Bernie's Car Show Coverage: 2012 Gold Rush Rally Meetup: Atlanta

This past Wednesday was the Atlanta stop for the Gold Rush Rally. Because I was a virgin to automotive rallies, I didn't know what to expect, so I went in positive AND with an open mind. And you know what? I'm glad I did.



I got there a little too early. Despite media registration being open from 10-5, I got there at 2, knowing I should have gotten there by 5. The Gold Rush Rally participants have partied way too hard in Vegas (well, who could blame 'em) and they got to Atlanta uber late. Which meant, when I got there, there were only 6 cars. But those 6 cars carried a bit of weight to them.



To park within the area and to partake in the actual rally aspect, you had to get decaled. Gold Rush Rally was smart, and they brought with them Vinyl Styles, a automotive graphic company out of San Francisco to decal every single car at every tour stop. Let me repeat that. Every single car at every single stop. I asked them, how many decals do you put on each vehicle. Their answer... 25. And they decaled every vehicle- from the stock Chevy Surburban that confused me to the matte black Bugatti, and all those in between.



There were 19 cars that showed up- not counting the Subaru that belonged to one of the media and the factory Chevy Surburban and GMC Yukon. There were Lambos, Ferraris, A Rolls Royce Phantom, An SLS or two, an Audi R8 that had a questionable front license plate (the Georgia Flag), a Mercedes S550 that had the AMG accessories, a Mercedes Benz CL63 that was actually the AMG level, and the car that stole the show- the Bugatti Veyron that stole the show. But everyone knows that a racing event can't be considered a racing event without the two vehicles that are considered God of the import world- the Nissan GTR and BMW M Series, and they were both there as well.



We're all friends here, so we both know that when it comes to shows, I'm a critical person. I like cars to be at shows. However, even though there were 19 vehicles there that totalled to over 5 million dollars (if they were brand new), the Gold Rush Rally stop was the most productive show I've been to since SEMA. I met some great people- The Vinyl Styles guys, The Vossen Wheel guys came (the same Vossen Wheels that I feature on my site often), Jason from ATL Autorsports, Sunny from Speed Mischief, and I did meet more but I'm horrible with names. Basically the people who showed up are those who truely had a love for cars, not guys who customize cars to get girls.



I really hope that Gold Rush Rally comes back to Atlanta. Rallies don't come here, those are mostly a West Coast thing. That's why I made sure I attended. If they do come back, I hope they listen to the Gold Rush Rally volunteer who suggested for the Rally to be in Buckhead as opposed to Midtown. Midtown Atlanta is okay, but it was a business area- everything closes early in a business area.

P.S. I wish Gold Rush Rally would have given me a gift bag. Certain media members got one and I didn't. For more photos, well not much more (I mean, there were only 19 cars), click here to check out my Gold Rush Rally gallery

Concept One Wheels shows off their new CSM-7 Wheel

Concept One Wheels released photos of their new Monoblock style of their CSM-7 Matte Gunmetal Machined Wheel. Available in sizes 20x9 and 20x10.5 with bolt patterns of 5x120, 5x112, and 5x114.3. In true Concept One Wheel fashion, they also released shots of a BMW M3 wearing the exact wheel pictured above. Check it out...

Hot Import Nights and Savini Model Search Coverage

A couple of weeks ago, Hot Import Nights and Savini Forged Wheels joined forces and held a model search during Hot Import Nights car show in Pomona, Southern California. It's genious because car shows brings plenty of photographers and perverted guys with cameras as well as you get to see how the model can pose with the car- is she having fun with it, is she awkward, does she excite the crowd, etc. It's the perfect test, and one thing that I absolutely love about import car shows is that they use great looking girls (and this is coming from a girl). The one thing I can't stand about certain car shows is that they find the ugliest girls trying to lean across a car who is busting out of her shorts and can barely walk in heels. Now you see why I like to travel to various parts of the country for car shows.



Thankfully, Savini hired someone to photographed the event. Some of the photos were a little questionable in terms of quality, but check out the ones that I decided to highlight.



















































For more photos, check out Savini Forged's Flickr Page. You might want to check it out...

MC Customs Shows Off Drew Soren's Matte Black Nissan GTR

(Love the Elvis wig)

Drew Soren happens to be a relief pitcher for the Washington Nationals. We all know I had to google him because the rule is: if Joe Girardi doesn't manage them, then I don't have the slightest clue of who they are. Like 80% of the MLB players, he brought his Nissan GTR to MC Customs where they gave it first class treatment.

Doesn't it look great!!!!

CarTunes of Atlanta shows off a 2012 Nissan GT-R Black Edition

The hardworking folks at CarTunes of Atlanta just released shots of a 2012 Nissan GT-R Black Edition. The task at hand was to make it sound great and to also make it invisible, and as we all know, they've completed both tasks. To complete the task, they used: Top of the line Focal KRX3 Speakers, JL Audio HD Amplifiers, 2 JL Audio 8″ Subwoofers, Custom GT-R Embossed Sub Enclosure, and Cartunes License to Speed (Escort 9500CI and Blinder). Check out the finished product...

For more photos, check out CarTunes of Atlanta official blog