They talk about going to street races in Los Angeles, which helped spark their interest in car modifying. It’s part of the story of how they got into the scene.
The Honda Civic Si is a sportier version of the Civic. It’s the kind of car enthusiasts like to modify, and that’s why it mattered in the speaker’s early car obsession.
The Honda Del Sol is a Honda that’s known for its convertible-style roof. The speaker is talking about how the Del Sol’s colors are often different from the green they remember on the Civic Si.
“Flip top lights” means the headlights move—like they flip up. It’s a distinctive design feature the speaker is using to identify the exact Prelude generation.
Sport Compact Car was a magazine that covered the scene of modified smaller cars, especially Japanese imports. The speaker is saying it was one of the few places you could read about that culture back then.
A chassis code is like a model’s ID number. It tells you exactly which version/platform it is, which matters when you’re trying to buy the right parts.
Back then, you often had to learn enough Japanese to read parts descriptions. Without easy translation, it was the only way to figure out what you were ordering.
A turbo timer is a gadget that lets the engine keep running for a short time after you shut the car off. That helps the turbo cool down instead of stopping immediately.
Here, “exhaust” means the parts that route gases out of the engine. People were trying to read the Japanese words so they could buy the right exhaust parts.
It means you find the part, place the order, and then you have to wait for it to show up. The fun is in the waiting and anticipation, not just getting it immediately.
The Acura Integra is a popular small performance car that a lot of people like to customize. Here, the guest talks about leasing one as a teenager, modifying it, and then replacing it after an accident.
The Bristol Bullet is a very rare sports car. People talk about it because it’s known for being fast and special, not because it was common. In the podcast, it’s used as a reference for speed.
The Acura NSX is a famous high-performance sports car from the early 1990s. The guest says it captured their imagination, especially because of its advanced engine tech called VTEC.
VTEC is an engine technology that helps the car breathe better at different engine speeds. It’s designed to make the engine feel strong both in normal driving and when you rev it out.
Variable valve timing is an engine feature that changes when the intake and/or exhaust valves open and close. By adjusting valve timing based on RPM and load, it can improve torque at low speeds and power at higher speeds.
The BMW E30 M3 is a famous older BMW performance car that many enthusiasts consider a benchmark. Here, it’s mentioned as part of the speaker’s explanation of engine tech history.
The Honda NSX is a famous Honda sports car known for being high-tech and quick. Here, the host mentions it as a starting point for the story about Honda’s VTEC performance era.
“Dual overhead cam” means the engine has two camshafts up in the cylinder head. That helps control the engine’s valves more precisely, which can support better performance.
They bring up Fast and Furious as a reference for the “parts shipped fast from Japan” kind of car culture. It’s used to compare their real-life build to the movie vibe.
Dazz Motorsports is a shop in Los Angeles the speaker went to for car parts. It shows how people often used specialty stores to find the right upgrades.
The Chevrolet SSR is a special-looking vehicle that mixes pickup-truck styling with a roadster-style concept. It’s not a common car, so people tend to remember it for its unusual design. In the podcast, it’s mentioned in connection with the kind of wheels someone wanted for a car like this.
A “cold air intake” is a modification that helps the engine breathe cooler air. Cooler air can help the engine run more efficiently, and it often makes the car sound more aggressive.
“Battle the Imports” is an early organized drag-racing series for import cars. The point was to give people who were racing on the street a more official and safer way to compete.
“Import drag racing” is drag racing where the cars are mostly from outside the U.S., like Japanese models. It’s a style of racing where people compete in straight-line acceleration.
Place
terminal island
Terminal Island is a place people went to race cars over a short distance. In this story, it’s where the import-car crowd would meet and test their cars.
In drag racing, an eighth-mile is a short straight-line race—about 200 meters. Because it’s so short, the car’s launch and quick acceleration are especially important.
SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) is a major U.S. trade show where the aftermarket and custom-car industry showcases new parts, builds, and business opportunities. The host describes how SEMA in 1997 was much smaller—fewer halls, less parking, and far fewer Japanese manufacturers—compared with today.
In this episode, IPO is an acronym the host uses to describe what SEMA stands for: innovation, passion, and opportunity. It’s a theme, not the stock-market term.
Term
chip foos era cars
“Chip foos era cars” is a nickname for a certain style of custom cars from the 1990s. The host then talks about the wheel designs that matched that look.
Hot Rod refers to a car culture focused on modifying older vehicles for style and performance, especially in the US. In the segment, it’s used to describe the big 1990s wheel-and-customization scene and how it evolved over decades.
Concept Nipper is a specific style of aftermarket wheel from the 1990s. It was known for having a more unusual, flowing shape instead of a simple, cookie-cutter pattern.
The Opel Antara is a small SUV made by Opel. It’s the kind of vehicle people might modify with different wheels to change how it looks. In the podcast, it’s brought up because certain wheel styles were popular on it.
Tokyo Auto Salon is a major car show in Japan. The host is saying he covered it early on, before moving into other shows like SEMA.
Place
Performance Motorsports Expo
Performance Motorsports Expo is an auto event where the host met people from a magazine. It’s included to show how the community networked through shows.
Battle of the Imports is a car-show competition centered on import cars, especially Japanese ones. People bring modified cars and compete for judging points like how the car looks and how it’s built.
Term
racing heart type C's
“Racing heart” Type C’s are a particular style of wheels. They’re mentioned because the wheel design helps define the car’s overall look for the photo.
Golden hour is the best natural lighting time near sunrise or sunset. Photographers use it because it makes cars look better in photos, with nicer shadows and highlights.
Jacking up the car means lifting it off the ground with a tool so it sits higher. They did it to make the car look like it’s launching in the photo, but it’s risky if the car isn’t secured properly.
The Toyota MR2 is a small sports car where the engine sits closer to the middle of the car. That layout helps it handle well. Some owners also talk about replacing parts like lights because certain components can be harder to access than on more common cars.
The Tropicana is a hotel and casino in Las Vegas. The speaker is just saying where they stayed during the event.
Term
bracketed
Bracketing is when you take a few photos of the same scene with different brightness settings. It helps you get at least one picture that looks right when the lighting is confusing.
The Ford Mustang is a performance car made by Ford. People talk about it a lot because it’s been around for a long time and there are many ways to make it faster or customize it. It’s often mentioned in car history and enthusiast discussions.
It means the car-scene vibe where people race on public roads. It’s a community with specific cars and mods, and the movie tries to reflect that world.
Brand
Naira
Naira is mentioned as part of the car-show world the speaker worked in. The exact brand details aren’t fully spelled out here, but it’s clearly automotive-related.
Axis Wheels is referenced as a wheel brand/company that could provide parts for the film. Wheel brands like this are often involved in motorsport and street-tuning scenes because wheels are highly visible and easy to showcase on camera.
Apex is mentioned as another car-parts source. The speaker is basically saying, “If you’re involved, they’ll help with parts,” but the exact company details aren’t fully clarified here.
The Mitsubishi 3000 GT is a sporty Japanese car from the 1990s. Here, it’s brought up because the movie originally planned to start Paul Walker’s character in a 3000 GT before moving to other cars.
The Mitsubishi Eclipse is a sporty coupe that was especially popular with car enthusiasts. They’re talking about it as the first car in a movie character’s lineup.
The Toyota Supra is a well-known high-performance sports car from Japan. In this story, it’s the car the movie ultimately used for the character’s progression.
They’re talking about the throwing-star ninja graphics painted on the car. The speaker thinks it’s a bit corny and questions why the movie leaned into that stereotype.
