THE parking lot of Michi Supercenter on Washington Boulevard, St Andrew, was transformed into an automotive Mecca last Saturday.

The event — Skunk Nation’s Import Tuner Night — saw scores of car/motorcycle crews and car enthusiasts sharing an evening of motor vehicle magic. The evening’s music was provided by SupaHype.

A large video screen, showing loops of local drag racing events, greeted patrons on entering the venue, but nothing could compete with the real draw of the event — the rows of modified machines on display.

Hardcore ‘gear heads’ mixed and mingled with casual partygoers filling their cellphones’ memory cards with mega-pixels of motoring marvels.

“From the turnout, it’s obvious we have the support we need for this type of event. I’m more than happy with the support from the other car and motorcycle crews,” said Nick Lue, organiser of the event and one of the founding members of the Skunk Nation crew. “I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag just yet, but plans are already in place for the next import tuner party. It will exceed this one.”

Seon Sadler of Portmore’s Nizzpro Engineering was one of many clubs participating in the event. For several minutes he became the centre of attention when he started to shoot flames from his Nissan Skyline’s exhaust. However, he was later outdone by Spanish Town’s Kamar Khan’s Mitsubishi Evolution IV. The crowd’s cheers and flashing cameras settled the deal in Khan’s favour.

As patrons settled down to continue feasting on the visual treats, the Loch Ness monster of the underground street scene, the Nissan GTR AMS Alpha9 made its arrival. Even though unable to unleash its 800bhp, it was still able to grab patrons’ attention with its imposing presence. And once stationary, it was swamped by curious onlookers for the rest of the evening.

“It’s about unity, no club rivalries,” said David Lumley of the Portmore-based Bimmer Innovations crew.

“We like the concept and we’re going to be having our own Euro-themed show soon in July, so we’re expecting similar support from Skunk Nation,” he said.

AirtrekRevo’s founder Toussaint Smith was a bit reflective of the evening’s activities.

“It’s funny because our very fist link-up as a crew was at this very same parking lot,” said Smith, who drives a Mitsubishi Airtrek and whose club has 24 members.

“We’re here through our association with Skunk Nation’s Nick Lue. His brother Craig has been a great help to us in the past, due to his Mitsubishi expertise,” he said.

Smith was not only assisting patrons with advice that evening, he picked up two new members.