I never think anybody is going to show up, which is why I never throw a dinner party at my house. Well, that and because I think dinner parties are for metrosexuals and I refuse to wax my unibrow.
So when Mitsubishi asked me if I would drop by the company's headquarters in Cypress, Calif., which is about 20 minutes from our office, to personally hand over our Sport Compact Car of the Year trophy, which we awarded to the EVO VIII in the February issue, I was hesitant.
"We'll make it a real event," said Janis Little of Mitsu's public affairs office. "We'll invite some EVO clubs to come out with their cars, and we'll call all the shops in the area we know are working on EVOs. It'll be great. Be here at 11 a.m. on Thursday."
My insecurities kicked in. No one is going to show up, I thought. It's a Thursday, just before Christmas at 11 a.m. We'll be lucky to get two cars to come out. But my boss was going to be there, so I decided, for once, to think positively.
That morning I put on my best suit, got our Project EVO VIII waxed up for the occasion, and headed for Cypress. When I pulled into the parking lot of Mitsubishi headquarters at 10:45 a.m., I couldn't believe my eyes. People showed up. Lots of them. And they brought their cars. Lots of them. I think about 30 altogether. Most were members of socalevo.com club, but Toda, Road/Race Engineering, Bozz Performance and Street Cencepts all brought out cars, too. One guy from the club even brought an EVO III.
And the crew from Mitsubishi put out a spread for them of cold beverages and believe it or not, cookies shaped like EVOs with the optional big wing. It was a party.
We talked cars until about noon, which is when I earned my money with a little schtick at the podium and a formal handing over of our Sport Compact Car of the Year trophy to Ian Beavis, who is a huge EVO fan and the senior vice president of marketing, public relations and product planning at Mitsubishi. Then we talked cars some more. Most people stayed until almost 3 p.m., which flat blew me away. Don't you people work?
I want to thank all those who attended our little party. And I want to thank John West Fabrications of Huntington Beach, Calif., for creating our custom trophies. Each features a solid block of anodized billet-aluminum topped by a section of 13-inch brake rotor generously donated by StopTech. Each trophy weighs almost 20 pounds.
With the success of the event, I'm re-evaluating my insecurities. I think I'll have my unibrow waxed.