The Honda S2000 is a small two-seat sports car (a roadster). It’s known for feeling quick and lively to drive. People remember it because it has a distinctive look and a very “enthusiast” driving character.
“Dailies” are the raw or roughly edited clips from each filming day that the team watches to see what worked. The speaker says he got to watch these with the director.
Motec is a brand known for high-end engine management and performance electronics used by serious motorsport and tuning teams. In the segment, the speaker corrects a script detail about a “Motec exhaust system,” implying the wording is wrong because Motec is typically associated with electronics rather than exhaust hardware.
Engine management is the car’s computer system that controls how the engine runs. It decides things like fuel and spark timing, and that’s why Motec is usually tied to electronics, not exhaust parts.
Term
T 66 turbos
A “T66” is a type of turbocharger—basically a forced-induction device that helps an engine make more power. Bigger turbo setups like this are often used on serious drag or performance builds.
In drag racing, cars race over a set distance called the quarter mile. It’s a common way to measure how fast a car accelerates.
Term
danger to manifold
“Danger to manifold” is a movie catchphrase tied to engine trouble and pushing the engine too hard. It’s basically a dramatic way of saying the engine is at risk.
A dyno is a test machine that measures how much power and torque an engine makes. It’s used to tune cars because you can run the engine under load without driving on the road.
ECU means the engine computer. It controls things like fuel and spark, and tuning the ECU is how people adjust engine behavior for more power or better response.
DFI is an engine-management/tuning system name. The important part is that it lets tuners adjust how the engine runs using a computer.
LIVE
Welcome back to Talk Talk Nation. I'm your host Joe Weber. And this week, sitting in the
donut office right now is the one, the only RJ DeVera. Thank you RJ for being with us today.
The one, the only. Wow. What do I deserve for that? What do I need to write you?
I don't know, a little plaque or something. Yeah. Yeah. Very kind. Thank you.
If you don't know RJ, he's got so many accolades to his name. Right now, you are a VP of marketing
for SEMA, but you've gone through so many different job titles and so many different lives in your
past. I'm really excited to dive into it. Sure. Yeah. It's 30 years of my life, roughly. Yeah.
So I feel very blessed, very fortunate to have worked in this industry that we all love.
You know, I fell in love with cars really early on and it's, I would say it's not the most rare,
but it is rare when you find an industry that you love and you work decades in it and you're
able to find a living and give back to the industry that you love. Does it feel like
work still to you? Definitely. Through the years, there's definitely been days when you're
on the road 30 weekends a year. That still feels like work. The great thing is that you get up
more than 50% of the time, super excited. And there's this cliche of follow your passion.
Part of that has really worked for me, but there's bits and pieces that I think you have to layer
on. Are you good at it? Can you get paid for it? Does it provide some sort of value to someone more
than yourself? I think those are the things that are important to layer on when you find your passion.
Yeah. And if you're able to kind of find that center point through all of that and the Japanese
call it Ikigai, you're very fortunate. And hopefully, if that ball ever ends up in your hands,
that you run with it as fast as you can and as far as you can. Just clutch. Yeah. Just hold on to it.
Yeah. Well, we met a couple of weeks ago and you came to have lunch here. And I think we ate lunch
for like three hours. It was a good lunch conversation that was pretty, that ended up being
much longer than I think what anyone thought. You have amazing stories. And you started kind of in
the tuner scene in the 90s in LA, right? Very much so. So the story with me and car culture was
was always the kid that loved the matchbox toys. My mom always talks about that, started racing
RC cars. And that's how I started to tinker and fall in love with modifying. And then I had my
older brother who's seven years older than me was a DJ. He had some friends that I became close with
one of them took me to the LA Street races, actually, when I was 14, with some guys that had
fixed up Honda's one Civic Si. That was Tahitian Green with SSR Superfins. I still remember that
car very vividly, actually. And is that the same color that like the Del Sol's are often seen in?
No, I think Tahitian Green was a little bit more turquoise. Okay. And I don't remember the actual
color of the Del Sol that felt more like lime green. And so I fell in love with cars at that time.
I didn't know there were such things as import cars that could be modified. I think there was a
prelude that was with us as well. The second generation with the flip top lights also had SSR
Superfins that was like the wheel to have back there. And yeah, fell in love with car culture
and this idea of modding cars. So, you know, I quit all the sports I was playing in high school
and got a job working for that same friend of my brothers at a copy service that copied medical
records for life insurance. But I'd make great money. And I started to buy parts for a car I
didn't have. You were 14 years old when this happened? I was 14 at the time. Yeah. And going
right turning 15. But you had a vision in your mind of what car you wanted to build?
It was really based on that EF Civic. It's like an 89 Civic SI, you know,
we didn't, I didn't grow up with a whole lot I immigrated from the Philippines. So I was trying
to not only buy parts for a car didn't have, but it was also trying to save up for the car that
I wanted, which was in my head, this EFSI Civic. And so there was a thing called the
recycler back in the day. It's basically Facebook marketplace, but the print version
from the 90s. And I started to buy mostly audio equipment because that was the big thing in the
90s. You just run ads in the back? It's just a one ads newspaper thing. And then you kind of look
up for like, you know, different auto parts. It wasn't just for automotive stuff. It was for
lots of different things. But there was an automotive section. And a lot of the stuff you
found were mostly audio equipment. There were some wheels and tires, things of that nature. So
within the room that I shared with my brother was DJ equipment. And there were parts for our car.
That's funny. Yeah. So was it at the time, was the recycler auto parts section mostly
American stuff? Or what has it turned to? It was all over the map. JDM did not really exist at
this point in the same terms that people think of it. If you wanted to buy parts from Japan,
there were maybe four shops in LA, maybe 56 If you expanded it to LA County in Orange County,
where you could actually order something. And then it would take six to nine months to get
because literally it would end up in a container and they'd have to order it. And there was a few
places that that carried things in stock, but it was really rare, especially wheels. That was the
thing that like, you look through like photos in a book and be like, ooh, SSR, NEOs and triple
chrome, you know, and the the graininess probably hit a bunch of imperfections. Yeah, for sure.
You know, but that was that was the era and that's what you did. So there were no magazines
yet at the time that really focused on on import car culture. You know, this is the early 90s.
So the only things that you saw in print was there was a magazine called Sport Compact Car
that did mostly Euro low rider stuff, which was big, you know, a bunch of Hondas with wire wheels
and and like, you know, the paint jobs that look like a low rider paint, but on a Japanese car.
But so you had to buy the option magazine and some people know what option magazine is.
Definitely. So you went to the Japanese market and you learned the characters for
like I learned it for Integra, which ended up being my first car.
And then you would look for it and then you learned to chassis codes, right? Like people
know chassis codes now, you know, so it's literally deciphering Japanese so that you can find car parts.
Exactly. And you had to take Japanese classes. There was no Google Translate. Yeah. Right.
So you're like trying to figure out like what that really means and how to read the word exhaust
or turbo timer or turbo or whatever it was. And then you tried to figure out like how you could
get that particular part. Was there anyone, you know, bringing it in? Could you get a shop to
contact someone from Japan to bring it in? And so it took a lot longer to do your research and
figure out like what you wanted and to actually get the part, which was half the fun, to be honest.
