's hot as fuck and like it's kind of overwhelming sometimesBut this is like all the baddest cars at night in this parking lotWith a briley parkway on ramp right in front of it
So everybody just takes turns all night doing runs up and down briley parkway like running each other the parking lotSo car showWe aren't we yeah, we got the whole hotel pretty much so we go up to the top floor whole and mind youThis spring me is on 420It is on 420 like dawn what come on manCome on so we go up to the top floor in this whole hotel is smoked out yeah like no exaggeration footlong joints
Dabs all this stuff everywhere every all the rooms all the doors were openIt was creating everywhere like it was like they couldn't do anything because they were so overwhelmed by how many of us there wereIt was insane. It was like it was like our place for the night. It was that is one of my most memorable for sure
Right it's like a hotel party you seen a movie or something yeah like if we so insane if we had phones like we do nowI knowThey probably want to got shut down. Yeah, you're right. Yeah, so you know this is the in the do with the aerial atom was there
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, like so the hood rich Lambo the hood rich Lambo dude. Yeah
Like these are some like really good memories, right? Like like because they didn't just include cool cars
They included cool people and yeahSo when I read at the beginning like the import alliance mission statement or they're you know what makes it differentIt's like this it's it's literally true like they would bring together like some of the dopest dudes and chicks and whateverAnd everybody would like coexist like didn't really matter like there was no sort of there is no sort of competitionThere is no yeah, that's what I was gonna say, you know, it's no competition. So it's like
It makes it way more just likeI don't knowChill chill, yeah, and just like laid back and just like there's no reason to beTense about this. It's not a car show you're not gonna judge you're all I'm sure people are judging you. Yeah, yeah
But there was no one's it's not a competition. Right. So like at these hotels at these restaurants, you know, these cruises like
You know, it is a broad range of people levels cars abilities. Yeah
And it all like comes together, right? Like it's like oh you're in the cars. You're cool. You're trying sweet. Let's go, you know
So I think they really have done a good job of like fostering the whole likeI don't know good vibe so to speakUm, yeah for sure. I mean they
Divide it one of those it's like I mean, I've never seen anyone get to fight. Yeah, no, never seen anything like anything like that
You know, I mean and and like we said we're talking thousands of cars. Yeah, you know like thousands of people like everywhere
Yeah, and and then you know, you also like we said we have you got vendors you have like people trying toMarket their brand you have people that have spent their last dime getting there to like put on forAll of these, you know, attendees, you know, soIt really is a great opportunity I think for for people to just come together umsothis yearThoughThey are changing it up they and they now call this summer meet the family reunion
And I would say that's because obviously they're from Nashville. Yeah, so it's makes it now. Yeah
And theyAre doing it at night. Yeah, that's
Gonna be sweet. What do you think about that? That's gonna be sweet like
Being a Nashville super speedway under the lights is likeWhy not, you know, like why wouldn't you do that? It's it's natural in the middle of summer like you don't want to be outside during the day
Yeah, and I think they probably really saw you know, whether it wasWhether patterns complaints dropping attendance, you know that maybe the daytime and Nashville and rightThe end of July is just not it right yeah, yeah, and plus I think in the last couple of years uhThe venue that the super speedway has changed ownership as wellSo I think that might have a little maybe they're a little more flexible and want things like right rightBecause I have seen a couple other different eventsHappening at night there where they haven't before so yeah, but it's still a good it's a cool thing
I think that's gonna that itself is gonna bring out more people I'd imagine oh for sure likeum and again, it's likePeople want to have a good time. They want the experience the cars are cool like oh yeah, we all know the cars are sick
Yeah, but the experience is whatGets us at the core right that's what really likeHits us so I think you know don and amari really this year realize likeLet's expand the experience because we've expanded the car part. Yeah as much as we can right like now we have to
reallyLike tune that package that we're offering right so umWith that this year uh like we said is Friday and Saturday nightumThey say that they're havingdrag uh, they're having drag racing roll racing a drift sessionburnoutsDJs andThey have uh like a gaming center and other programming based around motorsports and fun. Holy good. Yeah like
It's a lot damn. It sounds sick. I mean something party
But like what's the capacity of the super speedway right in that sense like right how do you keep all these people engaged right?
Dude, that's a challenge. Yeah, like that's a challenge like keeping five people engaged is a challenge
So I mean hats off to them for like continuing to try to keep it fresh and not just likeThe same, you know, yeah, the thing that I think would be dope like and like I mean feel free to steal this ideaBut uh, I don't know what their laws are but having like a fireworks display on Saturday night at the endI think would be dope just like cap it all off with like this dope display butumYeah, I mean, I'm excited for where they're going with it. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's cool. I mean
it's it's beenvery cool to seeThe whole growth of it from back in the day andYeah for sure. I mean, it's it's the same but so much different and so much better. Yeah, and you know like
These guys aren't like living off these shows these guys arePutting in these like they have a job, but then they're also putting in the extra work to get these shows to pop off like thisLike that's those are the type of people that we need in this industry thatIt's not like oh, well, we don't need to do this event because we're not gonna make a hundred millionRight, you know, it's like well, no, we need to do this event because this is what's helped driving the engagement in this industry and not letting it just like disappear
Yeah, yeah, so I'm sure they haveThe most pride in what they oh, yeah, they should yeah, yeahThey definitely should because they've created a wholeThing yeah for the people much respect to those three for sure. So
Speaking of that respectDon was gracious enough to offer us a little bit of space at this year's event. Yeah. Yeah, and we were just like
super honored when he offered that. Oh, yeah super
super honored. No for real because you know
We are just doing this just for fun, right? Just because we love it and he noticed the passion for it and extended and opportunity and
like opportunities are rare like that and so yeah, we're definitely pumpedunfortunatelyAaron has to be responsibleand handle some stuff hereIt's hard for us both to leave the same time. We really got lucky with Japan
So I'm gonna go I'm gonna hold down the fourBut like the four there. Yeah, you're gonna hold the down the four here. You're holding down the four
I'm gonna try to expand the four a little bit. Yeah, uh because we want more people to be able to hear this so
I'm gonna head downI got a booth there. I got some guys with some right-hand drive cars that are gonna be in the booth and
So yeah, if you're going to the show swing by we're gonna be doing some segments with different guysGot new guys that I'm gonna meet and some guys that Aaron and I already knowYou know while we're thereRichie Nashville, Kooplin, Scork, Drennan, you know, we're gonna have the homies on there plus get some new guys onYeah, so look forward to those episodesumAnd you know, we're just we're gonna keep pumping out the content. Yeah, trying to at least
Yeah, for sure and again if you're not familiar with import alliance check them outThree really solid guys and if you're at the event swing through and find me and we'll see what's upYeah, for now. I'm Bobby. This is Aaron. See ya. Peace
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