volkswagen

From what I understand the 'rules' for owning an air cooled Beetle are a little different than those of your average car or truck. Certain years you are basically free to do whatever you please without much scrutiny, while some years if you so much as repaint them people will request your head on a spike. I've heard things get so strict that people would rather their parts sit and rot in a shed than go to a project they "don't agree with".

Travelling, studying, and living abroad is often a once in a life time opportunity and those fortunate enough to do so are usually forced to sacrifice quite a bit. In fact it is regularly said that the best philosophy to have when living life on the road is to pack light and never acquire items you are not willing to walk away from at a moments notice. For car enthusiasts, this mentality can be a bit of a problem because very few of us are willing to give up our cars, or passion for modifying them, at the drop of a hat.

With Importfest coverage just barley out the door we can move things right along with the third round of CSCS coverage for 2013. Round three took place at Mosport and while that's a venue I particularly like shooting I opted to sit things out this round because I was a little run down from a week of preparation for Importfest. Luckily I was able to find a few photographers willing to pick up my slack and judging from the photos contributed by Kevin Tam and Kenny Barnes, CSCS Mosport was a blast just like years previous.

Situated down the street from my house attending Euronited for another year as pretty well a no-brainer, especially when I woke up Sunday morning and the sun was shining. Blessed with great weather two years in a row Euronited 2013 had a respectable turnout of well built European cars.

The car that undoubtedly stole the show at Eurokracy 2013 was this teal, right hand drive, MK1 Rabbit. Built by Quebec City based Unix Performance this no holds barred, no expense sparred, beauty was hidden behind a wall of slack jawed on lookers almost the entire show and personally I stopped by the car on three different occasions in a vain attempt to take in all of the details.

After hearing nothing but good things about Eurokracy for two straight years I decided 2013 was the year to make the voyage from Toronto to Montreal to check things out first hand. Being a terrible navigator I opted to join the Scraped Crusaders for their cruise down and as the convoy got larger stop after stop I knew I wouldn't be disappointed in the show the following day.

Going to take a quick break from the CSCS Beach Burnout coverage and light up the main stage for June Jitter Bug, a local Volkswagen show that takes place every year at Fireman's Park in Niagara Falls. Like Vanfest June Jitterbug is one of those shows I've wanted attend for a few years but can't swing due to other events or personal commitments. I have however run guest coverage from it before and this years comes from Mark Armstrong a long time reader and local enthusiast.

The last 'Girls With Hot Rides' (Lady Driven from here on out) Theme Tuesday was in 2010 and to be honest that's entirely too long. The days of women rolling around in pink Civics and outrageous Sunfires are largely over and there are a number of ladies doing things just as good (if not sometimes better) than the guys and it's a damn shame I don't post them more often.

As mentioned in part one of 2013 CSCS season opener coverage Cayuga was packed last Sunday which meant the show and shine was overwhelmingly full. Let me tell you I was pretty glad to not be a judge at that event because as it must have taken ages to get through the show and shine field never mind try and arrange them in some sort of logical order.

For the past four years Dave and the ever growing Stretch & Poke! operating team have been providing Toronto's aggressive fitment community with quality events for enthusiasts, by enthusiasts. Last years season opening event clocked in record attendance and, not a group to rest on their laurels, the Stretch & Poke team strived to top their previous success with an even bigger 2013 event at an all new venue.

With Driven in the books the 2013 show season is now "officially" underway in Calgary. Eager to get old man winter out the door this years driven took place a little earlier than last year which meant a few people had to scramble to get their cars ready for the show. However 250+ cars ended up making it to the Calgary Oval even with the accelerated timeline and Mike once again did a great job of capturing the show in the artistic way only he can.

Today is the day I make good on last Friday's promise of some more favourable front end swaps to balance out the more horrendous. Front (and rear for that matter) swaps are always going to be somewhat controversial, and a matter of personal preference, so I have no doubt some of you are not going to agree with a few of these picks. As always feel free to express your opinions, or share ones I may have missed, in the comments below.