Shawn H.

HRE event. At least 50 cars could pass the 200 mph mark.

On June 18 — a $5.8 million vehicle, an SUV carrying $1 million cash, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, McLarens, Lotuses, Bugattis, Porsches, and a 2012 BWM 135i — were not given special "pedigree privies" in the city of Vista despite coming from long motorsport lineages.

And while the vehicles were under scrutiny by looming San Diego Sheriff deputies out of sheer awe, other deputies posted along Commerce Way and Progress Street (outside of the HRE Performance Wheels warehouse) were not as impressed.

Scarsone was let go with a warning.

Shawn H.

"After hearing the cop fire up the siren, [my buddy] captures a video of the cop speeding up to indicate us to pull over," Dylan Scarsone recounted to me on June 20. "I find it somewhat ironic after reviewing the video that of all the cars to pass that road during the meet, the cop catching up to us must have been the fastest."

There were at least 50 vehicles present at the Saturday HRE Open House event (9 am to 2 pm) that could surpass the 200-mile-per-hour mark, some of which crept past Scarsone as the sheriff's deputy questioned him.

".... including a very nice McLaren 720s (212 mph top speed)," Scarsone continued. "I had only been going around 10 miles per hour and not driving recklessly. So I did as instructed and found a safe place to pull over." He added that the sheriff's deputy accused him of traveling 35 miles per hour in a marked 25-mile-per-hour zone and let him go with a warning.

The "million-dollar" Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6x6

Eddie Hua

Shawn H. drove his Audi A4 allroad from Spring Valley to Vista and saw Scarsone and his co-pilot in the pulled-over Vermillion red-colored 2-door sedan. "Perhaps he was speeding further down the road," Shawn noted, "but not when he was pulled over. That's why you don't drive red cars."

While Scarsone was let go with a warning, other tuners seeking parking or cruising around the venue didn't fare as well. Shawn continued, "they were mostly loud exhaust vehicles being pulled over for excessive noise."

But once the souped-up vehicles made it inside the HRE Performance Wheels factory and parking lot, they were safe from decibel assessments. Nevertheless, the loud exhaust systems sparked memories for some spectators, reminding them of the burnouts made before launching a vehicle down the now defunct Carlsbad quarter-mile drag strip that used to be about 4 miles east of the current HRE factory.

"That's why you don't drive red cars."

Shawn H.

A $1 million McLaren Senna pulled up; its exhaust pipes put out an estimated 102 decibels when it zooms by at 211 miles per hour. Then — a few Lamborghini Aventadors, Porsche 911 Turbos, Ferrari 812 Superfasts, and Lotus Evora GTs — were driven in. They reportedly produce equally throaty decibels as the English-built McLaren. Although, none of the owners admitted to receiving "too loud" tickets or warnings driving in from the 78 up north.

By the time Shawn and Scarsone made it into the venue, they'd forgotten about the sheriff's deputies patrolling outside — who were also there to help protect the venue and surrounding streets from possible theft.

Inside the high-end wheel warehouse was a "million-dollar" Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6x6 on HRE wheels with $1 million cash lying within its bed for everyone to see. Also on display was a Bugatti Divo, which cost about $5 million, and sported a custom red and black paint job that reportedly cost an additional $1 million; the owner named the French-made supercar "Ladybug."

The 1500 horsepower Bugatti was one of Scarsone's favorite cars at the gathering and "the [BMW] M3 that was subtly parked out back. The 'HRE Open House' was by far the best meet I'd been to all year."

Shawn, a graphic designer by trade and a Euro-car show attendee since the 1990s, said that on Saturday, about 300 show cars were sporting the exclusive HRE wheels. He took photos of the manufacturing process of the 1-piece, 2-piece, and 3-piece aluminum alloy wheels built for racing and performance purposes.

As far back as I remember, the HRE brand wheels were the "it" wheels installed onto show vehicles. Even the Brian O'Connor character played by the late Paul Walker in the 2 Fast 2 Furious movie rocked a set of HREs on his Nissan Skyline.

Shawn's looking to purchase a set of HRE FT1 wheels for his Audi. "They start at $625 each," he quipped, "a far cry from HRE's carbon fiber wheels which can fetch $25,000 for a set of four."