Author: Matt Haugness

Import Meet launched in 2011 and it was our first year covering and hosting import car events. We thought we would take some time to look back at some of our favorite events of the year. Golden Gardens – March 27, 2011 – Seattle, WA As in previous years, Northwest Nissans' annual Golden Gardens meet was a wet one. Despite the rain, there were so many cars this year that by early morning it was difficult to find a spot to park. It was a great event and although it was centered around Nissans, many other types of car showed…

Photos and event coverage provided by Callon Bigger (themrbigs – one of our newest members on the forum). On December 18, 2011 a few friends and I planned a trip down to Pacific Grand Prix Motorsports Park for the 2011 Snow Drift. Even though there wasn’t any snow, it was still very wet. Despite the weather, the event had a pretty good turnout.

This is a follow-up article to our 2012 Scion iQ Initial Impressions article from a couple weeks ago. Megan, the owner of the Scion iQ I photographed, ended up finding the article and commenting on it. Since I wasn't able to test drive the iQ, I thought the next best thing would be to get her thoughts on the car with an interview. ImportMeet.com: What make/model of car did you previously drive? How does the iQ compare? Megan: The last two cars I had were Toyota/Scion. I had a 2008 Toyota Prius, but I ended up not being able to…

On December 10th, we had the opportunity to attend the NWMotiv.com Toy Drive and Winter Meet at Speedware Motorsports in Redmond, WA. It was an early morning for our group (we left Bellingham at 6am) but we arrived just as the event was starting. Various clubs and teams showed up throughout the day and while we were there, Executive Auto Society and LowerClassMen braved the cold with their high quality rides.

Update: Check out our interview with the owner of this car here. Love them or hate them, small fuel efficient cars continue to change the automotive landscape. Scion decided to target this market directly by bringing another model to their growing lineup. Enter the 2012 Scion iQ. I happened to be fortunate enough to privately view one of the first iQ's sold in Washington State. Although the iQ didn't officially launch until today, Wilson Motors provided me the opportunity to take some photos before their first one was delivered to its owner. While some of these images may appear squished,…

When I was considering building an RX-7, I knew that the future powerplant would be a piston engine. While I can appreciate a nicely built rotary, they tend to have reliability issues when they’re abused.  The intent with this track car was to build something that could perform well in autocross, drag racing, and drifting events reliably. All three of these forms of competition require that the drivetrain be able to take abuse and be fixed for a reasonable cost when it does break. In my opinion, to be competitive the car needs to be making at least 350-400 horsepower.…

Once a year, the Seattle Auto Show fills CenturyLink Field Event Center with the latest concepts and production models of cars from just about every manufacturer. Everything from exotics to hybrids are on display for the general public. This year was no exception with cars like the Lamborghini Aventador and the Audi R8 Spyder taking center stage.

Update: Check out our event coverage. On December 10th, 2011, NWMotiv.com will be holding a Toy Drive and Winter Car Meet at Speedware Motorsports in Redmond, WA. With very few events happening during the winter in the Pacific Northwest, this is sure to be a big one! All donations made will go to the Toys for Tots foundation. From November 26th, 2011 until the day of the meet, you can drop off a new, unwrapped toy at Speedware Motorsports. If you can't make the event but still want to donate, you can do so on NWMotiv.com's event page. Location: Speedware…