Yeah. It's like, if I have any criticism about the internet or, you know, modern online culture,
it's that things are way too easy. And so you're, you don't get that delayed gratification of being
like, I tracked this part down, I contacted them, now I have to wait a month for it to show up or
whatever. Yeah. Yeah. And sometimes you'd make a random call. I have a great story about a friend
who wanted to get ARC for his RX7, which is all this titanium parts, right? Inner cooler and
strut bar. And so he just straight up called the number that he found. And just was like,
hey, I want to order ARC parts for my RX7. Is that possible? And they were like,
where are you calling from? They're like, yeah, we'd have to figure out how to ship it to you. But
if you're willing to pay the money. And so we went to the first import show off with this like
titanium exhaust for ARC, for FB RX7 that we just kept handing to people like, Hey, look,
isn't this crazy? How light it is? It wasn't even installed. It was just like,
it was just in our hands. There was this thought that he wanted to like sell ARC parts in the US
because no one was doing, he couldn't find it. So he was kind of positioning himself to be
initially. Yeah, initially, because he was having such a hard time. I don't think he ended up doing
it. I just ended up having a booth at the first import show in the US called import show off.
And I just like, Hey, you've got some ARC parts that you want to show people like,
you know, I have like a small like 10 by 20 and in display case, just bring the stuff over,
you know, and then you get people's contact info and if they order parts from you. Yeah. Yeah.
So that's how I started to as I started selling parts out of my mom's condo,
you know, trying to service people in West LA, Santa Monica, if anyone knows where that is.
And I promoted selling the parts like my brother promoted clubs. I just printed flyers with photos
of products that I could get and then I would put it on different, you know,
import cars at Santa Monica College or UCLA or whatever. So you would just
drive around canvassing people's pretty much. And that's how you promoted clubs as
well. Or you would go to certain events where you knew like, they'd be some modified cars.
And then you just put the flyers in the windshields and just waited for someone to call
hopefully. Yeah. And did it work? Yeah, enough that I, you know, made enough money to modify
my car. Because a lot of it was when I ended up getting a car when I was 16, I started modding it,
but it was a new car. My mom had had done some finagling that she was able to lease me a new
Acura Integra, which I was super shocked about, but very grateful. But of course, I started modding
it right away. And my before the lease was right at the fruition. She actually so my brother had
an Asuzu impulse. Anyone that knows that hopefully remembers the commercial of the guy like shooting
the gun, he gets in the car and it goes faster than the bullet or something. Some of the craziest
stock wheels out of any car. Yeah. Anyways, my brother wanted to be a DJ. So my mom decided
to sell his car, which was giving us some problems. Give him the station wagon, this cult Vista station
wagon. So he could put his speakers in turntables and go to gigs. And then he was like, well,
you're going to need a car. I'm just going to lease you something safe and new, which ended
up being an Acura Integra. And so I'm 15 and I'm already modding this car. It's not even mine.
Yeah. Like my mom's driving around and she's like, son, this car is new. Like, what are you doing?
Yeah, it's perfect. It's perfect. Why would you replace anything? And so I kind of like,
I'm going to sell the stuff as an excuse. Yeah. And it also helped me fund
the modifications that I wanted to do. So yeah, it worked out well enough that
I was able to, you know, buy parts for my car and fix it up.
Did you end up buying the car outright or did you just give it back to the dealership?
Not the first one. So unfortunately, I got in an accident in that first Integra, ended up getting
another Integra, same generation, the DA generation, 91 and 93. But it really was fell in love with NSX.
NSX came out in the early 90s, 91, 92, right? And I fell in love with this idea of VTEC
and this variable valve timing, which of course originated in the E30M3 through Venos.
I didn't know that. But at the time, I just loved the NSX. It was like the Holy Grail,
like dream car, dream cars. And there was a commercial where the NSX turns into the GSR
Integra because it was the first Acura and Honda that incorporated VTEC outside of the NSX.
There's this 1.7 liter dual overhead cam VTEC. And so I was like focused on like,
that's the next car. And so when the other Integra, when I got an accident in it,
and I was able to get another car, I was like, no, I'm going to get a GSR, right? Which ended up,
the Ford, the Ford headlight GSR had just been announced. But I didn't like the styling of it.
So I was like, I got to buy the 93 before this new one. The previous year one?
Yeah. Yeah, the DA versus the DC-5. DC-2. Was that next generation Integra, I think. So
that was the next car. And that's the one I really heavily modified. And I got fairly well known for
and I started my car crew with and won a bunch of awards and whatnot. That's cool. And that's the
one that I took to the first import show off. There's a line and I know we'll talk about the
Fast and Furious where you're like, we overnight parts from Japan. And for that particular show,
I went to one of the stores in LA called Dazz Motorsports. And I really wanted a set of SSRs,
these white Type Xs. And they're like, the only way we're going to get them in time is to air freight
them. So I literally like not overnighted, but air freighted these wheels from Japan just to
get them from the show. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. So by the age of 15, you're already building a demo
car to promote your parts you're selling. Every other 15 year old at the time is playing basketball.
What was popular in the early 90s? But you're enterprising so hard at this point.
Yes. And not because it was like a plan. Yeah. It was just like, this is what I need to do to
make money to fix up my car. That's awesome. It's cool that you saw the path forward to do that.
There was a passion there for sure to not only fix up my car, but then to like make a living doing
it. And that was more actually like 16, 17 and 15. I was just buying parts. And 16, 17 when I
had the car was like, okay, well, maybe I can do something with this and, and pave not just for
modding the car, but maybe, you know, to make money, right? Yeah. I was talking to a spike
Feristan a couple weeks ago, and he was saying how he like at the time in the early 90s was
trying to hide that he was a car guy, because it was seen as kind of dorky. Okay. Did you feel that
at all? Was it was it dorky? Did you try to hide it at all? You're obviously like trying to show
other car guys, you know, your demo car and the parts that you have. But was it something that
people were ashamed of? Not in my eyes. This idea that, you know, loving cars was something to hide
or like being nerdy. I was, I would say ambivalent to it. Like I just loved it so much. You know,
I would, I would see other people on this, like on the street with like another GSR and I'm like,
Oh my God. Yeah. Do you know you can get one piece headlights for that at this shop? Do you know
what you could get? Like a cold air intake and it'll sound a lot better. Like come listen to my car.
Hell yeah. So no, do you guys have like a Jeep wave or anything? No, there wasn't anything like
there was like the rev. Yeah, for sure. Like, you know, not to race like kind of like just like a
high, you know, and I think that was what most import cars it was. I'm sure older people felt
that it was annoying like, Oh my God, these kids revving, which is kind of me now, which is,
you know, pretty funny that like the world comes around full circle. Yeah. But no, I was not ashamed
of it whatsoever. In fact, I was completely the opposite. Like anyone that would listen,
I wanted to like have their ear. That's awesome. Especially about Japanese imports, because it was
such a, you know, kind of like a small thing at that time. There were definitely people before
me who were modifying imports, but it wasn't like a huge movement yet. It was this is pre fast
and furious. This is very fast and not mainstream yet. Not mainstream at all. I mean, again, you
know, battle the imports is the first import drag racing series that really, you know, became
legitimate outside of the street races. And that was in, I think 91 or 1991. And that's where like
Papadakis was starting to do his civic stuff. Yeah, I mean, everyone in that era. So staff and
Archie and junior and Tony and all these guys that were street racers that were looking for a path
to do it professionally and more safely. And battle the imports was the first series that
really gave them that opportunity. And I attended, I think I started going about imports in 93.
And then the very first import car show or the first two that I'm aware of in the US happened
in 1995. One was called import show off, which was in March of 95. And then the other one was called
the performance motorsports expo, which was I think in August of 95. And I went to both of those.
