August 18 was the day that the creators of the world-famous Import Showoff, Mainstream Productions, banded together with Blitz North America to present the Import Nisei Showoff. This special Import Showoff event coincides with Nisei week, the annual Japanofest held in Los Angeles, Calif.
In one corner, however, was Mother Nature, dressed in gray clouds and gloomy weather. With the Los Angeles skies filled with oppressive thunderheads instead of the usual tobacco-hued smog, it was going to be a fight to remember.
In the Showoff corner were literally hundreds of cars, waxed and polished to perfection and in bold defiance of the local weatherman's nay-saying. Vendor and distributor booths, college fraternities and sororities and other miscellaneous organizations were also assembled throughout as support organizations in the fight against the weather.
The first blows were from Mommy N. With a quick whip of her hand, the early morning sky was filled with dark gray clouds. The Import Showoff crew was dazed, but managed to stay up for the fight.
Within a few minutes, hundreds of people were lined up to get into the parking lot; Mother Nature reeled. Another one-two combination from the Showoff crew-super-delicious cars and yummy-for-your-tummy models afoot; Mother Nature hit the ropes and seemed dazed. The final blow from the Showoff/Blitz/ Mazda-sponsored trio, and it was all over. The decision-Mainstream Productions by way of knockout. And no one's ear was bitten off, either.