Shortly after Importfest –where he won both Stretch & Pokes’ aggressive fitment category and the best assisted Stance award sponsored by Stance Is Everything– Ryan asked if I would be interested in shooting his car for a feature on Stretch & Poke.
Dave (at Stretch & Poke) and myself have been looking for a way to collaborate for a little bit now and this was really the perfect opportunity.
As usual life got in the way and this shoot took a little longer to knock out than expected but prior to turkey on Thanksgiving Sunday we were able get it done and as of Monday the feature went live on Stretch & Poke.
Most of the photos can be seen there but below are a few alternate shots that didn’t make the feature.
Ryan and his girlfriend Nicole (who I’m sure has influenced at least a few of the modifications on this car) are very nice people so this shoot was a breeze and it was great to be able to return the favour to Ryan for parking alongside Chris, Blair, Sam, and myself at Importfest.
Check out the feature on Stretch & Poke for all of the intricate details behind this build, the modification list is quite extensive.
From what I can tell big changes on the way for next year too.
Recently a couple s-10 owning friends of mine stripped their trucks down to bare metal and seeing them both paint and rust less (at least for the time being) triggered this weeks Theme Tuesday.
Interestingly enough it was common to come across posts that read ‘this car was later painted’ due to how hard it is to keep a bare metal car looking pristine no matter what you coat it with.
Hot Rods
Didn’t really need much of an excuse to post this car againThe Booch from Oddball customsThis is now paintedThis is pretty well perfect
Rods and Customs
Fleetline that’s in exceptional shapeThis car can be seen in it’s original patina hereThis would make a great wall paper if I could have found it in higher resOne of the first hits on GoogleInteresting effect on this oneAwesome ZephyrThe pin striping really sets it offCarry over from the lead sled Theme TuesdayThis one was built for James Hetfield by Blue Collar Customs
Trucks
One of the two trucks that triggered this postI remember seeing this truck for the first time when I had mine, tempted me briefly but my truck was too rotten to do thisI feel as though I have posted this Suburban before…49 Chevy with a Caddy bumper and Buick headlights spotted on the H.A..M.BThis beautiful truck was also picked up on the H.A.M.B.
Euros
Fairly certain if you did this to a Golf that spent it’s time in Toronto all you would be met with is holesPyleGreat shot by the people over at Fuel magazineOn the topic of Raw Beetles here is a local oneGreat looking Type 2And finally….
Maybe bare metal and left to rust in the near future.
Given their small size and unique look Mini’s have always been one of those vehicles that don’t need a whole lot of modifications to stand out.
A set of wheels, a bit (or a lot) of low, and keeping the shiny side shiny is more often than not all that needs to be done.
Justin, a member of the Grocery Getter Crew out in New York, knows this and has so far stuck to the K.I.S.S. rule when it comes to modifying his 2003.
On the outside he’s added first generation projectors and an John Cooper Works Grill which being such subtle modifications give the 16×8 +26 Stance Encore wheels the opportunity to steal the show.
The unique design of these wheels pairs well with the Mini especially when a set off by a drop provided by BC coil-overs with custom rated springs.
A rebuilt Mini Cooper S super charger and Madness cold air intake round out the modifications so far but Justin has already let me know that he’s got a bit more planned for this car next year.
Hopefully once it’s done he can kick a few more photos on by, thanks the the submission Justin!
Got tagged in a Crank & Piston post on instragram by Meg over at Cars X Girl with the words “seems like something @stanceiseverythingcom would like” so I checked it out and sure enough she was right.
This isn’t the first time I have seen or posted a lowered Rover here but it is certainly the first time I’ve posted a Defender.
This Rover is actually a bit of a cheat in the sense that it’s actually about half Rover now because the owner cleverly switched out the Rover underpinnings for that of an air cooled Beetle.
The motor is stock, brakes stock, steering stock, but the suspension is clearly not which has been treated to the typical Beetle lowering techniques (narrowed beam etc).
The interior is pretty Spartan and lined with what look like like giant popsicle sticks but I’ll be damned if this creation isn’t cool.
Pre ‘let it rust’ treatment it resembled an art car which aside from all the stuff attached to the roof I quite like.
Google reveals this kind of thing is actually not all that uncommon so Theme Tuesday in the works perhaps?
More photos of the Defender pre rust can be found here.
Site Updates
No events this weekend as far as I know but there should be a new feature up Monday.