So it wasn't, to your point, it wasn't this huge movement. Yeah, still a pretty tight knit community.
Yeah, still very tight knit. Everyone kind of knew everyone. You either met each other at the
test in tune at an eighth mile course called terminal island or the street races or battle the
imports or some house party somewhere, which was just that thing of young people getting together.
Yeah, you're not even 20 at this point. They're just starting to have these expos and these
conventions. And you're already you already have a foothold as far as parts go and and like you've
footholds kind. That's very kind. I was just trying to, you know, again, sell parts and make a living.
Yeah. Some stuff, for sure, I was, you know, doing what I could to get stuff that was exclusive.
So I started going to Tokyo Auto Salon the same year I started going to SEMA, which was 97.
I believe I was 20 at the time. What was SEMA like back then?
Wow, very different to what it is now. Because the industries evolve so much, not just in car
and import car culture, but everything else. So my first year at SEMA, there was, I think,
just two buildings, Center Hall and North Hall. And if you've ever been to SEMA, there's this huge
outdoor area with all the semis and demos, you could literally park there back in 97. There was
a tent where you walked in to get your badge. And then you walked into the hall and there was just
two halls, Center and North. And now we have Center and North, South, which has two floors
and West, right? And all the parking lots are full. So way different to what it is today.
But even in 97, there wasn't a lot of manufacturers from Japan exhibiting at SEMA. There were a few,
but very, very little, nowhere near what it is today. So it's interesting to, you know, this
year would be, I think my 29th SEMA show. Oh, wow. And my fourth year with the organization, right?
And SEMA is really where culture and business come together. There's an abbreviation or an
acronym I call IPO, right? It's about innovation, passion and opportunity. And SEMA is a great
place for that. And it's always been, right? It's been about new parts and new builds.
There's this passion that, you know, because it's where everyone, where it's where the industry
comes together and it's where the community comes together. And then, of course, there's the opportunity
part, right? From a business standpoint, from a marketing standpoint and all the things, because
it's both B2C and B2B, but it's more B2B than it is B2C, right? So, yeah, it was very different
at that time. And it's been interesting to watch the evolution for the last 30 years, you know?
Yeah. Those are like the peak chip foos era cars, right? Like the flames and the...
So, 90s were definitely... I mean, hot rods were huge, still are, right? But it's changed quite a
bit over 30 years. I think there was a... And you say chip foos, the thing that comes to mind is a
wheel line called Concept Nipper. I've never heard of that. So, it's these like, if you think of like
cookie cutter shapes, very fluid. Yeah. So, literally, if you look at your cookie cutter now,
there would be wheels that had this like very organic shape and it was very popular.
That and the three-spoke Antara Opus One wheel was the jam, right? So...
That was the three-spoke era. Yeah, it was. In Japan, it was the Super Audvan and the SA3,
which was a three-spoke as well. But in the US, that Antara wheel, which was sold by CEC,
was like the B's knees, right? It was like the thing to have. And then the Concept Nipper stuff,
and then, of course, the Hot Rod stuff, like American Racing, Torque Thrust and
those type of things. There were very, very, very few import cars when I went to my first
E-Michel in 97. Was that kind of an unpopular corner of the convention center? I don't even
think it was a corner to be on. It was just sprinkled around. Oh, wow. I had start to work
for a magazine called Super Street, which launched in October of 96. So, the fact that there was a
magazine covering Japanese imports that were tuned and modified in the way that you saw it in an
option magazine was only like a year old. Were you sent from the magazine to go cover SEMA?
Partly, I would say. I wasn't super official yet. I had done the story for Tokyo Auto Salon.
Yeah. So, my first auto salon in Tokyo was January of 97. And I had met the guys at Super
Street the year before, actually, at Performance Motorsports Expo. And they said, we're going to
do this magazine that focuses on Japanese tuning culture in the way that you guys are doing it,
because I had my car crew and we were competing at Battle of the Imports and we're going to
import car shows. And the editor, Matt Pearson, at the time said, no one's covering this.
And I said, yeah, it sucks. I wish someone would cover it. And he's like, well, I'm going to be
editor of this new magazine called Super Street. Like, I want the cover car to be one of these cars.
That's awesome. So, he actually came to one of my car club meetings in my mom's condo. So,
there's like 30 kids in my like 1200 square foot three bedroom condo. And Matt was, he had curly
hair. He was in a rock band. He was not your typical guy in the scene, but he was just there
absorbing it. And he spotted my friend's Integra, very similar to mine, GSR, yellow,
racing heart type C's. And it was like, that's the color. Like, can we shoot that for the
launch cover? So, I was so excited and also jealous because I was hoping it was my car.
But it made sense that it was yellow. It would pop off. So, yours wasn't yellow? Mine was not
yellow. Mine was white. Oh, championship white? No, it wasn't champ white. It was whatever the
white was for that generation of Integra. Champ white came later when Type R came out.
So, that was the initial and we, I went on the photo shoot. I was so excited. I helped carry
sandbags around and whatnot. And I remember, I had never been to a photo shoot before and it took
the whole day. I was so shocked that it took the whole day. And then, of course, the money shot
was making sure that we shot at sunset, at sweet light, you know? Golden hour. Golden hour. And
there was this idea that they wanted where the car looked like it was launching, like jumping,
because it was the launch issue. So, we ended up jacking up the car on this hill in
Angeles Crest. And it was so sketchy because I felt like the car might have fallen off the
jack stands. It was like off kilter? It felt like it. In the photo, it didn't look like it. But
when I was out there, like, man, this feels kind of like, I hope we don't break anything, you know?
Did they just Photoshop out the jacks? We Photoshop the jacks out. And that's, and if you
look back at that cover from Super Street, that's the launch issue. And it was my buddy's car,
Mark Fata, who actually, I think he works at Longo Lexus, actually, as a sales guy.
Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah, small world. But I mean, did you ever have your car featured?
The car was featured later on, maybe in the next year. A lot of the cars from my career ended up
being featured in the magazine. I'd like to think we were some, you know, we were pioneering some
of the trends at the time from a, you know, modification standpoint. We did a lot of stuff
of like colored interiors. And we were one of the teams that started like replacing lights,
like super taillights or MR2 taillights on something that there wasn't meant for.
Sure. But yeah, you know, going to that first SEMA show, I think I just went more for myself.
And the editors were going, so I don't think I covered it from the magazine,
but I definitely went with them to check it out, you know, so.
Was there a lot of networking going on that first time you went?
For sure. I was, you know, like anything I didn't know what I was getting into,
much like my first auto salon. So I was just a kid in a candy store. I was excited to meet
whoever I could meet. There were definitely some guys in the industry that took me under their
wing that, you know, the guy that started performance Morris Burst Expo, which was an
import car show had his own, I think he didn't have his own. He worked for Garrett turbochargers
or Allied Signal at the time. And he was older than me and he knew some people. And then our
publisher Howard Lim at Super Street was at HKS and then ended up at Super Street would introduce me
to people. And so it was my first foray of like meeting industry people outside of the people
that I met in Japan for auto salon. So yeah, I was just soaking it in, you know?
That's cool. And how old are you at this point?
This is 97. So I'm about 20. So the interesting story with that is in Vegas, they wouldn't rent
you a room unless you were 21. So I had to ask my aunt to come with me. And so we got a room at
the Tropicana, which is no longer there. And she gambled and during the day while I went to the
show, that's really sweet. Yeah, yeah, it's really cool. So you're working at Super Street.
