Tuner Galleria Model Spotlight: Mariel Mendoza

As summer starts to subside and the nation gets a little cooler throughout, Tuner Galleria has decided to turn up the heat by sitting down with this stunning model, Mariel Mendoza. Hailing straight from Sin City Las Vegas, Nevada, Mariel has taken advantage of all the opportunities her hometown brings to her. And naturally with SEMA taking place in Las Vegas, Mariel was quickly exposed to our industry where she's a new modeling home.

"The first show I worked at was SEMA 2007," Mariel told us. "It was a lot of fun since I had never worked a trade show / car show prior to SEMA so the experience was interesting." Well, we're glad it was just interesting and not scary, since Mariel started hitting our events from there. "I made a lot of good friends at SEMA 2007 and my next event was Formula DRIFT in 2008 at New Jersey - it was my first time being a flag girl as well!"

And since then it has been a whirlwind for Mariel, having attending a ton of events. As for her favorite? Well, she's a little biased of course. "Trying to pick out my most memorable event to date is actually a lot tougher than I expected it to be! Okay okay, it would have to be TunerGalleria Chicago. This past year I calmed down with doing car shows and TunerGalleria was a show I couldn't miss. I was so excited to be in Chicago and being with my girlfriends but especially to have met some of my followers that have been supporting me ever since day 1. It was fun to hang out at the show and party afterwards!"

With all those events, we figured Mariel would have a funny story to share. So we asked her just what is the funniest thing that has ever happened to her at an event. "Just recently when I was working the MAGIC tradeshow in Vegas, someone serenaded me like three songs. The guy had just randomly came up to me, grabbed my hand, and started singing! I was confused and embarrassed but it was hilarious!"

Right now Mariel looks up to Victoria's Secret models - and who can blame her? "They're beautiful, sexy, and can definitely turn heads. I think a lot of girls (.& guys!) can agree with me that Victoria Secret Angels are inspirational!" Yes, we definitely agree and we personally think Mariel would look right at home in a Victoria's Secret catalog.

Make sure to keep an eye out on Mariel at upcoming Tuner Galleria shows. And boys, if you've got an Audi make sure to show it off - it's Mariel's favorite line of cars. As for her perfect date? "My perfect date would have to be a fun and active one, especially if it's the first one. I don't like to have intimate conversations right off the bat because it does take some time to get to know me. So from dinner & dessert to golf outings to even hanging out and watching movies are fun for me."

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Tuner Galleria Model Spotlight: Mariel Mendoza

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