Malaysian Vacation: Day 3.2 Mean Machines

Saturday was a practice day for Conemasters. But on the other side of Auto City, Mean Machines was in full swing.

Mean Machines is an auto show, where people put their cars on display. As I have previously noted, I am not an auto enthusiast, but I do appreciate people modifying and personalizing their cars.

Most of these cars were modified aesthetically. They redid the paint, the body work and the interior. This is the opposite of the Conemasters crowd, who are more concerned with the engine and suspension of their car and the subsequent performance.

Admittedly, for all I know the people at Mean Machines have modified their engines as well, but the emphasis seemed to be on the aesthetics.

I’m not going to label each photo here, just show you what kind of things were on display. While I wouldn’t necessarily want to drive many of these cars, I can appreciate people’s dedication and interest.

I told you there were a lot of motorcycles in Malaysia!

This car is so small I wouldn’t get in it. I would put it on.

Apparently Malaysians love to think of themselves as VIPs, for just about anything. Which is why McDonalds has a program for their drive-thru customers. I hope he’s proud.

Odd, really; these guys didn’t look Italian.

Maiden Malaysia.

This pink Hummer was driven by a woman who is apparently a radio personality in Malaysia.

All I remember about her was thinking that she must have a younger sister, and that she really ought to give the little girl her shorts back. Once the event was over, I mean…

 

This style is called ‘sticker bomb,’ and I saw it on quite a few cars. To be honest, I like it better as a detail (like between the windows here) as opposed to total coverage. But this guy gets points for the puzzle motif, definitely.

The best way for me to tell you how interested (and inspired) I was by all these cars is to say that while I was walking around looking at all the work, dedication, and passion on display, I started to think more and more about building new guitars. Wondering if the stickering process used on cars would work on guitar bodies. Thinking about paint schemes. It was a lot of fun.

Speaking of which…

As I wandered around all the cars, I finally managed to find AnD artist Alvin Lee, whom I was really looking forward to meeting. I enjoy reading his blogs about cars, and the chance to meet him and bend his ear about matters automotive was one of my goals for this trip.

Alvin recognized me immediately, which may or may not have to do with  me being a 6’4″ (193cm) gweilo in the middle of Malaysia, but who knows?

He and his friend each had a car at Mean Machines. This first one is a Toyota Camry, which, to quote Alvin’s blog entry, “highlights the massive custom bodyworks from Bangkok slammed so low perhaps the lowest ride in the whole of Mean Machines.”

I really liked this car, in what I would consider a covetous way. What I mean is, if I ever owned a car, I would love for it to look like this. It reminds me of a ’96 Chevy Impala SS; low, mean, and black.

Alvin’s personal ride was also on display. The outside of his car is pretty low-key, but the interior is amazing. My own photography skills are rather crude, but at least you may get some idea of what kind of thing is going on. This is ultra-bling, but I have to say that it is also very tasteful. You can see that this stuff wasn’t cheap, and the interior just oozes class as a result.

There are lots of better photos available, now and in the near future, on Alvin’s and Ben’s pages. If you want to really see this car’s true stature, I suggest you follow those other pages. But believe me when I tell you that Alvin’s attention to detail, dedication, and standards are truly VIP.

As the sun set on Day 1 of the Conemasters/Mean Machines extravaganza, I was tired, sweaty, and sunburnt so badly I looked like a Guan Yu statue. But I was also very, very happy. I got to look at a lot of amazing cars, see some amazing driving, and met some really great people.

Little did I realize that the experiences were not yet over. There’s a good reason this car show runs until midnight.

But that’s another entry…