Is are you writing as well as taking pictures? What's your role there?
So I was basically just a contributing editor. But Matt was kind enough to put me in the
masshead as editor at large. So that's cool. So I was writing mostly and taking learning to take
photos. But they were decent enough to end up in print. My first article was about Tokyo Auto
Salon. And I remember being at the Super Street office, which wasn't too far away from my college,
I went to UCLA, and Peterson's office was down on Wilshire Boulevard, only like 15 minutes.
So I would bug Matt all the time. And I was in his office. And I was like, Hey, if you heard
this thing called Tokyo Auto Salon, you should go. And he said, Well, we don't have the budget,
you know, we just started the magazine. I'm like, Well, I'm going. He's like, I know,
like, can you take some photos? And I was an engineering student at the time was like, Matt,
I'm not a photographer. He's like, It's okay. If it sucks, we won't use it.
If you put it that way, sure. Yeah, he's like, at least I'll pay for your film and developing,
you don't have to pay for it. You know, I know you're kind of a starving student. I said,
yeah, no problem. So I went there, I borrowed a friend's pocket, like a camera shot the show,
like seven rolls, which was crazy to me. He's like, use all the roles. I'm like,
maybe I'll shoot two rolls. He's like, no, use all of it. And I think it was like seven or nine
rolls or something. So we came back, we developed it. He's like, Yeah, these are these are decent
enough. You know, he's like, can you write a story? And I was like, man, I'm an engineer,
engineering student, not a, not a writer. He's like, RJ, that's what we have copy editor.
So I'd never worked so hard in my life on this like, maybe 1500 word, you know, story. And
I turned it in, it was a fit four page article. And Matt was like, Hey, do you want to write
more articles? Because, you know, this did well. And I said, Yeah, sure, why not? I got to pay my
way, you know, find a way to pay my way through college. So I did that for about four or five
years. That's awesome. What area of engineering were you in? I started in mechanical engineering.
I didn't finish in that oddly enough. But that's where I started school. I ended up with a sociology
degree oddly enough. I had this idea in my head that I wanted to do something with cars. And
initially it was to be a car designer, wasn't talented enough to get into art center and my
drawing skills are like, horrendous, no good whatsoever. So that I knew that wasn't the path.
So then the next logical path was to be an engineer. And then that, for some reason,
while I was in college, I figured out like, that's not what I want to do. And kind of
through being an editor started talking to different companies about like what they could
do within the space. Our editor Matt, you know, Super Street had this meteoric rise in terms of
interest and you guys found the perfect void to capitalize for sure. For sure. And Matt did a
job of making it very loose and conversational and funny and entertaining. We made fun of
ourselves all the time. Yeah, I think that when you're a scrappy startup like that,
you kind of have to poke fun at yourself. You can't take yourself too seriously. And I feel like
Option had a similar startup like that. Like they weren't trying to be the road and tracks
of Japan. They weren't, they're showing like kind of an underserved part of the car community
that didn't have a voice. And they were like, you know, they poked fun at stuff too. And especially
in their video series, like they're making fun of each other and they're giving each other shit.
That started from the very beginning. Yeah. The editors were called the monkey voice.
And we sent out stickers and colors that nobody wanted. You know, that was our running joke.
Like cause people would write and let me get a super cheesemaker. Here's a sticker that you
didn't want. But that's, that's how you had fun. And I think it resonated with a lot of people.
So I had a great time. I built a lot of my network through those six years because Matt
was sending or the staff was sending me to a ton of different events to cover.
And then I started shooting feature cars as well and started to shoot like different companies in
Japan and yeah, and just tell their story, you know, and this whole time you're actually shooting
it or did you have a photographer? No, no, I had to learn how to shoot. Wow. Yeah.
You just bracketed saved your life for anyone that doesn't know when you, and this was all
film. There was no digital at the time. Bracketing is when you shoot like underexposed and overexposed.
So you shoot like three steps down, three steps up just to make sure like one of the shots is
the right exposure because you can't go back. Right. I didn't know that was the word for it.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So so I took a couple of photography classes and some photojournalism
classes. Cool. And that helped me. And then I would be an assistant to our main photographer,
Wes Allison, who was who shot for a ton of different magazines and a ton of different OEMs.
And as I was his assistant on a lot of shoots, I would learn stuff from him. So and then I met
other editors who then would teach me other things as well. Yeah. Yeah. Checking all state first
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American insurance company and affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. So you work in that super
street. You're going to Tokyo Auto Salon as well as SEMA and you're kind of covering these beats.
At what point do you get approached by the fast and furious people? I was at Peterson actually.
And that that time they had bought an import because Peterson actually does events as well.
Hot Rod Power Tour is a very famous one. And this is like shortly after they opened, right?
They opened in 94. Which who opened in 94? Oh, you're talking about Peterson, the company. The
company. Okay. I thought you meant the auto museum. No, no. This is this is the publishing
company. Okay. They own Hot Rod. Motor Trend, Carcraft, Super Street,
all these enthusiast books. There was one on Mustangs. There was one on Chevy's.
They were also doing events. And so they ended up buying an import drag racing series called Naira.
They hired a good friend of mine, Craig Lieberman, to be the race director. Somehow
Universal found Craig. And they showed him the script to Fast and the Furious,
which was called Red Line at the time. And they asked him to be a consultant on it.
And then they asked, Hey, do you know anyone that know that grew up in the world of
street racing culture with Japanese imports? And at the time, not only did I work for Super
Street, I was also working for Naira as I think I managed like the car show side for Naira.
And he said, Yeah, there's this, this kid that works here at that Peterson,
he works for me. And I'm part of his car club. So at that time, I had my second car crew.
And Craig was part of us called Art and Motion. And so Craig invited them to a car show that we
were attending and competing in. And so I met the couple of the producers at that time.
And Craig told me like, Hey, Universal is going to do this film. So I met them and I remember
joking with them. Like, and I wasn't actually joking. I was just an honest question. Like,
are you guys like really going to make a car with import cars? And they're like, yeah,
I'm like, in my head, it was going to go straight to DVD. Like DVD was just starting to become a
thing, right? I'm like, Oh, this is going to be like a DVD movie. They're like, No, RJ, we're gonna,
we're gonna put it on the big screen. And I was like, I really didn't believe them to be quite
frank. I was like, I don't know. And they're like, Well, Craig is going to be a consultant.
You guys are going to help choose cars for the, you know, the characters and help us figure out
what parts we can get. You know, it was a limited budget. So we, you know, we really needed to
ask like, who would be willing to like, give parts for free and whatnot and all these things.
And so it kind of tapped on your network. Yeah, both Craig and I. And so, you know,
I decided to jump on board, not really taking it that serious. Yeah. And just called all the friends
like, Hey, we're making this movie. And people were like, uh-huh, you're making this movie. Uh-huh.
And so there were definitely, you know, people like Axis Wheels, the Veilside guys in Japan,
the Apex guys who were like, Yeah, of course, if you guys are a part of it, we'll give you some
parts, right? That's really cool. And like, look at it now, you know, 10, 10 movies later, 11 movies
later. It's what a great investment for the company. Yeah. I mean, it's Universal's highest
grossing franchise of all time. It's like 7000000000 or something crazy. During this process
when they're writing the script and, you know, choosing the cars and stuff, they pick some
really bad, there's some bad choices made, right? Yeah, that's, that's, I mean, I tell the story.