Flashback Friday
Here is the last Rover I posted from the last Readers Rides post.
I am hoping to be able to do another Readers Rides post during the winter but it’s become really tough to do now that the site has gained so much popularity.
I’m not complaining however and will figure something out.
Import Expo is now in it’s third year of operation (and I believe fourth event) and while previous shows took place in the middle of summer this years served as the unofficial show season close out event.
Having never attended an Import Expo event before I went in with an open mind knowing that this one wouldn’t be quite on the same level as their summer shows I had heard great things about.
Still the show managed to bring out 100+ cars which is nothing to scoff at this late in the year and many of those cars I had never seen before, most notably those from Dynamotorsports, and TrackWerks.
Lighting conditions were a little tricky however so my apologies for the varying degree of photo quality in the photos below.
Import Expo’s flagship NSX which has been spotted from here to WekEastClean RSX on what look to be 527sFD on Miesters with cops scoping out were probably models in the backgroundSean at Streetpowers 648hp Rx-7Sam ended up taking home best Import other with his GenesisCranked his BC’s as far down as they would goIn my opinion this Jetta was one of the cleanest cars at the showNice touch with those vinyl eyes‘Lick Your Lips’ ice sculpture for the show, kinda of randomSonic EK from LYLClean civic, barring the Chicago bar’d brake pad-less bike on the roof…One day I’ve got to take some photos of this car outside to do it’s paint some justice‘Slammed City’ CivicProbably one of my favourite Fits ever, which is admittedly a short list, but every time Galen changes this car it is for the betterAccord from Level OneThe Focal Point Concepts SubarusMet Matt (owner of this RX-7) for the first time at Import Expo, nice guy, nice buildHe took home a well deserved first place Mazda if I am not mistakenHave not seen Mike from Curbed in a long time… wonder if this replaced his XBBoosted Civic parked with AMFTuned by Dynamotorsports whom brought out a couple more boosted rides found further downQuite a few NSX’s at Import Expo
Teknotik
As a presenting sponsor of the event Teknotik brought out a couple of their builds, I somehow managed completely miss taking photos of their recently completed NSX though.
Nice Evo on SuperlapsThis is perhaps the first photo I have taken James Houghton’s Cayuga lap record holding Type R sitting stillFairly certain this car took home first place RSX
Battle Ground Performance
As usual Battle Ground came out in and were easily identifiable by the “Run Your Car Not Your Mouth” hoodies seen in the photos below.
Personally I preferred the wheels this car was on at Importfest but these Konig’s are not bad.Mooner holding it down for Chop Shop and BGPBrian won first place in the aggressive stance category in addition to his Civic CategoryPhoto of Brian’s bay number 423
Nine O Five Rides
NOFR brought out a lot of cars which meant they were so tightly packed it was actually hard to get any good photos of them..
Tom has had a pretty successful show season this year but I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes more changes to the car during the upcoming off seasonBig fan of this FD, great addition to Nine O FiveGot a chance to talk to Ty for awhile about his other project, fingers crossed it will be on the road next yearThis was actually pretty amusing, never found Waldo though…Alex took home second place aggressive fitment with his super deep Garsons
Boost Theory
Since their grand opening Boost Theory has been making a name for themselves locally which is good to see because they are awfully close to me if I ever one day decide to boost my car…
Paul’s beast was a featured car at Import ExpoSince getting a Skyline I don’t see Matt’s 300 quite as oftenPro Charged Challenger from Boost TheoryRuns 10 second quarter miles at 129mph
Dynamotorsports
Known perhaps best for their insane Camry Dynamotorsports is behind a lot of the more serious boosted builds in the city.
Pedro parked with Dyna Motorsports Pedro switched up his car a little bit since I saw it last year. Gone are the LM reps replaced with NUEs and there have been some changes under hood.I’ve heard about this 700 horse Camry for years so it was great to finally see it in personFor those that don’t believe the number written above check the video or post on Jalopnik
TrackWerkz
Hailing from Ottawa I don’t often get a chance to see Trackwerks cars in the flesh so this was a nice surprise at Import Expo.
All of the TrackWerks builds were pretty solidAs a 3 owner I spent a lot of time looking over this speed3 and regretting the fact I didn’t start with oneI think it put down around 320 to the wheels if I recall correctlyProbably my favourite of the vehicles they brought out was this v8 FD race car
New Jersey
Two heavy hitting show cars made the trek from New Jersey to Toronto to compete. Both were the complete ‘show’ package but also had a lot of go under the hood.
