THE HOTCHKIS CARS STEAL THE SHOW AT THE 2010 MOTOR PRESS GUILD TRACK DAY

“Everybody is talking about these cars,” says a man in shorts and a helmet as he approaches the Hotchkis 1970 “E-max” Challenger, “Can I really drive it?”

That was pretty much the story for the full two days we spent at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana during our first Motor Press Guild Track event. The Hotchkis Camaro and the ever popular E-Max made hot lap after hot lap as journalists from all kinds of automotive and mainstream outlets took turns behind the wheel.

The MPG track event is put on by the Motor Press Guild and gives automotive journalists a chance to drive or ride in more than one hundred different cars and SUVs. More than 30 different companies participated, and the Hotchkis cars sat in line with everything from a KIA Sorento to a Mercedes SLS.

While John Hotchkis and Drew Oliver answered tech questions, our own tame racing driver, Mark Hotchkis, gave rides and driving advice. The event was a great opportunity for us to show off the benefits of a Hotchkis TVS. Without exception, jaded auto writers set out in the car with blasé expressions and returned with ear-to-ear grins.

“This car stock is such a pig,” sneered French journalist, Philippe De Lespinay as he climbed in to the Hotchkis TVS equipped 2010 Camaro. When De Lespinay returned, he had a totally different response. “This is how this car should handle!” he said.

We heard a similar refrain after every test drive. “I can’t believe how flat it stays in the corner! “, “This is what we always hoped the Camaro could be!”, ” This is the most fun of any car here!”

We had so many people lined up for the Hotchkis cars that we had to shorten the drive time to two laps each so everyone could get a chance to drive. As journalists and photographers stood in line for track time, the Hotchkis team perused some of the manufacturer cars. The Lexus and Mercedes AMG line-ups were popular, as were the Lotus Evora and the Suzuki Kizashi Turbo. Suzuki not only brought out press cars for test drives, but they also had their record breaking Bonneville Kizashi on display.

Other notable cars included several Mustangs from Shelby and a carbon Viper ACR in the Dodge display. Speaking of composites, Swift Engineering was one booth over from Hotchkis and we scored some cool carbon fiber keychains.

Since the MPG is made up entirely of real car guys and girls, the driving didn’t end when the big track closed. Everyone headed outside the pits to karting track and got even more wheeled action thanks to CalSpeed Karting.

We’d like to thank Flowmaster Mufflers for the use of their 2010 Flowmaster and Hotchkis equipped Camaro, everyone who drove and talked cars with us and all the folks at MPG for putting on such an amazing event.