I don't know what story Craig tells. Like we were consultants and they kind of listened to us,
kind of barely. But we had some influence like in the script. I think Paul Walker's character
originally went from like a 3000 GT 20 clips and the progression didn't feel right. Yeah.
So we're like, well, we could probably start them in Eclipse and then have them end up in something
like a 3000 GT, which ended up being a Supra, right? Yeah. So we had some influence on the
different cars that people had. We didn't have as much influence on the look and feel.
So my car ended up in there was an S 2000, you know, Johnny Tran's car. Yeah. And it had Ninja
stars on it, right? And that was like, can we like profile the Asian character anymore? Like, you
know, like Ninja stars, like really? And then even like the graphics, which now people love,
right? The robots on the cars. But only because they're so corny, like it's like, yeah, the robot
just, yeah, so who chose that? Troy Lee designed that. Oh, man. Yeah, they paid Troy Lee money.
And I remember seeing it like, RJ, what do you think? I'm like, none of us would ever have this
on our part. But it, you know, the movie came out and it really resonated with a lot of people,
right? Yeah. Because it captured the essence of the culture, you know, there was a lot of
things wrong with the movie, you know, there are lots of lines that were wrong. And I remember
I would sit in what they call dailies, right, where they play bits of the movie, because I became
really close with the director Rob Cohen, and he's like, Hey, come, come watch the dailies with us,
you know, and I was like, well, that's wrong. A great example, Motec exhaust system.
Paul just forgot the word and Motec and exhaust system. So he just said, yeah, the Motec exhaust
system. I was like, well, that doesn't exist. And they were like, RJ, like, who's really going to
know? I'm like, the people in my like, like me, and all my friends, they're like, yeah, but this
isn't really meant for you and your friends. It's like, kind of it is, but it's really meant for
like this, this young generation, right? So there's lots of things like that. Or like, yeah,
you know, the spoon engines with the T 66 turbos, like, there are a lot of things like Craig and I
develop, like, Oh, can you just like develop a list of terms that you guys would use? They would
just piece it together and like, wait, where are they? Well, how did this happen? And we catch it
in the dailies are like, we're not reshooting that we don't got the budget for that. So there
were things like that, you know, there's 1000 shifts in the beginning drag race that I was in,
you know? But it's still at the end of the day, they caught that it caught the essence, right?
Sure. And it really, there were people that watched it like seven times. Oh, yeah. You know,
in the first week, you know, and it just blew up, right? And that's the great thing about this
culture is like, when you when, when, when you're able to like draw the bond and link
through everyone, like, people embrace it, right? The SEMA shows a great example of that, you know,
it's a coming together of everyone that's passionate about the industry, about the culture.
And that's what this movie did as well. So that's awesome. Yeah. Are there any lines that you
just make you cringe still? I mean, the I live my life a quarter mile at a time is a very famous
one. They're playing it to death right now. Yeah, because it's the 25th year anniversary. The movie
is coming back to the movie theater. What about danger to manifold? Oh, yeah, that one was with
the laptop. There's a great story with that one where the production crew found out that somehow
a lot of us tuned the cars through a laptop, mostly on a dyno, right? There was a system called Tech
2 or DFI at the time. And there were quite a bit of people like staff and a lot of the drag racers
that had this standalone ECU system that you would tune through a laptop. So they heard about
it, like, hey, you can tune a car. You guys tuned cars through a laptop, right? Like, yeah,
would you ever kind of do it in the car? Like, yeah, sometimes you go out for a run and you
have someone in the passenger seat and they're like looking at the map and stuff. Yeah. And like,
would you have it on during a race? Like, no, but is it possible? Yeah, it's possible. And so there
was a lot of things like that. The four-way drag race was the same. Would you guys ever race
four wide at the street races? Like, no. But is it possible? Ontario, which is one of the places
that people street race at this time, was big enough. It was industrial zone. And so there were a
lot of things in the movie like that. And, you know, danger to manifold was like, that doesn't
really happen. We got to put something on there. Like, okay, you know, and so it, yeah, a lot of
that would happen. There's a weird coming back to that. I remember years later, I was watching
NHRA and I did the four wide NHRA. And it was such an aha moment for me on how like fiction
could like affect reality. Because like, where else would the four-way NHRA drag race come from?
Probably from the movie, right? At some point. Because at that point, there were numerous Fast
and Furious movies and there's always a four-way drag race in the beginning. And then all of a
sudden, I'm watching like Pro Stock going four wide. And I think it was like Vegas or something.
It seems so dangerous. Yeah, you know, like, I was like, this is insane. Yeah. There's a funny
anecdote about maybe Skyfall or what's the one, the Spectre, the 007 Bond movie where there's like a
big All Saints Parade in Mexico City in the beginning. And that parade did not happen in Mexico
City until that movie came out. And then it became a thing. And then the mayor was like, we should
probably do this. Yeah. So it's the same. It was very surreal because I instinctively remember
the conversation like, would you guys race four wide? It's like, no, was it possible? Yeah.
That's so funny. You know, and then all of a sudden, it's like a professional thing like
eight years later. Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah, it was really fun to be part of a small part of that
launching that franchise. Did it take you by surprise when people really loved it so much?
It took everyone by surprise. Yeah. So the movie was originally scheduled to come out in like
February or March or something. And you know, movies get tested, right? And to see how audiences
react. And the tests were coming back like, like Universal could not believe it. Like no one could
believe how well it was testing. Because you have to remember, Vin and Paul are, and Paul had just
done the skulls in Varsity Blues, Vin had done pitch black. Everyone was this, you know, just like
up and coming actor, right? There were, Jordania was a soap star, Michelle had done it. They basically
done one indie film. And so there wasn't anyone that you were really was going to be a big draw.
It was supposed to be like this popcorn, you know, teeny bopper. And it tested so well that they
moved the launch date to be closer to the summer. And I think it was, it's kind of close to where
it launches now in May, might have been April. There's always these estimates on how much a
movie is going to make in the first weekend, like the gross box office. And I think Universal,
and by all estimates, thought it would make 12 million. What was the budget? The budget was
like 36. Okay, so they were planning on losing money on this? No, because you make it over time.
Okay, this is just the first weekend, right? And 12 would have been like a great opening weekend.
It did 40. Wow. Right. So in one weekend, it made what it cost to move in then some and then all
of a sudden, Vin, Paul, Michelle, Jordan, and there were an every late night TV show you can
imagine, right? Leno, all of them. And I remember the end of the week where Paul called me and said,
man, I got to leave. I'm going to go surf in Southeast Asia, because there's just too much
attention. Yeah. You know, and then I was tasked to bring a lot of the news outlets to the street
races. Oh, that's cool. Yeah, because they wanted to see where kind of where the story originated
from, you know, and where the liberties were taken. And so I took the USA today, the New York
Times, the LA Times, basically to Ontario, just to show them what it was like. Yeah. At that point,
you were so legit that you probably were not doing any street racing. No, there actually was,
we tried to leverage the movie actually as a way to get people off the streets. Oh, that's cool.
Honda, along with a couple other organizations, I'd start and SEMA actually, I believe was a part
of it at the time, something called racer racers against street racing. Staff was a big face for
it. Adam Sarawitari, who was a big racer, because they're all going pro and they're all making
some good money. Yeah. So we were all proponents of like haters opportunities not to do it on the
street. And you should really think about going pro because there's a real career in it. And so
the movie came out at a great time when we were already trying to do that in the background and
really shed a light on street racing. And there were a lot of street racers that were really
pissed about the movie. Oh, really? Because there was a lot of law enforcement clamped down on it.
