Last Saturday April 14, 2018 was the date set on the calendar for car enthusiasts from all over central Luzon, the eagerly awaited 2018 Subic bay Auto Show was upon us, held at Harbor Point in Subic Bay’s Freeport Zone with those present all competing for the Best of Show award and numerous recognitions in their respective categories.

Holding a large car show is no easy task and hosting one outside metro Manila is even more of a challenge. With a history of being one of the most-awaited summer events in Subic Bay since 2010, the 9th Subic Bay Auto Show continues the excitement with super cars, sports cars, tuned cars, 4x4s, SUVs, rolling sound machines, and even monster trucks. Despite the obstacles and the hot summer heat, the annual Subic Bay Auto Show was still able to attract a huge crowd and lots of impressionable vehicles, the show attracted enthusiasts from neighboring provinces – with some coming all the way from Metro Manila all to share their love for cars and good vibes.

Photo Credits to www.autoindustriya.com

I did manage to get to talk briefly with the Chief organizer, Ron Requesto from Custom Mods & Moto and he told me that the idea behind the show was not only as a way for car enthusiasts to get together and show case their vehicles but also to promote Subic bay and the facilities here, such as the beaches, great hotels and other attractions. Great car shows don’t always have to be in Manila but there are other venues outside of the greater metro area.

Entries were judged on several different categories, including separate categories for motorcycles, with others being best in paint, best in Thailand look concept and many more. The best in show overall prize was a substantial 10,000 peso and second place overall taking home 3,000 peso, of course trophies were awarded to the winners and runners up in all categories. The show also had displays by vehicle manufactures and local businesses related to the auto industry, with car and motorcycle clubs also being represented.

One of the most popular vehicles on display was the Dub-Shop Monster Truck, one of only two of its type in the Philippines, with 2 years in the making and a total cost exceeding 7 million peso it certainly was impressive.

This monster truck started life as a Ford F150 truck that underwent major modifications, with the 66inch wheels and tyres that were custom made by NATS Performance in Davao, at a cost of 2 million pesos. Then along with 40inch coil over- shocks from Pro Fender in Thailand at a cool 450,000 and the transfer case from Monster Shock USA, at another 500,000 pesos, then add in front and rear hydraulic boosted steering also from the U.S. and you can see how fast things start to add up. The engine however is that of a standard stock F150 but with aftermarket Edelbrock headers and CAMS for extra torque, then to top it all off is the custom paint job by Dub Shop PRO. The team has a dedicated self-loading truck to move the monster around but the wheels and tyres have to come off to do so and then reinstalled when they finally arrive before the truck can be unloaded, a process that takes more than 3hrs to complete, the truck also has a twin also owned by DubShop PRO which is built form a Chevy Silverado making these two trucks the only one’s of their kind in the Philippines making them in constant demand by Motor show’s all over.

The motorcycles featured predominantly and proved to be very popular with those taking the time to visit the show, manufactures were represented with prizes for best in Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda and Kawasaki along with overall best custom bike. There were certainly some unusual entries with one of the best being the modified 150 scooter that was more like a home entertainment center on wheels than a motorcycle.

Complete with massive boom box speakers, amplifiers, sub woofers and even a DVD player for the times you might get stuck in traffic. Massive custom mag wheels, modified exhaust system and custom paint job really make this machine stand out from the norm. Another popular entry with the crowd was the ACE Motorcycles Custom Scrambler, styled after the old British Scramble bikes of the 1970’s it had a 400cc motor the same as found in the old 1970’s Honda CB400’s, with a chopped down frame and a custom hand made exhaust system. For looks they added a hand made leather seat and leather cups around the old school speedo and tachometer dials, added custom front and rear pegs, bigger tyres, changed the battery to a gel battery to accommodate the new rear hoop and then threw in some LED lighting.

My personal favorites were the old school Volkswagen Kombi’s most of which were owned by local guy Daniel Todean originally Romanian born, lived in Canada but now call Subic Bay home. Locally known as ‘Dan the Van Man’ he has 9 VW Kombi vans in total, of which 4 were on display at this year’s show. They range from his first one an original 1959 split screen that he bought on eBay just 4 years ago and had it shipped from California.

To his crazy Porsche looking custom van the ‘BUSUBARU’ built form a total wreck and the chassis up, which has a WRX STI Engine and sports 300 horse power, has air suspension along with carbon fibre roof and bumpers and when finished will have a fully raiseable body like the ones you would find on a drag racing ‘Funny Car’. “I got this idea from a concept drawing I saw on the internet he told me” When I asked Dan why he loved Kombi vans so much he just smiled and said, “I honestly don’t know, I just do”, and if he thought he will stop collecting them, the answer was again “I Don’t know, I want to stop but who knows what I am going to see in the future, so I just don’t know”.

The show was a great success and I look forward to seeing it grow in the future, keep your calendar date open for the 2019 show which I am sure will be bigger and better than before and well worth making the effort to get along to.

Author: Stephen Whiting