The Models...And Models...Of Manila International Auto Show 2016 Part 2

Okay, time for part 2 of my Manila International Auto Show 2016 image dump. In part 1 I covered the main hall where the major OEM manufacturer displays were gathered, today we'll check out the two other exhibit halls that had aftermarket suppliers and the custom car show. Enjoy!

I was getting worried this was the only GT-R I'd find at MIAS but I did find a real one eventually. In part 1 I talked about car models and car show models...now we have model cars lol. Lots of Filipinos collect model cars...and lots of them are into anime too. Someone once referred to the Philippines as an "entire nation of otaku" and I think this display just exemplifies that.

More F&F model cars, and more random anime figures.

The old Top Gear crew are much loved in the Philippines. Poor James seems to be in the middle of a stroke though.

Not much of a shock that Initial D is very popular over there.

You might know from previous posts I like me some itashas so I was slightly disappointed that all I saw at the show was this model and no real ones.

I really loved this display for obvious reasons.

I'm really thinking of stealing the S-tune graphic scheme for my Nismo R32 :)

I think I need to score a 1:18 scale R32 now for my collection.
This was odd. Motolite is the Philippines' biggest car battery firm. Not sure why they had this big sign in one of the connecting corridors and a model randomly seated in the middle.

Across from Ms. Random Blond Model was this other model with a very fake looking bike. I dunno which side was weirder.

Tucked away in a corner was this butched-up Mahindra Enforcer. I hope they juiced up the 100hp diesel motor too or else all that armor won't be going very far.

If you're curious, this is what a regular Mahindra looks like.
The Federal Tires girls were smoking...so we hung out at their booth playing Gran Turismo for a while.

It was funny watching the newbs play. I managed to win a tread depth gauge. Woot!
Even fasteners need model power.

Hmm...somebody forget to contact the modelling agency until the last minute?

More odd Motolite displays lol.

We stood around this hot little number for a good long while. If you've ever been to the Philippines you'll know it gets stupendously warm over there.
Yes, the model on the right is holding her sign upside down...and it says "Swallow".

She was pretty but we were really interested in what was behind her...

...this tarted up Honda Grom, and more importantly the custom Ducati Scrambler beside it. I'm not sure what happened to the Ducati pics I took though. My camera may not have been able to contain the sheer awesome.


And finally the custom car exhibit. It's rare to see really heavily modified cars like this in the Philippines since relatively few can afford them. When you do see them they're usually shop cars with the occasional wealthy enthusiast thrown in.
Those ugly 5mph bumpers really ruin the smooth lines of this E-type.

Hyundai's Genesis coupe was one of the few relatively common sporty cars in the Philippines until the 86 came along.

Of course Civics are common.

Subarus on the other hand are still rare but catching on.

Mazda really did a great job with the styling on the current 6.

Nice to see this older Corolla in among all the new hardware.

It had this air tank in the trunk. In case you're wondering the big logo on the left is for a love motel chain and "Tanginamo" is akin to calling someone a "motherf*er" in Filipino. Yep, classy lol.
For the longest time Mercedes was the only luxury marque that mattered in the Philippines. Only in the late 90s did BMW and Audi start really making inroads in the market.

I was surprised to see this company that specialized in rotisserie-style restorations on old Mustangs.

Happy to see this gorgeous silver Z.



This 1976 Celica was another nice old school import.


This unusual looking car is the Aurelio, supposedly the first Philippine-made "supercar".

I give it an A for ambition but that interior needs work...a LOT of work.

That's a Honda B-series motor in this example but supposedly you can get it with an Evo's 4G63. They're supposed to only make 10 and with the Lancer mill they claim it can do 300kph...

....hopefully with better brakes fitted 'cause those are microscopic. Even my old Sentra SE-R from way back in 2002 would have dwarfed these silly things, never mind the monster Brembos on my R35. I hate to criticize someone's dream project but I think this one needs to go back to the drawing board just for safety reasons alone.
This super clean Alpina was another shop car.

This shop had a bunch of vintage rides starting with this old Land Cruiser.


The Landie deserved another pic for being so well-kept.

Old American iron is a very rare sight indeed on Philippine roads. Almost all of the leftovers from the American occupation have since been scrapped or have rusted away in the unrelenting humidity,

This vintage Chevy pickup proved very popular with the older crowd.
Turning around you had some newer...and tinier...metal to look at.

Yet another heavily modded Evo with some tasty HKS and Cusco bits. Still not my fave Evo of the show though.
Probably the most common old-school import you'll see in the Philippines: the 1979-87 Mitsubishi Lancer, affectionately known as the "box-type".

Props to Club Nissan Sentra for repping my fave car company.

Sentra fandom kind of petered out in the early 2000s because the Sentra at the time was a crummy rebadged Pulsar only worthy of taxi duty. Hopefully the new Sylphy will help bring back the Nissan love.
And now my favorite Evo of the show. A rare Evo 6 Tommi Makinen. This body style is still my favorite of the Evos. Too bad it never made it to the States.

Drool. Few cars can distract me from my GT-R addiction but Team Emperor's ride of choice is one of the handful.

It started with rat rods but it's just as applicable to modern import builds. I think I need one of these myself :)
Another nice Z.

We were convinced these huge-ass wrenches were sold only for Vin Diesel to use in case of impromptu Jason Statham meetings.

Finally a GT-R! You know what I said in my car culture post about fancy cars in the Philippines being chick magnets? Yeah, I think this one needed to be hosed down after that girl on the right was through with it.

In one last corner was this tiny Mazda 360 that another girl was busy glomping.
One final model and that was it for the car show. If you were wanting to see some Toyota and Honda stuff since they weren't there...
The nearby Toyota dealer had this Fortuner which is their mid-size rival to Mitsu's Montero Sport. The name's weird but it's turbodiesel and a damn sight better looking than the crappy origami look of the US 4Runner.

The Fortuner shares its platform with the Hilux, favorite pickup of Top Gear and Middle Eastern jihadists.
 
Meanwhile at Honda they had this Mobilio MPV that will never make it Stateside...because wagon.

Here's Honda's tiny Brio sedan. Any smaller and it'd need shoelaces.



While we have the Fit over here, Asia also gets the City sedan which is basically a Fit with longer duds.

The Honda dealer had this museum-like hall.

And that wraps up my Philippine motoring coverage for now. I hope you found it interesting and thanks for reading!




Comments

  1. Hehe. That's why me and some friends don't go to local car shows already. ;P
    GTRclubph were present in the 2017 GT-R R35 dealer launch last Sept. 16. And Mr. GT-R himself Hiroshi Tamura was there! He's did enjoy seeing those LHD GT-Rs. :) Check out the GTR club Philippines FB page, there's a post about it.

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    1. That's great that Tamura-san was there! I prefer Mizuno-san for his role in the genesis of the R35 and his vision for it but Tamura-san is a cool guy too lol. Hopefully he's cracking the whip on the R36 team so it comes out soon :)

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