Did you face any of that? Paul more than anyone, I think. Oh, yeah. Myself as well and everyone
that, but we were already getting so much of it because we were on the flip side,
really trying to promote racer and what racers stood for. So I feel like we skipped over some
really fun stuff that we talked about during lunch, specifically about Tokyo Auto Salon
and the first couple times that you went, right? For sure. Tons of stories from Japan and seeing
that car culture back in the 90s and 2000s and meeting some of these legends, right? At least
for people like me, the guy that started Veilside and Top Fuel and Top Secret Smoking Nagata. And so
I was very lucky that I was allowed into that world, mostly because I started to help tell
stories of a lot of these companies in Super Street, the first one being Veilside, who was a very
prominent tuner in Japan who knew lots of the other founders of all these other companies,
like Top Secret, like Top Fuel and a lot of the race car drivers like Tsuchiya, who's the drift
king and Tarzan Yamada. And so I would end up at these dinners and places with all of these people.
And in Japan, like the way you do business is you go out for food and drinks and then you go to
karaoke and all these things. And so I have quite a few stories. I think one of the favorite ones of
the group was me at a hotel across from Tokyo Auto Salon one night, just sitting in the lobby
because Auto Salon's held at this convention center that's like an hour and a half out from
downtown Tokyo. And so there's nothing to do. So we're in this lobby bar for the lack of a
better term. There's a vending machine of beer. And one of these tuners is this really famous
GTR tuner. And he had a company called B Racing, BEE, Big Star and like what looked like a Hornet
B and a big R, like the GTR R. And there was a huge club in Japan called the RH9 club,
which basically meant you got a street legal GTR to run nine seconds in the quarter mile.
And we were just in the lobby. I think John Ndiri was the editor of Super Street at that time.
And we were just having sharing stories. And at this point, it's pretty late.
And we've emptied out the vending machine of beer. And we're just asking different things. And one
of the things that I always found interesting in Japan was the origin name of many companies.
Yeah, it always seems a little random. It's very random until you ask them.
So I'll start with top secret. So Nagata-san, he actually worked at Gretti,
which is a performance tuning company, right? And he wanted to start his own business on the side.
And he started doing tuning on the side. And he thought it was top secret. So when he left
and started his company, he was like, I'm just going to call it top secret because I started it
secretly. That's really funny. It's almost like calling your operations skunkworks. Yeah. Well,
there is a company called skunkworks, right? And then like Veilside is another one where
it's Yoko Maku. He's the founder and creator of it. But his name translates into,
I think it's like side curtain, like Yoko is side and Maku is curtain. So he was trying to do
something with his name. And he was like, well, what if I call it curtain side? He's like, well,
that doesn't sound right. Well, Veil is a curtain. So why don't I call it Veilside?
And that was like, I would have never, because I was like, why is it called Veilside of all
things? Yeah. It's one of those names where you're like, oh, that sounds so sick. Yeah,
exactly. That's like the origin is like his name kind of butchered. It's so simple. Yeah, exactly.
So circling back to this B racing, I asked, I can't remember the founder's name, but
that tuner like, hey, how come your company's called B racing? Like you love bees or something?
And I remember he was just going around, he was looking around, looking, it took a beat,
like a long beat. He's looking around, around. And we had stacked the
beer cans up just for fun because as we drank them, you stack them, right? Yeah.
And he stands up and at the, in his loudest voice, he points to the stack of beer cans and he says,
I love beer. And we're all looking around and we're like, we're trying to put two and two
together. A bunch of us are intoxicated. And we're like, we think he's serious. Like he named his
company after beer. Just B racing is beer. Yeah. It's beer. Like we're all thinking like, oh,
like it blew our minds. It blew. And to this day, it's my favorite one where it's like,
the guy loved beer so much, he found a way to call his company beer under B racing, you know.
That's great. It was a great story. And so many memories from Japan in terms of going
to Daigoku and different tuning shops and getting rides in different cars late at night.
I mean, like a bucket list item for so many. For so many. And it was different at that time,
too, you know, and sitting in like 1000 horsepower, like GTRs and whatnot. And
yeah, I was very blessed to be able to one, just witness it and also share those stories
through the magazine. That's so cool. I'm sure that your energy came through in the story and
pictures too. Because if you're super excited to be there, you're kind of like, you know,
hobnobbing with all these people that are at the top of their industry over there.
Like your enthusiasm has to come through somehow. It's a big part of my story. I did
another podcast where someone pointed it out to me, like whenever there's something exciting
to be a part of and a movement to help grow, like I'm one of the first people there. I just love
helping movements and people and organizations like expand and build.
That's cool. And so it is a huge part of I think what drives me is like this sharing
of things that I find cool. And I think that enthusiasm does show through a lot of the different
things that I've done to my career. It could be the Roger Wheel line. It could be the diecast
toys that I've worked on, the MTV show that I worked on. What was the MTV show? The MTV show
was called Trick It Out. And it was this reality car competition that we shot. There was two seasons
of it. I was the host and judge. It was hokey because it was MTV and it was kind of, you know,
it was shot in the same time that Pimp My Ride was shot. I bet they had zero budget.
Not that much. It was a competition where we gave two teams, similar junker cars,
and they had two weeks and like 10 grand to fix it up. Oh my God. And then I would come in and
judge it and give him a hard time. And then the winner would keep both cars. But it was fun,
you know? And so there were so many projects in my life and throughout my career, even my time
at McGuire's and now my time at SEMA, that for me it's just about helping things be bigger,
be better. My life at SEMA has transitioned where, because it's so much about the industry,
where a nonprofit, all the money that we make through the shows and the membership
goes back into helping protect and prolong the industry, whether it's through government
advocacy or product development or product distribution through some of our different
services. Our whole goal is to make sure that this industry survives and that it continues
to succeed and it prospers. Yeah. When you hear headlines like Ford CEO is trying to limit
right to repair kind of stuff, how does that sit with you? Well, I can put my personal hat on and
my company hat on. Our company hat is pro-choice in terms of consumer choice. You've been very big
in a lot of advocacy to keep things open and for people to have the choice to choose what they
drive. Right to repair, we have something called Right to Modify, which is kind of the next level.
Our goal is to make sure that aftermarket brands continue to have the opportunity to have access.
ADOS is a great example. It's going to be mandatory, I think in 2030. That's the scanning system?
So ADOS is all the systems within your car that help it be safe. So,
parking sensors, lane departure, all the radar things and whatnot. And so there are OEMs that
are trying to close that down and for us, we're trying to make sure that keeps open so that if
a company develops a lift kit, the system can be recalibrated to that lift kit or if you lower it
or whatever the case may be. More like open source for everyone? Yes, because if it's closed,
then you can't recalibrate it. Then it becomes like, well, what happens to the ADOS system? Does
the car start to think wacky things because it's not where it was from factory because it's been
modified or accessorized. If you put a winch and it blocks the sensor, how do you recalibrate
that? So there's many things that we as an association are fighting for from a legislative
standpoint to make sure the laws help our manufacturers still develop product safely
for the end customer who wants to continue to customize and modify their vehicles. So my
personal hat, yeah, it doesn't sit well, of course. We should all be allowed the opportunity to
customize our vehicles that make sense for us as enthusiasts. As an owner of an Audi,
I really hate that I can't even do an oil change. It's becoming more and more difficult
to do anything, whether it's maintenance or modification. Again, for us, our goal is just
to make sure those lanes stay open so that manufacturers can continue to make products
to customize, to modify, so that people like you and me can continue to personalize their
vehicles and make them our own and not just some white box on four wheels.