This Mazda owned by John Perez took home second place MazdaFrom what I’ve read this rotary spins out 850whpSome of you might remember this car from my 2010 SEMA tripIt looks to have changed some since thenA boosted K that puts down 780whp and 515 tq resides in the fuchsia bay which is from a previous lookObviously a bit over the top for some but there’s no denying that there is a ton of work in this car
That’s it for the Import Expo coverage, hopefully next year they do another summer show and I can check one of those out.
When asked what his plans for the car were he replied “thinking wide as fuck wheels, obnoxious body kit, white or bass boat paint…”
That sounded promising so I took a look look around at a few other examples to get a better idea. Not all of the cars in this post fit his description but would make a great addition to the Scraped Crusaders none the less.
Start things off with a factory bodied FC on SSR Mesh wheelsJDM Chicago always has awesome photosOne without all the flare… great looking carConcave looks good on this chassis as wellThis one is pretty interesting with the after market mirrors and shaved doorsLove this car from NuisanceThough I think I might like it more like this… something about the bigger tires and letteringDoesn’t take a whole hell of a lot to make these look goodNice solution to plate laws hereI think this car was on both SN and SW actually…For whatever reason this shot reminds me of a video game even though outrun used a Ferrari Testarossa.Sup V2labI bet I could follow this car all night and not get a shot like this…Could see this with different wheels, but not badLove the classic vintage lines…More WBStunna Shades on WorksWide ass fuck wheels? Check. Obnoxious body kit? Check.I’ve been following Eleven’s Paint and Fiber for awhile now this car is a big reason whyEnd it with Shawn of Drift Union
I had visions of starting the week off with some event coverage and not a message board find but I pushed all of that aside the second I saw this truck.
In my opinion this build perfect from bumper to tailgate; the wheel selection is on point, body work is straight, the interior is fantastic, the raised dark stained wooden bed floor looks great, and it sits on the floor where it should.
The fact it’s got a 556 horsepower 5.3 under the hood is really just the icing on the cake.
Contrary to the number of times I’ve mentioned it (I think this is at least the third) I wasn’t a huge fan of the show Family Matters, in my opinion Urkel was annoying and Carl was much more likeable in Die Hard.
Nevertheless it was on TV so I watched it and it served as my first introduction to the BMW Isetta.
Of course then I didn’t know it was an Isetta and until I joined maxbimmer it was known as the ‘Urkel Mobile’.
Stock Isettas were powered by a re-purposed motorcycle engine that put down a dismal 13hp that was probably fine for moving a couple about but nothing to write home about.
Enter Jim Anderson and his 57.
Jim was drag racer who throughout high school had a whole pile of cool cars like a 58 vette, a 58 Nomad, a Chevy 150 police car, and a finally a 56 Chevy with 450 horse.
An Isetta seems like an unlikely choice for a gentleman acusstom to much faster vehicles but like many enthusiasts Jim is a trader who one day ended up with an Isetta and 15 years after acquiring it he pulled it out of the shed and started tinkering with it.
Tinker in his eyes means make faster and at first he tried to put a Kawasaki motor into the car but that didn’t fit so he instead ‘settled’ on a 1200cc FJ1200 Yamaha motorcycle engine from an 89 donor bike.
Of course the Isetta put up a bit of a fight so he stretched it at all four corners while installing the custom reclined cantilever front suspension and four link rear suspension with adjustable coils.
Stopping this thing (and perhaps making it do endos) are Will Wood calipers and an electric motor wound backwards actually provides the reverse motion for when he needs to back out.
Needless to say if Urkel’s Isetta would have turned into this instead of him becoming Stefan I would have enjoyed the show a little more.
Since we’ve met Aidan has been slowly introducing me to more and more of the VIP culture so it’s only fitting that he’s the one to bring coverage from one of the largest VIP specific shows in North America, Black 3, to Stance Is Everything.
Black which is held in New Jersey and presented by Luxury Abastract in association with the Liberty VIP car club is aimed at bringing the best VIP builds on the East Coast and abroad to the fore front.
This year was Aidan’s first time attending and he didn’t shy away from capturing as much as possible, I highly doubt he will miss another Black event from here on out.
