Honda Expo 2019 Event Coverage

Honda Expo moved to Bellevue College this year and even though it wasn't my first time holding this type of event (Acura of Lynnwood in 2018 was) it sure felt like it from a planning standpoint! This was a brand new venue and location for the team that required careful planning with the City of Bellevue and the events staff at Bellvue College.

Coverage by ImportMeet.com (Photos by Brady Gunderson and Kenny B / Text by Matt Haugness).

What you may not know about me is that I've been a big fan of Honda vehicles for nearly 20 years. I've owned or built multiple Honda/Acura chassis and they have helped fuel my passion for cars in general. Creating a successful make-specific car show is a challenge for any promoter. Limiting your audience to only one type of car it means that you can only market to a subset of the following that you've built. You're essentially starting from scratch.

Regardless, this was an event that I personally wanted to see happen. After attending StanceWars and seeing how amazing Bellevue College can be with hundreds of cars in the parking garage and thousands of spectators in attendance, I knew the potential. Honda Expo is an event that I would attend even if it wasn't my show!

The first step was to get a blessing from Mike Tolliver from StanceWars. Mike and I have developed a solid friendship over the years and we help each other put on some of the biggest shows in the NW. We also partner to hold SpringFest Seattle every March. He's very generous but it was still difficult for me to ask if I could do something at HIS venue. It turns out he was super supportive and just wanted to see it succeed. He felt there was a bunch of other people who wanted a second Honda event to complement the first event of the season (HondaFest NW).

Nearly 100 cars signed up for the Top Floor Car Show at Honda Expo this year. This was the perfect amount as each car was given about 2 parking spaces to setup their display. This made for some amazing photos which you can see in the gallery below. Next year I'll definitely limiting the total number of cars up top to 100 maximum to maintain this amount of space. This might mean that the Top Floor Car Show turns into a selection process similar to the DriftCon Great 75 Car Show.

Categories were determined by the number of models of each car in the show. Basically each model needed to have at least 3 cars to have an award created. Competition was fierce in many of the categories but the standout ones were the 10th Gen Civic Type R and the NSX category. There were so many close cars between these two models that it made judging difficult.

A new aspect this year was voted awards like DriftCon events. Car show competitors were allowed to pick their favorites in 6 categories. You'll see the voted award winners listed first in the list at the bottom of this page.

Looking back I think that Honda Expo 2019 was a pretty good event that can only get better in the years to come. The biggest area that I will be focusing on is making sure that I have enough judges to spend at least 5-10 minutes with each competitor to understand how and why they built their car the way they did.

I'm really excited that a solid foundation is set and Honda Expo can only grow from here! The best part of Bellevue College as a venue is there's TONS of room. Nearly 400-500 cars can fit in the parking garage and that's going to be the goal for next year. If you attended and see the vision please help spread the word in 2020!

Thank you to all of the sponsors and staff/volunteers that made this year possible. Special thank you to all of the competitors and spectators who came out to our first event at Bellevue College.

Sponsors:
StanceWars
Hasport Performance
Redstart Racing
Urbn Panda
Agile Concepts
Direct Import Parts Shop

Food Vendors:
Johnnie's Dog House
Bellevue College Food Services

HXPO Show Awards

Best Track Build (VOTED)
Beau Fahr – 1996 Honda Civic

Best Sleeper (VOTED)
Antoine Brumfield – 2006 Honda Civic Si

Best OEM/Restoration (VOTED)
Gary Branca – 1990 Honda CRX Si

Best Engine Bay (VOTED)
Cooper Boudia – 1998 Acura Integra

Best Exterior Finish (VOTED)
Tak hon Chan – 2008 Honda S2000

Best Fitment (VOTED)
Alex Bergstrom – 1994 Honda Civic EX

Best Classic Honda/Acura (1986 and Earlier)
Justin March – 1982 Honda Prelude Convertible

Best 4th Gen Civic
Cliff Schuldt – 1987 Honda Civic EF3

Best 5th Gen Civic
Galileo Galang – 1994 Honda Civic CX

Best 6th Gen Civic
Beau Fahr – 1996 Honda Civic

Best 8th Gen Civic
Brett Berntsen – 2008 Honda Civic Si

Best 9th Gen Civic
Christopher Nava – 2014 Honda Civic Si

Best 10th Gen Civic
Tiffanie Nelson – 2018 Honda Civic Sport Hatchback

Best 10th Gen Civic Type R
Kevin Harris – 2018 Honda Civic Type R

Best Integra
Cooper Boudia – 1998 Acura Integra

Best Accord
Cyrus Seigafo – 2018 Honda Accord

Best Prelude
Ryan Johnson – 2000 Honda Prelude

Best S2000
Antoine Ng – 2001 Honda S2000

Best NSX
Oscar Benitez – 1993 Acura NSX

Best RSX
Stephanie Maltos – 2002 Acura RSX

Best TSX/TL
Alex Ligaya – 2006 Acura TSX

Best Other Model
Zach Vogel – 2001 Honda CR-V

Best Motorcycle / Scooter
Bob Brandow – 2005 Honda Jazz

Best of Show
Victor Ho – 1978 Honda Civic