I was in grade school in the mid-late 80s. I remember all the cheerfully depressing music, the stupid-looking fashion trends, and the popularity of the mini-truck era. Vision Street Wear, Vans, T&C Surf... all of these will sound very familiar to those who grew up in the same era. I had cousins who were in high school around this time, with their lowered Toyota trucks on chrome wheels and 15" subwoofers with $4000 in painted 80s graphics all over it, who would wear Vans and skated and let me listen to NWA even though my Mom made them promise they wouldn't. They would make me try any of the break dance moves they were afraid to try themselves, and I had more than a few sprained wrists because of it.

I also remember that as the 80s came to a close their tastes also changed. There was this new thing that was coming out, and they jumped full-fledged into it: HONDAS. I had to be about 10 or 11 only, in about '90 or '91, when I remember seeing my first lowered Honda. I thought it was stupid, I remember I kept asking why they were so into having lowered cars. It was stupid to my 10 year old mind, who around the same time was spending every day I could with my Dad in the garage working on his American car. I had no idea that things would change so drastically for me over the next 15 years.

I didn't really have an interest in Hondas or street racing at first. After all, driving was still years away and I had no understanding of how or why things were happening around me. I'd go to Sylmar with them, probably starting around late '93 or early '94, and I remember seeing a bunch of Hondas that were loud as hell and seemed to be winning a lot. There were also lots of 5.0 Mustangs, and quite a few fast Euros. Though they weren't really friends with anyone, they would walk around and talk to everyone while we were waiting for people to race and I would tag along like the good little 13 year old... whose Mother thought he was sleeping soundly at my cousin's house. We met a lot of people that way, and I saw a lot of cool races. I think that's what got me hooked, going to the races and seeing the attitude people had toward each other, competitive but friendly. Of course, there were the hardcore racers who took it very seriously, especially when it came to money. But, it was cool nonetheless to see some cool races and be so naive to not know where it would eventually lead.

Nowadays, you walk around and everyone is wearing Vans again. "I LOVE OLD SCHOOL" stickers are on people's cars, those rare parts from the early 90s are popular again and even the mullet is making its own feeble comeback. The early 90s atmosphere of the Honda and import tuning scene is making its attempt to come back, led by those of us who saw what it was and what it's turned into, and are making our attempt to take everything back to the way it started, friendly competition and technical innovation. All this hoopla about the K series technology (which I'm 100% for here, owning a K24 powered automobile myself!), but there are still people who love the EF, DA, and even earlier Honda racing roots. Back to when having cams and valvetrain made you a bad ass, NOS wasn't something gay from the movies, and there were only a few sets of one piece headlights floating around the states. I remember seeing a set of 16" Type C in a magazine in '94 and thinking they were too big for a Honda, only to see a set of 17" two weeks later on a brand new '94 Accord, complete with Veilside kit, purple city lights, clear tails and all. That was the style that was in then, thank god that idea came and went as quickly as Pogs did.