Bagged

Looking at this100% authentic Junction Produce Y34/M45 sitting among the rest of the Liberty VIP cars at Importfest '11 it would be easy to assume that it was an out of town car. It certainly looks the part of a car that would be right at home in the garage of a member of the Yakuza. However this beautifully modified Y34 isn't from over seas, or the United States, it is from right here in Toronto.

Of all the lowered/dropped/slammed/sparking vehicles I have shown people not into 'the scene' the two that provoke the most reaction are vans and duallys. With Vans people just can't wrap their heads around why someone bothered to modify a family hauler and with duallys they scream bloody murder that the truck is now useless. The funny thing is 90% of these people couldn't put a dually to better use themselves so I am not sure what the big deal is, these things look great on the floor.

Tucson native Will Watrous has once again graced Stance Is Everything with an awesome set of photos from the West Coast Nationals. It's been a little bit since I had heard from Will so it was good to see that he's still riding low and hitting up events in his Ranger. The WCN coverage he sent over this year looks just as good, if not better than last year, so if I ever do somehow get a travel budget WCN is an event I must attend.

I've been told several times that H20i is an event I need to attend at least once. This year Mike and Jay from Stance Factory offered me a spot where they were staying for weekend and had it not been for some good friends of mine getting married I would have been there enjoying the festivities. However friends/family > cars so like Wekfest and Waterfest I've pulled together some photos that stood out to me in the hour or so I spent last night looking through coverage on various forums.

To honest I am not quite sure how well this one is going to go over because I know not everyone is into these egg shaped vans, but when I was thinking of something different to do this Tuesday these were at the top of the list. I can't think of any local Previa's or Estimas but they are quite popular in Japan and a few have popped up in the US. Thanks to a couple threads on VIP Style Cars and some posts on OMG Pancakes I was able to pull together a group wehere everyone should be able to find one they like.

There is a lot you can tell about a car club by reading about them online. The size of the club, the cars that make up the club, and how many awards they have won all things translate easily through text. Things that don't translate quite as easily are the presence the vehicles they drive have, the reactions they cause, and the personalities of the individual members. These are things that to really get an understanding of you have to experience in person.

It's funny, non enthusiasts would view a car theft as a reason to drive a stock car forever more but those of us who are truly passionate about modifying automobiles refuse to let the actions of one low life ever take away the hobby we love. Josh, who is a web developer and graphic designer by trade, is now an avid VW enthusiast thanks to a local car thief who took it upon himself to steal his Civic SI from a local movie theater parking lot.

The number of tastefully modified cars in the Toronto area is increasing at a rate far greater than ever before and the local Volkswagen community seems intent on being at the forefront of this clean car revolution. Mina, no stranger to riding low, made a few changes to his JDM and Euro inspired GTI during the off season that have made it one of the most easily recognizable MKV’s in the area.

Since I was young I've always had an interest in the Lowrider culture, and while it's tough to say who exactly started this stance business I think it's safe to assume that Lowrider guys are some of the true OGs. When I found out this event was taking place minutes from my house deciding whether or not to attend was a no-brainer, especially because for the longest time my only exposure to cars like these was through television and music.

If you asked me this morning if I would type those words my answer would have been no but Dominic of Dominant Engineering, who is also the owner of the Ford Focus SVT I featured awhile back, sent me an email this afternoon that changed my tune. In two days Dom took his girlfriends Versa from stock to this, including fixing the cracked and curbed wheels.

One of the hardest things I have ever tried to do is explain to friends and co workers who are not really into cars is why exactly I, and people like me, enjoy seeing a low vehicle leave a trail of sparks in it's wake while traveling at high speed. Of course to a lot of rational people this act is counter productive and downright dangerous and that's probably why I like it. Life is short right?

I'm not sure what kind of deal with the devil Chris and the organizers of CSCS made between last season and this in regards to weather but we are now two events deep in the CSCS calendar and the weather has been outstanding. Actually outstanding isn't an accurate description of the weather on Sunday, dehydrating might be better, or perhaps sun burn inducing, or maybe even heat stroke administering. You get the idea it was damn hot.