Super Street After Dark Lights Up Long Beach with JDM Culture and Style
From iconic Hondas to SoCal’s wildest builds, Super Street’s latest event proves the brand’s legacy of speed, style, and community is stronger than ever.
Since the mid-1990s, Super Street has been at the heart of JDM car culture, helping transform it from an underground niche into a global force that shapes style, performance, and culture. What began on the printed page has evolved into a digital and social media powerhouse, and now, with Super Street After Dark, the brand returns to its roots in the streets. True to its founding principles of culture, style, and speed, this new chapter celebrates everything that makes the JDM scene thrive. One unforgettable night in Long Beach proved that Super Street remains a trendsetter, as MotorTrend Events teamed up with Sylvania, Honda, Liqui Moly, and some of SoCal’s most influential enthusiasts to create one of the most talked-about car meets of the year.
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Building on last year’s successful event, the Super Street team went all-in with another warehouse party, this time selling out of 266 car show spots and offering a curated selection of vehicles inside the warehouse. Sylvania lit up the night, while Honda showed its latest Prelude and offered a nod to its past models, and Liqui Moly came in to support the event. A Long Beach neighborhood came alive with thousands of enthusiasts, inadvertently creating a vibe reminiscent from the Fast and Furious movie franchise, which was so pivotal in the JDM scene.
We enlisted a group of friends to select the Top 10 vehicles of the night, offering a custom skateboard deck and Sylvania gift certificate as the reward. Our judges included Bizi Ezerioha (CEO and chief engineer for Bisimoto Engineering), RJ de Vera (VP of marketing, SEMA), Sam Du (former Super Street editor-in-chief), Sonya “Slidez” Klaus (pro driver and storyteller), and Jofel Tolosa (Super Street and MotorTrend).
Top 10 Super Street After Dark Award Winners
- Mike Wedl 1993 Mazda RX-7
- Max Vincenzi/Retrowerks 1970 Porsche 911E Coupe (Euro)
- Ka Wong 1985 Toyota Corolla
- Luong Tran 2007 Honda S2000
- Salvador Arriaga 2015 Subaru STI
- Tommy Wu 1984 Toyota Sprinter Trueno
- Alex Rosenburg 1999 Nissan Silvia S15 Spec R
- Jose Mejia 1992 Acura NSX
- Ariel Gutierrez 2000 Acura Integra Type R
- Access Garage Honda Civic Type R
On the ground, we connected with former Minnesota Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks when he rolled his Nissan R34 Skyline GTR into the warehouse. He showed us his mildly modified ride, tasteful upgrades to a classic ride. It was one of many R34s in attendance. Kendricks wasn’t the only big name to bring a ride to our little party. Former Super Street editor-in-chief and host of Super Street Garage John “Nads” Naderi hard parked his Honda Civic in the warehouse, complete with a rad BMX bike on the roof. His co-host, Amir Bentatou was roaming the grounds visiting friends and seeing what the local scene has to offer.
We referenced a Fast and Furious movie vibe, and adding to that theme was a collection of replica cars that Shahar Shawn Algazy brought in. We parked them front and center at the start of the outside of the car show, each receiving rave reviews for their authenticity and nostalgic feel. Our friend Big Mike, the guy behind Think Bigger Project, which includes a podcast, showed off his Honda Prelude, a ride that has adorned the covers of several prominent magazines.
Other notable influencers that showed up to Super Street After Dark include Miguel Martinez,Arisa Mizuhara,Mickey Andrade,Fadean Lam,Will Ignacio, and Dionne Mascunana.
Here is a collection of the cool Hondas and other neat rides we saw while wandering around the packed house. And don’t worry, if you missed this year’s event, the team is planning to go even bigger in 2026 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Super Street.
I’ve been fortunate enough to blur the line between career and hobby/passions for over 25 years, and it has been a rather unusual pathway to my current role as the Network Director of HOT ROD. Naturally, cars have been a large part of my life since I was a young kid—complete with car posters on the wall and a chest full of toy cars. As time marched by it was R/C cars and trucks until finally, into the big leagues when I turned 16. By that time my life was heavily influenced by magazines like HOT ROD and Car Craft, and it was the 5.0 Mustang that piqued my interest thanks to a heavy dose of the local car scene that I experienced through my two older brothers. I was fortunate enough to grow up as the Fox Body Mustang scene began to flourish, however at no time did I ever imagine a media career in the automotive-enthusiast aftermarket. Life after college was spent behind the desk as a stock analyst, but every other waking moment was occupied by Mustang drag racing. It was a friendship that changed my life from the rat race to the drag race, I was given a chance to contribute to a fledging new title for a quickly growing racing organization, one that focused on my true passions—Mustangs and street-legal drag racing. The opportunity eventually turned into a full-time gig in the early 2000s, despite no formal journalism degree or photography courses. By 2003, I was offered the dream job of joining the staff of Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords, which was the bible for the late-model Mustang movement that was taking over the world. One thing led to another, and I ended up back at the drag racing sanctioning body in which I had started my career as the content and marketing director, a role I occupied for a decade. In 2022, I was offered a chance to step into the network director role for the largest automotive-enthusiast aftermarket brand, the revered and legendary HOT ROD.
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