On an era where every car is basically the same, it's super important that we're able to do that
kind of stuff. Yeah, it's where the aftermarket industry is rooted and it's where my love comes
from. I was putting new parts on a new car that didn't need it before I even had my license,
and that made that car very personal to me. It became an extension of who I was,
and I think for many enthusiasts, that's such a big part of car ownership, especially if you're
more on the aftermarket side where you're adding a custom set of wheels or a different wing or a
performance adder or you name whatever the accessory is, or you're lifting it and you're
putting all terrain or mud terrain tires or whatever the case may be, or you're slamming it
and you're putting bozu zoku exhaust pipes on it. For me, that's why I joined the association,
to be a part of that organization that helps to try to protect that.
You guys recently went through a name change, right?
SEMA? Yeah, a couple of years ago, maybe it was before your time. It was much before my time,
because it was originally speed equipment, manufacturers association, I believe, and then
you took the speed out of it, right? Because it was much more than just, so SEMA got started
by a bunch of guys drag racing, and the story is, I think someone that was doing licensing
or some sort of lawyer told them, you know you'd have a lot more power if you came together as a
group. And so the original guys like Edelbrock and Mr. Gasket and Wally Parks from the NHRA,
they formed SEMA. Wasn't Robert Peterson part of that? I think Robert Peterson was part of
that crew as well, and so much of it was much more around speed equipment, where it's evolved to
specialty equipment, because it's so much more broad than just the racing and performance side
of the industry, right? There's the off-road side, there's the collision audio side,
there's the restyling like the vehicle wraps and PPF and ceramic coat side. So there's all these
elements that are much more than speed, and that's a, you know, I usually know most of my facts,
I don't know when that transition of the name happened. I think it was in the 80s actually.
Oh, that long ago. Yeah, but I'd have to look and double check, but it's not recent.
Yeah, yeah. What is extremely diverse, I went to, it took me forever to go to my first one,
but first time I went to SEMA was last year, and I came in through the side that was just,
you know, like transmissions and subframes and the parts, and I was like,
oh, shit, I'm in the wrong spot. And then I got, you know, I had to get to the hand-cooked booth
pretty fast, and I was just like enamored. I was like, oh my God, this is awesome. Like,
even just looking at, you know, axles and, and differentials and stuff, I'm like,
this is so cool to have this amount of diversity in one place. And I was only in a corner of one of
the convention centers. I mean, there's four buildings. Yeah. And really five, if you think
one building has two floors, and there's over 23 to 2400 exhibitors. See, you know,
in terms of fun facts, we actually lay down 23 miles of aisle carpet. Wow. So if you walked every
aisle at the SEMA show, you almost did a marathon. That's, and that's just inside. That's not even
outside. So it's, it is a kid, like you're like a kid in a candy store. Yeah. There's, you know,
it takes all four days to get through it if you really want to, you know, it's, it's, it's a great
event. It is the coming together of the industry of like culture and commerce. And now it's open
to the public on Friday. So there is an opportunity for people to come. We've got the open to the
public experience that's capped by a music festival, a motor sports and music festival
Friday night. So that's fairly new for us only a couple years. So the show continues to evolve
and expand our VP of events. Tom likes to say that we're just a reflection of the industry.
And, you know, I 100% believe that that's, that's what the show is, you know, and as the industry
involves from when I started going in 97 with two buildings to what it is now 30 years later,
you know, in like, I think it's 1.3 million square foot of exhibit space and over 3 million
square foot of just space alone. It's just much bigger than it's ever been. And it's a good,
it's a good marker for the industry because the industry continues to grow.
And then there's also a part that I didn't even get to, which is a totally different acronym that
is escaping me right now. But that's on the other side of Las Vegas.
The APEC show is not our event. It's held in conjunction with ours. They're semi related.
That's the one that's more about repair and replacements. And that's done by a different
association. That's much more on that repair and replacement side. So more OEM, I would say.
We'll say it's the more boring side. So don't go to that.
That's not fair. The badge that gets you into SEMA,
gets you into APEX. The APEX badge gets you into SEMA. So we do have a tied relationship and it is
all about the automotive industry and all boats rise and are rising tide. So it's a great week
to be in Vegas for sure. And then F1's right after... I was going to say, it was like a little hectic
because it was hard to navigate around all the street blocks, but it was also very exciting
to be like, oh, shit, there's going to be an F1 race the next week. It's a great month in Vegas
because it kind of kicks off with, I think, the NHRA event right before us and then the Win Concorde,
the Las Vegas Concorde. Yeah, that was really cool last year. And then us and then the F1 event.
So if you think about like a car month in a city, that's a city that has a lot going on for the
month of November. I was really surprised at how easy it was to get around with like the
Maglev train and Ubers were pretty cheap at the time. The city does a great job. There's now the
Tesla tunnels or the foreign company tunnel. I think it's the Monorail versus Maglev. Maglev
would be amazing. That's the train that would go from LA to Vegas in some crazy... The super fast one.
Yeah, I'm wrong on that. Because I think they're testing Maglev in Japan,
which I'm super curious to see like, because I suppose it can go like 400 miles an hour, tangent,
but I like love technology, as you can tell. But yeah, it's busy, but you can get around.
There's always tricks. Everyone's got their little trick and cheat codes, but it's such a great event
to come to because of the energy that comes from the event and the business that's done.
And you see it all firsthand. Whether you're an enthusiast, whether you're into industry,
it's just a great coming together regardless of what you're trying to do. It might be a business
thing. It might just be you're a fan of the culture and you want to be part of the movement,
but there's 160,000 plus people that come. So it's a huge coming together.
That is huge of all things automotive. Hell yeah. Well, SEMA was so fun last year,
I can't wait for this year. And we've got a few things cooking, right?
Yeah, we've got some things cooking. I'm super excited for November. And if you've never been
to SEMA, try to get there this year. RJ, thank you so much for joining me on Talk Talk Nation.
And thank you for listening. If people want to follow you on Instagram, what's your handle?
RJ underscore de Vera. I'm not very social on social media these days, but I'm still there.
I do post everything that I post about us about cars. So if you like that type of stuff.
Do you have any pictures of your old Integra? There are some on my wall. It's probably ways
back. Like everyone else, during the pandemic, you started to do the look back. And it's a lot
of my pandemic content is a lot of the look back things. A lot of the cars that I built for
different companies and my Integra is on there. So awesome. Well, if you're a fan of Super Street
or SEMA or McGuire's RJ is the dude. So I already did my outro. Extra outro.
Thank you so much for watching. Watch every other week, Talk Talk Nation. And if you're
not watching this, watch Jimmy eats cars. And we'll see you next time. Bye
About this episode
RJ DeVera traces a 30-year path from LA’s early 90s tuner scene to VP marketing at SEMA, fueled by a kid’s obsession with modifying cars. He recalls street-race nights, buying parts through the “recycler” newspaper, decoding Japanese option magazines and chassis codes, and the slow, satisfying hunt for rare JDM gear. RJ shares how he sold ARC titanium parts from his mom’s condo, canvassed flyers at schools and events, and turned that hustle into funding his own Acura Integra builds—plus how VTEC and the NSX shaped his dream-car goals.
RJ de Vera basically lived the plot of Fast and Furious in real life, years before the movie was made. Join us as we chat with RJ about his beginnings as a street racer in LA buying and selling car parts from Japan, to his time as Editor of Super Street Magazine, to how he became the face of SEMA.
