HRE Open House

One of the most enjoyable parts of automotive culture is the connection shared with other enthusiasts.  That said, when an event like HRE’s Open House is put together, the result is a day full of amazing builds and great people. 

Marco's Clone and M3 stroker were gathering attention before the show had even started!

The Open House was not what I expected it to be.  I thought that maybe there would be some tours of the factory, a group of builds, and a crowd of people and their cars who showed up to socialize. I was wrong; this was a full blown show. Booths were set up by Akrapovic, AccuAir, Targa Trophy, and many others.  Each booth had its own variety of builds, so there was no shortage of cars to look at. Just about every parking space was taken by people who had registered their cars prior, and there were likely a couple thousand guests who came and went throughout the day. 

Builds on display ranged anywhere from stance to mild street to complete performance.  There were no restrictions on make or model—as you can see, a rat rod pulled into the show in the same line that a Bugatti was waiting in.  I thought this was one of the best parts of the event, because we were able to appreciate cars from all different styles of modification. Sometimes segregated shows can be slightly repetitive, and this was anything but.

A little bonus of the day was when the Gold Rush Rally caravan rolled in.  If flashy exotics aren’t your thing, this may not have been the most exciting moment.  I typically don’t gawk over supercars, but there were a couple of very special Gold Rush participants that really caught my eye: the Pagani Huayra and the Belladonna Car Works “La Squalo” Ford GT. 

Side note: If you haven’t heard of Belladonna Car Works, they are a Japanese customs company that focuses on supercars. This particular build was developed in a year and a half, and after some tuning and exhaust, it pushes 710hp.

In addition to the Gold Rush parade and the main event, HRE also opened their warehouse to the public for tours.  Guests were able to walk the entire facility to see displays with wheels from start to finish.  It was interesting to see all the time, work, and quality put into the process of building HRE’s beautiful wheels. 

This year's Open House was a huge success in my opinion, and I would definitely attend again!  The builds were exciting and it was great to talk to different people about their cars.  True enthusiasts are what continue to propel the automotive culture forward.  We’d like to thank HRE for hosting such a fun event, and we hope to return to SoCal for more great events in the future.