Hometown Heroes
The Toronto area locals who made it out to Black this year were Aidan, Steve, and Chris along with their co pilots Enrickk, Sheldon, Herman, Aruhn and Chris’ girlfriend. They all convoyed up together while Sharad of SK Performance made the trek solo.
During the excursion three out of the four vehicles managed to pick up some battle scars between here and New Jersey, sucks to roll hard.
Chris was the only one to make it to and from New Jersey unscathedSharad –with help from the NY roads– made a complete mess of his passenger front wheel on his way homeAidan managed to kill a wheel bearing and pick up a small crack in his bumperand Steve almost managed to make it back home before popping a bead about 20km from the border
Sponsors
Like any great show Black 3 couldn’t have gone down without sponsorship so here is a look at some of the sponsors displays
Espos powder coating does all the custom work for Luxury AbstractVIP’d Out in attendance with merchandise and custom tablesLiberty / Luxury Abstract, the presenting sponsorsLuxury Abstract’s Grassor C
Non VIP
Though Black is a VIP the non VIP cars in attendance this year were also pretty appealing.
One of several creative plates from New YorkB4 on LM20s, a slightly lesser seen CCW wheelWide body e46 that I swear I have seen elsewhere…
Non traditional VIP platforms
As the VIP style starts to work its way around the globe people are applying traditional VIP styling cues and mindset to more platforms than ever before.
Like all of the more traditional platforms all of these were built with an extreme attention to detail.
Mike of Liberty’s newest ride, a CLK 63 AMG Black SeriesAidan alongside a female IS300 ownerTire companies must love VIP carsSteve tucking hard beside an static TLA better shot of Steve’s trunk set-up versus the one I took at the Rockstar eventDon’t see too many of these CL’s modifiedLike the way this shot turned outCrazy tuck out back of this AccordMatt wrapped G35This 350 has been taking the net by storm lately thanks to those huge (19×10/12) uniquely finished Grassors-C’sWho knew the 929 would take so well to VIP treatment? Obviously this ownerBrandywine PreviaOne of two very wild SC430sBased on pictures this is one of my favourite vehicles of the event, on the ground, clean, and great fitmentNicely executed interior as wellGreat install too, love the upholstery around the tank
Traditional Platforms
Moving onto more traditional platforms.
Sharad leading off a lineupM sedan standing out among to pair of Lexsus’Looks like a trifecta of Luxury Abstract wheelsInfiniti on very aggressive VIP Modular wheels, beautiful paint colour on thisM45, very tastefully doneThe Luxury Abstract plate frame is a nice touch hereOne more Infiniti on VIP Modular wheels, like the colour combinationFirst gen GS/Aristoand anotherAccurate plate is accurateNew York rolls hardWhoever does the fender work in NY has got their game down patRide slow or Rides Low?Luxury Abstract Chaos wheels on ‘The Philly GS’So niceSo much tasteful aggressive fitment at BlackDat.Team Solo GSLove the Junction Produce curtains over the ampsClassier than my dinning room…Every picture of this car had a significant crowd around it
Ty’s GS400
I’ve decided to break off a few of the cars I ‘know’ via the Liberty VIP blog into their own sections, first up Ty’s crazy GS400 which is easily recognizable by it’s Liberty VIP pinstripe and red guts.
Peep the rebuild of this car hereThis interior was done…. then he did it again
Max’s RL
This car was first posted on the Liberty blog a couple years ago and looked quite a bit different then but it was still pretty wild for an RL. The latest additions –which include new wheels, and fender work– just compliment the Mode Parfume kit and Air Runner suspension it had before.
It was also finished the day before the show.
Dreamakers did a great job with the work on this carThe work required to get the rear wheels to fit as they do was pretty extensiveGreat looking car
Will’s SC430
I will end the Black 3 coverage with this SC430 that has changed significantly since last year when it was white. I never really saw much potential in this car but my opinion now has certainly changed.
Bazreia’s wedged under those beautifully formed fendersEqually crazy fitment out backProper trunk and air installThis car is the complete package really
Once again big thanks to Aidan for contributing the coverage to the site and making the trek to Black.
Parting shot, Aidan and Steve swung by the Springfield Nuclear plant on the way home.
I spotted it last night while lurking the Wrong Fitment CrewForum and it looks particularly minty thanks to a recent respray and superbly fit Work VS-XX wheels.
Previously the car looked like this and it’s a tough toss up between which colour I like more, both are pretty dope.
