Cayman 500 Car Show - Fantasy Island

Paradise stems from the Latin word for heaven, paradisus.

Heaven on Earth, for many, means year-round temperatures between 75 and 85 degrees and better visibility in the bathtub-warm water than above ground in Los Angeles. Bountiful seafood and jerk chicken so good you suck your fingers and wipe the tears from your eyes. Read my lips:No taxes (Grand Cayman is the fifth largest financial center in the world). And for the 40,000 lucky inhabitants of the Cayman Islands, the right to drive and modify whatever car they darn well please.

Grand Cayman, the largest of three islands, is 20 miles long and just 3 miles wide, meaning the scene is local and real estate is precious, especially for cars with stupid power.

One of many events in a year-long celebration of Cayman's quincentennial anniversary, the Cayman 500 car show wasproduced by California-based Slipstream Global Marketing, which shipped over Stephan Papadakis' 8-second FWD Civic, LJ Garcia's show Civic and the celebrities themselves.

Given the incredible spread of machinery on the island, from 9-second Mustangs and T-bucket rods to every manner of JDM exotica, the show truly had something for everyone. Without ultra-anal show-car owners and DJ-driven thong flashers, it was, in fact, one of the most enjoyable car shows we've attended. Given the success of this year's show, rumors regarding a show next year were afloat.