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[<< Prev][Next >>] Post: May 27th 2011
DUB Plate

What’s good under your hood? Your Car Care REPs continue with reporting from the 2011 New York International Auto show. This year the NY International auto show kicked it up a gear by adding the DUB auto show concert tour to its line up (smart move). The DUB auto show is organized by DUB Magazine. DUB magazine specializes in articles and stories about entertainers, star athletes, acting celebrities and their infatuation for cars. They also preview some of the latest trends in automotive accessories and car audio systems. Today we’re going to discuss what the DUB auto show had in store for us. Strap in, Your Car Care REPs are ready to burn rubber.

DUB magazine and its auto show concert tour dates back to the year 2000, starting in LA, California. Presently the tour hits up 16 major US cities such as Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston to name a few. New York was recently added to the roster of cities that get to indulge in the world of urban custom car culture. DUB magazine capitalized on the popularity of Hip Hop artists and their love of lavish cars. The word “DUB” means 20-inch rims, which the Hip Hop community made popular. In the beginning this was the focus of DUB magazine’s featured articles. What ride is your favorite rapper driving? DUB magazine provided the answers. They came under scrutiny (some years ago) when it was revealed that some artists didn’t really own some of the vehicles seen in its magazine spreads, but rented them for the photo shoot. This doesn’t mean that DUB magazine was privy to the rental arrangement (if the allegations are even true). Presently DUB magazine not only focuses on Hip Hop stars but also popular Skateboarders, Wrestlers even Playboy models. One of the many reasons I enjoy reading DUB magazine is the cool accessories and urban trends they display throughout their pages. Not just car trends either, they show clothing, kicks and technology gear as well. You can find DUB magazine at most local newsstands. If you can’t seem to locate them, Barnes and Noble or another major bookstore should carry them.

The NY International auto show placed the DUB auto show in their private room within the Jacob Javits center. On my way down the escalators I could see droves of people in front of me and behind me headed in the same direction. Upon entering into DUB world I was pleasantly greeted by some of the auto cultures and car styles that are seen across the country. The 1st ride I came upon was a low-rider, looking extra mean and extra clean. It was a 1959 Chevy Biscayne, smoke grey that was meticulously customized and the tint job done to perfection. The next ride I rolled up on was a Hot Rod, which is my 1st love. There was a 1933 Willys Roadster that was vintage yet equally contemporary at the same time. The engine and interior were “car show” clean. It had suicide doors, a removable hardtop and a swing away steering wheel. Rob Ida Concepts built this particular Willys Roadster. The muscle car in the line up was a Black super powered 1970 Hemi Challenger, “Vanishing Point” style. If you’ve never seen the movie Vanishing Point you should check it out, starring the great Cleavon Little and Barry Newman. Great car chase scenes – this ones a cult classic. As I circled the DUB perimeter I saw that the stage was setup with an exotic ride on the left and a low-rider on the right. In the center of it all was 2 turntables and a microphone. It looked like a gourmet dish waiting to be served up, and I was hungry for my DUB plate. Where’s the WAITER!! NY DUB’s auto show had a meet and greet with infamous Hip Hop artist Jadakiss from the group the Lox and an autograph signing with UFC fighter Nick Catone.

On the other side of the room is what I called the “Boom Room”. Pioneer and Sony both had separate booths. The Pioneer system was insane! It was so clear and bass heavy at the same time. One of things that impressed me the most about the sound, there was no rattling or vibration heard throughout the cars body, trunk or windows (common problem with heavy-duty car audio systems). In the trunk were four bass woofers housed inside 4 separate towers. On both door panels were four 6×9” dual speakers that supplied the mid range and the high range frequencies. Pioneer had folks mesmerized by the sound quality. We almost forgot Sony was in the room. After waking up from my trance I walked over to the Sony booth. Sony’s sound was good but lacked the spectacular clarity that I would expect from an audio leader such as Sony. The 1st mistake Sony made was bringing in a SUV vehicle to display their audio gear. This made it difficult for people to see what was actually inside the ride. 2nd there was very little effort made by Sony reps to attract people over to their booth. The Pioneer reps keenly used a light show effect on their display vehicle that they triggered sporadically to spark the interest of the DUB audience. I saw little effort by team Sony to engage us, the audience (very disappointing).

I kept it moving and saw a group of people standing around two fly girls posing for Facebook pics. DUB models no doubt. While most of the guys were focused on bumpers I was checking the rear end of a beautiful lime green custom BMW M3 with a roll cage inside. This ride looked race sporty with a carbon fiber hood and carbon fiber roof to match (the Mohawk look). Martino Auto Concepts, located in New Jersey, presented most of the exotics and sport cars for the DUB auto show.

Overall I enjoyed the 2011 NY DUB auto show but I was somewhat disappointed with it as well. With a multitude of car styles out there, I saw too much repetition of the exotic and the low-rider. Where were the Donks? Where were the S.L.A.Bs? I don’t even recall any tuned out, kitted up, Japanese pocket rockets on the floor. With the “Fast Five” movie opening up the same week I would think they would have capitalized on it. No such luck. Another aspect of the show that bothered me was representation. I looked real hard and could not find one DUB magazine representative on deck. In my opinion, there should have been several DUB magazine reps present. Signing people up for online subscriptions, handing out free DUB magazines or a DUB magazine poster at least. In this day and age if you’re a magazine publication you can’t forget about your audience. You have to do creative things to interact with them and keep them engaged. Here’s a tip DUB. During your DUB auto show tour why not do a workshop for the do it yourself readers? Most DUB readers like custom vehicles but lack the money to take their ride to a custom shop. It would be a small but worthwhile investment to show the audience how to install LCD screens in their headrests or how to put in LED lights on their ride, something simple but worth our attention. Another thing that I couldn’t believe was the lack of rim companies. Rim shops are some of the biggest advertisers in DUB magazine. I only saw 1 booth for one shop and unfortunately no one was sitting at the table when I went to take a gander. No Bueno!!

Hopefully this article will come across the desk of the executives or staff over at DUB magazine and they’ll take heed to some of my criticism. I think with the proper adjustments, DUB magazine will remain a leader in its niche auto magazine publication. If not, there’s always another magazine ready to redline it and overtake DUBs position. Stay tuned as we continue with our New York International auto show installation. We round-up our final edition with concept cars. Your Car Care REPs got the open lane. Hit the Nitro!!




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